Continuwuity vs Profanity
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
Profanity
Console-based XMPP client inspired by irssi
| Feature | Continuwuity | Profanity |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 700 | ★ 1,542 |
| First released | 2024 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Slack, Discord | Slack |
What are Continuwuity and Profanity?
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
Profanity
Profanity is a console XMPP client whose interface is inspired by irssi. It supports OMEMO and OTR encryption, group chats, and a fully keyboard-driven workflow for the terminal.
- Terminal interface
- OMEMO and OTR encryption
- Keyboard-driven workflow
- Plugin support
Continuwuity vs Profanity: key differences
Continuwuity is written in Rust, while Profanity is built with C. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Continuwuity versus GPL-3.0 for Profanity. Profanity is the lighter option, starting around 32 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Continuwuity. Profanity is the more established project (first released 2012), while Continuwuity arrived in 2024. Profanity has the considerably larger community, at 1,542 GitHub stars versus 700. Continuwuity lists first-class Docker deployment; Profanity does not.
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 Profanity if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Active community (1.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Continuwuity or Profanity better?
Neither is universally better. Profanity has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Continuwuity and Profanity free and open-source?
Yes. Continuwuity is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Profanity under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Continuwuity and Profanity with Docker?
Continuwuity: yes. Profanity: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Continuwuity or Profanity?
Profanity has the smaller minimum footprint at 32 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Continuwuity. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.