conduwuit vs Synapse
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted matrix & xmpp options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
conduwuit
Archived
Well-maintained fork of the Conduit Matrix homeserver
VS
Synapse
Reference homeserver for the Matrix network
| Feature | conduwuit | Synapse |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 15 · At risk | 89 · Excellent |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 25 | ★ 4,643 |
| First released | 2024 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Slack, Discord | Slack, Discord, WhatsApp |
What are conduwuit and Synapse?
conduwuit
conduwuit is a community-maintained fork of Conduit, a Matrix homeserver written in Rust. It focuses on stability, performance, and adding features that upstream Conduit lacked.
- Faster than upstream Conduit
- Easy single-binary deploy
- Active maintenance
- Matrix federation
Synapse
Synapse is the reference homeserver implementation for Matrix, an open protocol for decentralized, federated, secure chat. It targets communities and organizations running their own messaging infrastructure. It is deployed via Docker or native packages.
- Federated Matrix homeserver
- End-to-end encrypted rooms
- Bridges to other networks
- Many compatible clients
conduwuit vs Synapse: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: conduwuit's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Synapse is actively maintained. Conduwuit is written in Rust, while Synapse is built with Python. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for conduwuit versus AGPL-3.0 for Synapse. Conduwuit is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Synapse. Synapse is the more established project (first released 2014), while conduwuit arrived in 2024. Synapse has the considerably larger community, at 4,643 GitHub stars versus 25.
Why pick each one
Choose conduwuit if…
- More features than Conduit
- Good performance
Watch out for
- Relatively young project
- Smaller community
Choose Synapse if…
- Open federated protocol
- Strong encryption
- Bridges to other chats
Watch out for
- Resource and maintenance heavy
- Complex to operate well
Frequently asked questions
Is conduwuit or Synapse better?
Neither is universally better. Synapse has the larger community, while conduwuit is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are conduwuit and Synapse free and open-source?
Yes. conduwuit is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Synapse under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run conduwuit and Synapse with Docker?
conduwuit: yes. Synapse: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, conduwuit or Synapse?
conduwuit has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Synapse. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.