SHSelfHostIndex

Metronome IM vs Openfire

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted matrix & xmpp options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
ME Metronome IM Lightweight, fork-based XMPP communication server VS OP Openfire Real-time collaboration XMPP server written in Java
FeatureMetronome IMOpenfire
CategoryMatrix & XMPPMatrix & XMPP
LicenseMITApache-2.0
LanguageLuaJava
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM128 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal, binary
GitHub stars★ 175★ 3,052
First released20122004
ReplacesSlack, WhatsAppSlack, Microsoft Teams

Why pick each one

Choose Metronome IM if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in Lua
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Metronome IM details

Choose Openfire if…

  • Easy to administer
  • Long track record
Openfire details

Frequently asked questions

Is Metronome IM or Openfire better?

Neither is universally better. Openfire has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Metronome IM and Openfire free and open-source?

Yes. Metronome IM is licensed under MIT and Openfire under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Metronome IM and Openfire with Docker?

Metronome IM: yes. Openfire: yes.

Related comparisons