Dendrite Lite vs Dendrite
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted matrix & xmpp options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Dendrite Lite | Dendrite |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 73 · Good | 15 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, binary | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 969 | ★ 5,625 |
| First released | 2017 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Slack, Discord | Slack, Discord |
What are Dendrite Lite and Dendrite?
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
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
Dendrite Lite vs Dendrite: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Dendrite's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Dendrite Lite is actively maintained. Both projects are written in Go. Dendrite has the considerably larger community, at 5,625 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 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 Dendrite Lite 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 Dendrite Lite and Dendrite free and open-source?
Yes. Dendrite Lite is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Dendrite under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dendrite Lite and Dendrite with Docker?
Dendrite Lite: yes. Dendrite: yes.