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Open source alternatives to WhatsApp

We track 6 open-source WhatsApp alternatives, of which 3 currently score 70 or above on Repoly's GitHub health scale and 2 ship a Docker image. ejabberd leads on health at 95/100 with 101 commits in the last 90 days; across all 6 projects you are choosing between Apache-2.0, GPL-2.0, GPL-3.0 and 1 other licences.

6
Alternatives
35k
Combined stars
769
Commits / 90 days
2
With Docker
Licence family Licence

Showing 6 of 6 tools

All 6 WhatsApp alternatives, ranked by health

  • Top pick · highest health

    ejabberd

    95 GOOD

    XMPP instant messaging server.

    ★ 6.7k · ⟳ today · 26.07 · GPL-2.0

    DockerErlang
    Website ↗ Source ↗

  • Tinode

    87 GOOD

    Instant messaging platform. Backend in Go. Clients: Swift iOS, Java Android, JS webapp, scriptable command line; chatbots.

    ★ 14k · ⟳ yesterday · v0.25.3 · GPL-3.0

    Go
    Website ↗ Source ↗

  • Element

    87 GOOD

    Fully-featured Matrix client for Web, iOS & Android.

    ★ 13k · ⟳ today · v1.12.27 · Apache-2.0

    Nodejs
    Website ↗ Source ↗

  • Conduit

    45 SLOWING

    A simple, fast, and reliable chat server powered by Matrix.

    ★ 959 · ⟳ 19 days ago · v0.10.12 · Apache-2.0

    Rust
    Website ↗ Source ↗

  • Snikket

    38 STALE

    All-in-one Dockerized easy XMPP solution, including web admin and clients.

    ★ 448 · ⟳ 2 months ago · Apache-2.0

    Docker
    Website ↗ Source ↗

WhatsApp alternatives: common questions

What is the most maintained open source alternative to WhatsApp?

ejabberd scores highest at 95/100, with 101 commits in the last 90 days, 6.7k GitHub stars and its latest release (26.07) published 2 months ago. Element has the most raw commit activity at 630 commits in 90 days.

Which WhatsApp alternatives use a permissive licence?

4 of 6 are permissively licensed (MIT, Apache, BSD or similar): Element (Apache-2.0), Conduit (Apache-2.0), Snikket (Apache-2.0), Prosody IM (MIT). 2 use copyleft licences such as GPL or AGPL, which require you to publish changes if you distribute a modified version.

Which WhatsApp alternatives run in Docker?

2 of 6 publish a Docker image or Compose file: ejabberd, Snikket. Docker support contributes 10 of the 100 available health points, because it is the clearest signal that self-hosting is a supported path rather than an afterthought.