head to head · open source
Stoat vs Quiet
Stoat has 3,442 GitHub stars, 409 forks, 139 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Quiet has 2,660 stars, 150 forks, 773 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Stoat leads on adoption by 29% (3,442 vs 2,660 stars). Stoat is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence; Quiet is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. Stoat has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Quiet 6%. Quiet 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
| Stoat | Quiet | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.4K | ★ 2.7K |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Rust | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 409 | ⑂ 150 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Stoat if
- You weight community size — 3.4K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Quiet if
- You want the Quiet 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 Quiet fits your workflow better
About Stoat
Stoat Backend The services and libraries that power the Stoat service.
read the full Stoat overview →
About Quiet
Quiet Encrypted p2p team chat with no servers, just Tor. Downloads How it Works Features Threat Model Mission FAQ Developer setup Quiet is an alternative to team chat apps like Slack, Discord, and Element that does not require trusting a central server or running one's own. In Quiet, all data syncs directly between a team's devices over Tor with no server required. NOTE: Quiet is not audited and should not be used when privacy and security are critical. It lacks basic features and probably won't replace your Slack or Discord yet. That said, it works surprisingly well and we use it daily as a Slack replacement…
read the full Quiet overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Stoat or Quiet more popular?
Stoat has 3,442 GitHub stars and Quiet has 2,660. Stoat has the larger community by that measure.
Are Stoat and Quiet free?
Both are open source. Stoat has no licence declared in this registry, and Quiet is licensed under GPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Stoat and Quiet?
Stoat is written in Rust and Quiet 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, Stoat or Quiet?
Choose Stoat if you want the larger community (3,442 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Quiet if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.