# chat app comparison

* `tox` - https://tox.chat/
* Whether it's corporations or governments, digital surveillance today is widespread. Tox is easy-to-use software that connects you with friends and family without anyone else listening in. While other big-name services require you to pay for features, Tox is completely free and comes without advertising — forever.
* *clients*
* `qtox` - https://qtox.github.io/
* https://github.com/Tox
* https://www.reddit.com/r/projecttox/
* https://github.com/TokTok/c-toxcore
* https://toktok.ltd/spec.html#introduction - tox specification
* `Discord` - https://discordapp.com - one of the most popular chat applications today
* 100% free communication
* IP & DDoS Protection
* Convenience for PC or mobile use
* Friends List
* Minimal CPU usage
* Low latency
* Smart push notifications
* Permissions
* Custom hot keys
* In-game overlay
* Multiple channels
* Modern text chat
* Direct messaging
* https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/discord
* estimated revenue - 10M to 50M
* 250,000,000 monthly visits
* `Usenet` - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet
* features
* is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose [Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UUCP) [dial-up](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dial-up) network architecture.
* decentralized
* can host servers directly
* cons
* have to connect to 1 server
* users have to be aware that a server exists
* who's running the servers
* doesn't seem to be widely used today
* complicated client software
* *no encryption* - ?
* `darkwire` - https://darkwire.io/-ZIIff-H1 - https://github.com/darkwire/darkwire.io - end to end encrypted web chat
* `node-chat` - https://github.com/IgorAntun/node-chat - node js chat
* `rocket chat` - https://rocket.chat/ - slack like self hosted chat
* `tinode` - https://github.com/tinode/chat - go based chat system
* seems a bit bloated
* `leapchat` - https://github.com/cryptag/leapchat
* end to end encrypted chat
* `matrix` - https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse
* `xmpp` - this seems like it does not support large group chats very well
* `canchat` - https://github.com/lganzzzo/canchat - feature complete chat in c++, uses oat++ web framework
* `vuvuzela` - https://github.com/vuvuzela/vuvuzela - metadata hiding private chat system, go based
* https://securechatguide.org/effguide.html# - comparison
* signal
* wire
*