Continuwuity vs Dendrite
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted matrix & xmpp options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Continuwuity
Community-maintained Rust Matrix homeserver
VS
Dendrite
Archived
Second-generation Matrix homeserver written in Go
| Feature | Continuwuity | Dendrite |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Rust | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 700 | ★ 5,625 |
| First released | 2024 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Slack, Discord | Slack, Discord |
What are Continuwuity and Dendrite?
Continuwuity
Continuwuity is a community continuation of the conduwuit Matrix homeserver, written in Rust. It provides an efficient, federated Matrix server with a focus on stability and ongoing maintenance.
- Drop-in conduwuit replacement
- Active community maintenance
- Efficient single binary
- Full Matrix federation
Dendrite
Dendrite is a lightweight, efficient Matrix homeserver written in Go by the Matrix.org team. It is designed to be a more resource-efficient alternative to Synapse while remaining fully compatible with the Matrix protocol.
- Lower memory footprint than Synapse
- Federated Matrix protocol
- End-to-end encryption support
- Polylith and monolith deployment modes
Continuwuity vs Dendrite: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Dendrite's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Continuwuity is actively maintained. Continuwuity is written in Rust, while Dendrite is built with Go. Continuwuity is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Dendrite. Dendrite is the more established project (first released 2017), while Continuwuity arrived in 2024. Dendrite has the considerably larger community, at 5,625 GitHub stars versus 700.
Why pick each one
Choose Continuwuity if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Dendrite if…
- Much lighter than Synapse
- Active development by Matrix.org
Watch out for
- Some Synapse features still missing
- Less battle-tested at large scale
Frequently asked questions
Is Continuwuity or Dendrite better?
Neither is universally better. Dendrite has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Continuwuity and Dendrite free and open-source?
Yes. Continuwuity is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Dendrite under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Continuwuity and Dendrite with Docker?
Continuwuity: yes. Dendrite: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Continuwuity or Dendrite?
Continuwuity has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Dendrite. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.