head to head · open source
srs vs chat
srs has 29,249 GitHub stars, 5,694 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped yesterday. chat has 13,508 stars, 2,078 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. srs leads on adoption by 117% (29,249 vs 13,508 stars). srs is written in C++ under MIT; chat is written in Go under GPL-3.0. srs has attracted 19% as many forks as stars, chat 15%. srs 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
| srs | chat | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 14K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.7K | ⑂ 2.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick srs if
- You weight community size — 29K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick chat if
- You want the chat feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and chat fits your workflow better
About srs
SRS (Simple Realtime Server) is an open source, AI driven real time media server written in C++ and released under the MIT license. It ingests and republishes live audio and video across a broad set of streaming protocols, including RTMP, WebRTC, HLS, HTTP FLV, HTTP TS, SRT, MPEG DASH, and GB28181. The project runs on Linux and macOS and is built for x86 64, ARMv7, AArch64, Apple M1, RISC V, LoongArch, and MIPS architectures. Codec support covers H.264, H.265, AV1, VP9, AAC, Opus, and G.711. The current line is SRS 8.0, and the project has been developed for roughly eleven years, with documentation published in b…
About chat
Tinode is an open source, full stack instant messaging server that pairs a Go backend with native iOS, Android, web, and command line clients, built for developers and operators who want to run or federate their own messaging platform rather than rent one.
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Frequently asked questions
Is srs or chat more popular?
srs has 29,249 GitHub stars and chat has 13,508. srs has the larger community by that measure.
Are srs and chat free?
Both are open source. srs is licensed under MIT and chat under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between srs and chat?
srs is written in C++ and chat in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, srs or chat?
Choose srs if you want the larger community (29,249 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose chat if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.