# Portainer vs SimpleX Chat

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | Portainer | SimpleX Chat |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 77/100 ✓ | 74/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 44 in Container Management | #4 of 110 in Chat |
| GitHub stars | 38 736 ✓ | 19 612 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +187 ✓ | +142 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 21 ✓ | 12 |
| Latest release | 2.45.3 · 21 Oct 2026 ✓ | v7.0.4 · 3 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Zlib | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Haskell |

## Which one should you pick?

Portainer scores 77/100 against 74/100 for SimpleX Chat, so it is the safer default.

Portainer ships more often: 21 stable releases in the past year, against 12 for SimpleX Chat.

If you want the quickest setup, Portainer is easier to run; SimpleX Chat needs more configuration.

## Details

- [Portainer](https://selfhost.directory/project/portainer) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/portainer.md)
- [SimpleX Chat](https://selfhost.directory/project/simplex-chat) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/simplex-chat.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/portainer-vs-simplex-chat