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Comparison · Comms
Delta Chat vs Maddy
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Delta Chat and Maddy — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Delta Chat vs Maddy: at a glance
What is Delta Chat?
Delta Chat is quietly replacing its email identity with relays
Delta Chat desktop v2.65.0 adds pinned messages, message multiselect actions and a System default language option, and hides individual reactions from channel owners. v2.62.0 changed more of the foundation: relays can be removed, the default relay setting is gone, onboarding adds several relays, and email addresses are no longer shown for profiles. Contacts are also no longer shown as verified.
What is Maddy?
maddy's latest release is a security fix, five months after its last feature work.
maddy is an all-in-one Go mail server for SMTP and IMAP. Its most recent release, 0.9.6 in October, requires explicit trust for PROXY protocol headers and closes an auth misconfiguration that could skip password checks. Before that, the 0.9 line ran from March to May: no-downtime config reload in 0.9.0, an LDAP injection fix, and removal of long-deprecated commands.
Delta Chat vs Maddy: editorial side-by-side
Delta Chat
5.0COMMS
Delta Chat is quietly replacing its email identity with relays
◆ Current state
Delta Chat desktop v2.65.0 adds pinned messages, message multiselect actions and a System default language option, and hides individual reactions from channel owners. v2.62.0 changed more of the foundation: relays can be removed, the default relay setting is gone, onboarding adds several relays, and email addresses are no longer shown for profiles. Contacts are also no longer shown as verified.
◆ Where it's heading
The project is removing email from what users see and from how they think about identity, with relays taking its place as multi-path infrastructure. Fetching from every relay and sending through the fastest one treats a relay as replaceable, which matters for a federated messenger. Around that, the client keeps closing feature gaps with mainstream messengers through pinning, channel reactions and better group notification handling.
◆ Prediction
Expect further relay management work, as the core notes show this is where the structural change is. Channels are the next most active surface, with reaction privacy already changing there.
Maddy
0.0COMMS
maddy's latest release is a security fix, five months after its last feature work.
◆ Current state
maddy is an all-in-one Go mail server for SMTP and IMAP. Its most recent release, 0.9.6 in October, requires explicit trust for PROXY protocol headers and closes an auth misconfiguration that could skip password checks. Before that, the 0.9 line ran from March to May: no-downtime config reload in 0.9.0, an LDAP injection fix, and removal of long-deprecated commands.
◆ Where it's heading
The project is moving from convenient defaults to safer ones, accepting breaking changes on the way. Older conveniences such as SASL LOGIN, STARTTLS plaintext fallback and the maddyctl symlink have been removed, and 0.9.1 flagged several DNS providers for removal in 0.10.0. Two of the last four releases were security fixes.
◆ Prediction
0.10.0 is scoped by the deprecations announced in 0.9.1: expect the flagged DNS providers to go and gandi to require Bearer tokens. The five-month gap gives no date for it.
Alternatives to Delta Chat and Maddy
Other Comms products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Delta Chat or Maddy.
Grain
Grain adds consent controls and rule-based privacy as its meeting data reaches more AI tools.
Converse.js
Converse.js 14.0.1 fixes OMEMO:2 group decryption broken by Chromium 153.
Element iOS
Element Classic now asks its own users to move to Element X, if their server opts in.
Brosix
Brosix follows its communities launch with a referral push and a private-room how-to.
VerneMQ
VerneMQ follows its year-in-the-making 2.2.0 with a quick round of subscription fixes.
See all Delta Chat alternatives → · See all Maddy alternatives →
Recent activity from Delta Chat and Maddy
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 6d agoDelta ChatPinned messages arrive; channel reactions become anonymous totals
- 29d agoDelta ChatMulti-relay onboarding; email addresses leave the profile list
- 1mo agoMaddymaddy 0.9.6 fixes PROXY trust and auth bypass misconfig
- 2mo agoDelta ChatFixes the 2.59.0 unread-sync bug; Arabic, Telugu, Slovenian added
- 2mo agoDelta ChatChannel post reactions and experimental Team Profiles
- 3mo agoDelta Chatv2.57.0 release preparation
- 3mo agoDelta ChatOAuth removed; group member search and command palette added
- 5mo agoMaddymaddy 0.9.5 fixes nested pipeline logging and systemd reload reporting
- 6mo agoMaddymaddy 0.9.4 removes the maddyctl symlink and implicit run command
- 6mo agoMaddymaddy 0.9.3 patches an LDAP injection flaw in auth.ldap
- 7mo agoMaddymaddy 0.9.2 fixes an rspamd panic on unspecified tls_client
- 7mo agoMaddymaddy 0.9.1 flags libdns providers for removal in 0.10.0
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Delta Chat and Maddy?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Delta Chat is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Delta Chat better than Maddy?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Delta Chat is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Comms products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Delta Chat?
Top Delta Chat alternatives in Comms are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Delta Chat alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/deltachat for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Maddy?
Top Maddy alternatives in Comms are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Maddy alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/maddy for the full list with editorial commentary on each.