Commet vs Continuwuity
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted matrix & xmpp options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Continuwuity
Community-maintained Rust Matrix homeserver
| Feature | Commet | Continuwuity |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Dart | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 100 | ★ 700 |
| First released | 2022 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Discord, Slack | Slack, Discord |
What are Commet and Continuwuity?
Commet
Commet is a Matrix chat client that targets desktop and mobile from a single Flutter codebase. It aims for a familiar messaging experience with support for spaces and end-to-end encryption.
- Flutter cross-platform client
- Spaces support
- End-to-end encryption
- Desktop and mobile
Continuwuity
Continuwuity is a community continuation of the conduwuit Matrix homeserver, written in Rust. It provides an efficient, federated Matrix server with a focus on stability and ongoing maintenance.
- Drop-in conduwuit replacement
- Active community maintenance
- Efficient single binary
- Full Matrix federation
Commet vs Continuwuity: key differences
Commet is written in Dart, while Continuwuity is built with Rust. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Commet versus Apache-2.0 for Continuwuity. Commet is the more established project (first released 2022), while Continuwuity arrived in 2024. Continuwuity has the considerably larger community, at 700 GitHub stars versus 100. Continuwuity lists first-class Docker deployment; Commet does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Commet if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in Dart
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Continuwuity if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Commet or Continuwuity better?
Neither is universally better. Continuwuity has the larger community, while Commet is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Commet and Continuwuity free and open-source?
Yes. Commet is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Continuwuity under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Commet and Continuwuity with Docker?
Commet: check the project docs for container support. Continuwuity: yes.