head to head · open source
Stoat vs Wire
Stoat has 3,442 GitHub stars, 409 forks, 139 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Wire has 2,556 stars, 180 forks, 173 open issues and last shipped 10 months ago. Stoat leads on adoption by 35% (3,442 vs 2,556 stars). Stoat is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence; Wire is written in various languages under GPL-3.0. Stoat has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Wire 7%. 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
| Stoat | Wire | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.4K | ★ 2.6K |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Rust | — |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-01-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 409 | ⑂ 180 |
| 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 Wire if
- You want the Wire feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- You evaluated both and Wire fits your workflow better
About Stoat
Stoat Backend The services and libraries that power the Stoat service.
read the full Stoat overview →
About Wire
Wire™ Open source The privacy page and the privacy and security whitepapers explain the details of the encryption algorithms and protocols used. For licensing information, see the attached LICENSE file and the list of third party licenses at wire.com. If you compile the open source software that we make available from time to time to develop your own mobile, desktop or web application, and cause that application to connect to our servers for any purposes, we refer to that resulting application as an “Open Source App”. All Open Source Apps are subject to, and may only be used and/or commercialized in accordance…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Stoat or Wire more popular?
Stoat has 3,442 GitHub stars and Wire has 2,556. Stoat has the larger community by that measure.
Are Stoat and Wire free?
Both are open source. Stoat has no licence declared in this registry, and Wire is licensed under GPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Stoat and Wire?
Stoat is written in Rust and Wire in various languages. 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 Wire?
Choose Stoat if you want the larger community (3,442 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Wire if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.