head to head · open source
Signal vs Tuta
Signal has 29,568 GitHub stars, 6,933 forks, 498 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Tuta has 8,101 stars, 652 forks, 1,001 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Signal leads on adoption by 265% (29,568 vs 8,101 stars). Signal is written in Kotlin under AGPL-3.0; Tuta is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. Signal has attracted 23% as many forks as stars, Tuta 8%. Tuta 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 | Tuta | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 8.1K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Kotlin | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-30 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.9K | ⑂ 652 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Signal if
- You weight community size — 30K 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 Tuta if
- You want the Tuta feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Tuta fits your workflow better
About Signal
Signal Android Signal is a simple, powerful, and secure messenger that uses your phone's data connection (WiFi/4G/5G) to communicate securely. Millions of people use Signal every day for free and instantaneous communication anywhere in the world. Send and receive high fidelity messages, participate in HD voice/video calls, and explore a growing set of new features that help you stay connected. Signal’s advanced privacy preserving technology is always enabled, so you can focus on sharing the moments that matter with the people who matter to you. Currently available on the Play Store and signal.org. Also available…
read the full Signal overview →
About Tuta
Tuta Mail makes encryption easy Tuta Mail is the secure email service with built in end to end encryption that enables you to communicate securely with anyone on all your devices. Forum for bug reports/feature requests: Roadmap: Issue and feature tracker: Please submit your feature requests via Reddit or via support mail. Web client • iOS App Store • Desktop Client Translating Tuta See TRANSLATING.md Building See BUILDING.md. Developing Tuta See HACKING.md. Contribution policy This project does not accept contributions or bug reports produced, in part or in full, with assistance of large language models…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Signal or Tuta more popular?
Signal has 29,568 GitHub stars and Tuta has 8,101. Signal has the larger community by that measure.
Are Signal and Tuta free?
Both are open source. Signal is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Tuta under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Signal and Tuta?
Signal is written in Kotlin and Tuta in TypeScript. 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 Tuta?
Choose Signal if you want the larger community (29,568 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Tuta if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.