Learn how Element and SAMA differ in their key features, development activity, technology stack and community adoption, so you can decide which of these encrypted communication tools is best for you.
Last 30 days
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Self-hosted
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Last 30 days
Last commit
Repository age
Version
License
Repository

Element appears to have several advantages over SAMA, particularly in popularity, maturity and features. Consider your specific needs regarding popularity, growth, activity, technology, maturity, licensing and features when making your decision.
Element significantly outpaces SAMA in community adoption with 13,388 stars compared to 159 stars on GitHub. This 84.2x difference suggests Element has a much larger and more active community. In terms of developer contributions, Element has 2,728 forks, indicating strong developer engagement.
Element and SAMA are moving at much the same rate, adding 78 stars and adding 1 stars respectively over the last 30 days (+0.6% vs +0.6%). Neither is pulling away from the other on momentum alone.
Both projects show recent activity, with Element last updated 7 hours ago and SAMA 13 hours ago.
Both tools share common technology foundations, being built with JavaScript. However, they differ in their additional technology choices: Element uses CSS, Bash, Typescript, JSX, Python, Perl.
Element has been in development longer, starting 11 years ago, compared to SAMA which began 4 years ago. This 7.3-year head start suggests Element may have more mature features and established processes.
The projects use different licenses: Element is licensed under AGPL-3.0 while SAMA uses GPL-3.0. Consider the licensing requirements when choosing for your project.
Both tools serve similar use cases in Encrypted Communication. However, they also have distinct specializations: Element also focuses on Team Chat & Messaging while SAMA extends into Live Chat & Messaging, WebSockets Servers.
Element provides self-hosting options for complete data control and customization, while SAMA may be primarily cloud-based or require different deployment approaches.