head to head · open source
Signal vs Stoat
Signal has 29,352 GitHub stars, 6,888 forks, 498 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Stoat has 3,330 stars, 387 forks, 139 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Signal leads on adoption by 781% (29,352 vs 3,330 stars). Signal is written in Kotlin under AGPL-3.0; Stoat is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence. Signal has attracted 23% as many forks as stars, Stoat 12%. Stoat was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Signal | Stoat | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 3.3K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Kotlin | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.9K | ⑂ 387 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Signal if
- You weight community size — 29K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Kotlin
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Stoat if
- You want the Stoat feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and Stoat fits your workflow better
About Signal
Signal Android is a secure messaging application for Android devices that delivers private communication via end to end encryption. Developed by Signal Messenger, LLC, it operates within the broader Signal ecosystem, which includes official iOS and desktop clients. The app uses mobile data or Wi Fi to send and receive encrypted messages, voice calls, and video calls without relying on traditional SMS or telephony infrastructure.
read the full Signal overview →
About Stoat
Stoat is a Rust backend project that provides the services and libraries powering the Stoat group chat service. The repository is organized around core crates for configuration, database implementation, files, API models, permissions, presence, result types, and a coalesced crate.
read the full Stoat overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Signal or Stoat more popular?
Signal has 29,352 GitHub stars and Stoat has 3,330. Signal has the larger community by that measure.
Are Signal and Stoat free?
Both are open source. Signal is licensed under AGPL-3.0, and Stoat has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Signal and Stoat?
Signal is written in Kotlin and Stoat in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Signal or Stoat?
Choose Signal if you want the larger community (29,352 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Stoat if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.