Cinny vs Spectrum
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Cinny
Simple, elegant and secure Matrix client
VS
Spectrum
Open-source platform for building online communities
| Feature | Cinny | Spectrum |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Forums & Community |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,826 | ★ 10,837 |
| First released | 2021 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Slack, Discord | Discord, Discourse |
Why pick each one
Choose Spectrum if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 10.8k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Cinny or Spectrum better?
Neither is universally better. Spectrum has the larger community, while Cinny is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Cinny and Spectrum free and open-source?
Yes. Cinny is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Spectrum under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cinny and Spectrum with Docker?
Cinny: yes. Spectrum: yes.