Conduit vs MongooseIM
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted matrix & xmpp options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Conduit
Simple, fast and reliable Matrix homeserver in Rust
VS
MongooseIM
Scalable, robust XMPP messaging platform
| Feature | Conduit | MongooseIM |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Rust | Erlang |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,200 | ★ 1,760 |
| First released | 2020 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Slack, Discord | Slack, WhatsApp |
What are Conduit and MongooseIM?
Conduit
Conduit is a lightweight Matrix homeserver written in Rust that aims to be easy to set up and run on small servers. It uses an embedded database and requires minimal configuration.
- Embedded database, no external DB
- Very low resource usage
- Single binary deployment
- Matrix federation support
MongooseIM
MongooseIM is an enterprise-grade XMPP server written in Erlang, designed for high scalability and reliability. It supports clustering, REST APIs, and modern messaging extensions.
- Built for massive scale
- Clustering and high availability
- GraphQL and REST admin APIs
- Modern XEP support
Conduit vs MongooseIM: key differences
Conduit is written in Rust, while MongooseIM is built with Erlang. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Conduit versus GPL-2.0 for MongooseIM. Conduit is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for MongooseIM. MongooseIM is the more established project (first released 2012), while Conduit arrived in 2020.
Why pick each one
Choose Conduit if…
- Extremely easy to deploy
- Runs on a Raspberry Pi
Watch out for
- Not all Matrix features implemented
- Smaller ecosystem
Choose MongooseIM if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in Erlang
Watch out for
- Complex deployment
- Requires Erlang knowledge to extend
Frequently asked questions
Is Conduit or MongooseIM better?
Conduit is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider MongooseIM if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Conduit and MongooseIM free and open-source?
Yes. Conduit is licensed under Apache-2.0 and MongooseIM under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Conduit and MongooseIM with Docker?
Conduit: yes. MongooseIM: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Conduit or MongooseIM?
Conduit has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for MongooseIM. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.