Tox
Distributed, secure messenger with audio and video chat capabilities.
Maintained, but at a slower pace than the leaders in its category.
Commit activity more than 30% of tracked projects; popularity more than 55%. How this is calculated.
Commits, last 11 months
| Stars | 2.7k |
|---|---|
| Latest release | v0.2.24-rc.1 · 25 Sept 2026 |
| Repo updated | 25 Sept 2026 |
| Licence | GPL-3.0 |
| Built with | C |
Is Tox actively maintained?
Over the last 11 months the project absorbed 101 commits, of which 6 arrived in the most recent quarter — roughly 2 commits a month.
Activity is cooling: commits are down 65% against the previous quarter. One slow quarter is normal; two in a row is a signal.
The most recent tagged release, v0.2.24-rc.1, shipped within the last month — a current, installable version exists today.
Tox ranks #27 of 46 in Communication - Custom Communication Systems, placing it mid-table for maintenance activity.
What Tox actually does
Tox is a decentralised instant messaging system that supports secure text, audio, and video communication without relying on a central server. Built in C and licensed under the GPL-3.0, it connects peers directly to exchange data over the network. It addresses the category of custom communication systems designed to bypass hosted third-party infrastructure.
Best fit: It suits users looking for a direct peer-to-peer communication channel that avoids centralised message routing and metadata collection.
Worth knowing: The project exhibits an at-risk maintenance profile with a low health score, suggesting potential delays in security patches or upstream fixes. Additionally, true peer-to-peer setups can struggle with NAT traversal reliability and persistent offline messaging without dedicated relay nodes.
Deployment notes
As a compiled C application, it typically requires standard compilation tools and dependencies on the host system, along with persistent storage for configuration and user keys.
Links
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