Conduit vs SchildiChat
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
SchildiChat
Archived
Element-based Matrix client with extra usability tweaks
| Feature | Conduit | SchildiChat |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | Shell |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,200 | ★ 464 |
| First released | 2020 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Slack, Discord | Slack, WhatsApp |
What are Conduit and SchildiChat?
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
SchildiChat
SchildiChat is a fork of Element that adds a unified message bubble layout and other usability improvements. The web version can be self-hosted to connect to any Matrix homeserver.
- Message bubble layout
- Element compatibility
- End-to-end encryption
- Unified chat list
Conduit vs SchildiChat: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: SchildiChat's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Conduit is actively maintained. Conduit is written in Rust, while SchildiChat is built with Shell. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Conduit versus AGPL-3.0 for SchildiChat. Conduit has the considerably larger community, at 2,200 GitHub stars versus 464.
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 SchildiChat if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Shell
Watch out for
- Tracks Element upstream
- Matrix-only
Frequently asked questions
Is Conduit or SchildiChat better?
Neither is universally better. Conduit has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Conduit and SchildiChat free and open-source?
Yes. Conduit is licensed under Apache-2.0 and SchildiChat under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Conduit and SchildiChat with Docker?
Conduit: yes. SchildiChat: yes.