Dendrite Lite vs ejabberd
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted matrix & xmpp options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
ejabberd
Robust, scalable XMPP messaging server
| Feature | Dendrite Lite | ejabberd |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 73 · Good | 91 · Excellent |
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Erlang |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, binary | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 969 | ★ 6,732 |
| First released | 2017 | 2002 |
| Replaces | Slack, Discord | Slack, WhatsApp |
What are Dendrite Lite and ejabberd?
Dendrite Lite
A Matrix homeserver implementation in Go designed to be efficient and easy to run for small to medium communities. It speaks the Matrix federation protocol so users can chat across the wider network.
- Matrix federation
- End-to-end encryption
- Lower resource use
- Single binary deployment
ejabberd
ejabberd is a robust and scalable XMPP server powering instant messaging, presence, and real-time communication. It targets operators running large messaging deployments. It is deployed via Docker or native packages.
- Highly scalable XMPP server
- Clustering support
- Many extension modules
- MQTT and SIP support
Dendrite Lite vs ejabberd: key differences
Dendrite Lite is written in Go, while ejabberd is built with Erlang. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Dendrite Lite versus GPL-2.0 for ejabberd. Ejabberd is the more established project (first released 2002), while Dendrite Lite arrived in 2017. Ejabberd has the considerably larger community, at 6,732 GitHub stars versus 969.
Why pick each one
Choose Dendrite Lite if…
- Lighter than Synapse
- Open standard protocol
Watch out for
- Some features still maturing
- Smaller deployment base
Choose ejabberd if…
- Extremely scalable
- Battle-tested
- Standards-based
Watch out for
- XMPP UX depends on clients
- Advanced config is complex
Frequently asked questions
Is Dendrite Lite or ejabberd better?
Neither is universally better. ejabberd has the larger community, while Dendrite Lite is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Dendrite Lite and ejabberd free and open-source?
Yes. Dendrite Lite is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ejabberd under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dendrite Lite and ejabberd with Docker?
Dendrite Lite: yes. ejabberd: yes.