Toxic vs Synapse
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?
Toxic
Terminal-based client for the Tox messaging network
VS
Synapse
Reference homeserver for the Matrix network
| Feature | Toxic | Synapse |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | C | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,301 | ★ 4,503 |
| First released | 2014 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Skype, WhatsApp | Slack, Discord, WhatsApp |
Why pick each one
Choose Toxic if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Active community (1.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Toxic or Synapse better?
Neither is universally better. Synapse has the larger community, while Toxic is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Toxic and Synapse free and open-source?
Yes. Toxic is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Synapse under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Toxic and Synapse with Docker?
Toxic: check the project docs for container support. Synapse: yes.