A detailed comparison of Meow against Electron-based softphones, other native SIP clients, and browser-based softphones. See where Meow shines and where others might fit your needs.
#Performance
Meow
Electron apps
Other native clients
Browser-based
Memory usage
~50 MB (application memory)
300–800 MB
80–150 MB
200–500 MB (browser tab)
Startup time
Under 1 second
3–8 seconds
2–4 seconds
Depends on browser
CPU idle
Near zero
1–5% (Chromium overhead)
Near zero
Varies
Binary size
50 MB download, 143 MB installed
150–300 MB
~40 MB
N/A (web app)
#Audio & Codecs
Meow
Electron apps
Other native clients
Browser-based
Audio engine
Native (WASAPI / PipeWire via libpulse)
WebRTC (browser engine)
Native (ALSA / PulseAudio / PipeWire)
WebRTC
Codec support
G.711, G.722 (GSM, iLBC, Speex optional)
Usually Opus only
G.711, Opus, Speex, H.264 (video)
Opus (browser-dependent)
Audio device hot-plug
Yes (auto-detect)
Limited
Partial
Browser-dependent
Echo cancellation
PJSIP built-in AEC
WebRTC AEC
Built-in AEC
WebRTC AEC
#Desktop Integration
Meow
Electron apps
Other native clients
Browser-based
System tray
Yes (native)
Yes (via Electron)
Yes
No
Native notifications
Yes (Windows / D-Bus)
Yes (Electron)
Yes
Browser notifications
Dark / light theme
Follows system theme
App-specific
Limited
App-specific
Auto-start on login
Yes
Usually yes
Yes
No
Global hotkeys
Planned
Some apps
No
No
#SIP & Compatibility
Meow
Electron apps
Other native clients
Browser-based
SIP protocol
Full SIP/SDP via PJSIP
SIP.js (limited)
Full SIP stack
SIP.js / JsSIP
PBX compatibility
Any SIP server
Often vendor-locked
Any SIP server
WebSocket SIP gateways
Multiple accounts
Yes (dual SIP accounts)
Varies
Yes
Varies
DTMF
RFC 2833
Usually RFC 2833 only
RFC 2833 + SIP INFO
RFC 2833
Call transfer
Blind transfer
Varies
Yes
Limited
NAT traversal
STUN + symmetric RTP (ICE off by default)
WebRTC ICE
STUN / TURN / ICE
WebRTC ICE
#Privacy & Security
Meow
Electron apps
Other native clients
Browser-based
Call routing
Direct to your PBX
Often via vendor servers
Direct to SIP server
Via WebSocket gateway
Telemetry
Asked on first run, one switch
Usually always-on
Minimal
Browser telemetry + app
Data stored locally
SQLite (your machine only)
Varies (some cloud-sync)
Local config files
Browser storage / cloud
TLS / SRTP
Yes
Yes (SRTP via WebRTC)
Yes
Yes (DTLS-SRTP)
#Platform & Licensing
Meow
Electron apps
Other native clients
Browser-based
Platforms
Windows, Linux
Linux, Windows, macOS
Linux, Windows, macOS, Mobile
Any (browser-based)
License
Commercial (14-day free trial)
Varies (free to paid)
Usually GPL or dual-licensed
Varies
Open source
No (proprietary)
Rarely
Yes
Varies
Technology
C++20, Qt 6, PJSIP
JavaScript, Chromium
C/C++ with Qt or GTK
JavaScript
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