When comparing AstraChat vs Campfire, the Slant community recommends Campfire for most people. In the question“What is the best team chat software?” Campfire is ranked 30th while AstraChat is ranked 42nd.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Direct connect
Pro Secure
Messages are received from clients using secured (TLS or SSL) XMPP (jabber) protocol.
Pro Network efficient
AstraChat is tuned to make very efficient use of the network connection and processor so you can be confident that it will use very little of your battery or data allowance.
Pro Supports a lot of protocol
- RFC-3920:Core
- RFC-3921:Instant Messaging and Presence
- XEP-0012 Last Activity
- XEP-0016 Privact lists
- XEP-0054 VCARD-temp
- XEP-0085 Chat State Notifications
- XEP-0153 vCard-Based Avatars
- XEP-0172 User Nickname
- XEP-0184 Message delivery receipts
- XEP-0191 Blocking commands
- XEP-0198 Stream Management
- XEP-0199 XMPP Ping
- XEP-0176: Jingle ICE-UDP
- XEP-0136: Message Archiving
- XEP-0045: Multi-User Chat
Pro Supports optional 128-bit SSL encryption
Pro Guest access
You can invite people to join conversations even if they don't have a Campfire account. Campfire will generate a link to share and the guest will only need to enter their name to join the conversation.
Pro Easy conferencing
When you need to make a conference call, all you need to click is "Start A New Call" and Campfire instantly embeds a phone number and password code in the message thread.
Pro Mobile apps
Campfire supports only iOS, but third party apps can be used for Android. There are also other third party apps that build upon Campfire and extend its functionality.
Pro Embeds images
Images that are uploaded in the GIF, PNG, or JPEG formats are represented as thumbnails in the chat room.
Cons
Con No OTR service
Off-the-Record Messaging (OTR) is a cryptographic protocol that provides encryption for instant messaging conversations. Astrachat doesn't include this protocol, that it is often included in other XMPP services.
Con Future of Campfire is uncertain
37signals have "changed direction" away from Campfire, focusing on Basecamp. They've ruled out shutting it down, but at this stage it's uncertain whether it'll be spun off as a separate company, sold off, or run in maintenance mode without any new features.