Conduit vs Syphon
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?
Conduit
Simple, fast and reliable Matrix homeserver in Rust
VS
Syphon
Privacy-focused Matrix client built with Flutter
| Feature | Conduit | Syphon |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | Dart |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,200 | ★ 1,061 |
| First released | 2020 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Slack, Discord | WhatsApp, Discord |
Why pick each one
Choose Syphon if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Dart
Frequently asked questions
Is Conduit or Syphon 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 Syphon free and open-source?
Yes. Conduit is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Syphon under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Conduit and Syphon with Docker?
Conduit: yes. Syphon: check the project docs for container support.