Commet vs Construct
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted matrix & xmpp options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Commet | Construct |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | Dart | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 100 | ★ 394 |
| First released | 2022 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Discord, Slack | Slack, Discord |
What are Commet and Construct?
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
Construct
Construct is a Matrix homeserver implementation written in C++ focused on raw performance and efficiency. It is one of the original alternative homeserver projects in the Matrix ecosystem.
- Written in modern C++
- Designed for low overhead
- Matrix federation support
- Embedded database
Commet vs Construct: key differences
Commet is written in Dart, while Construct is built with C++. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Commet versus BSD-3-Clause for Construct. Construct is the more established project (first released 2018), while Commet arrived in 2022. Construct has the considerably larger community, at 394 GitHub stars versus 100.
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 Construct if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Watch out for
- Complex to build
- Limited documentation
Frequently asked questions
Is Commet or Construct better?
Neither is universally better. Construct 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 Construct free and open-source?
Yes. Commet is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Construct under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Commet and Construct with Docker?
Commet: check the project docs for container support. Construct: check the project docs for container support.