Dendrite Lite vs Movim
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted matrix & xmpp options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Movim
Social and chat platform built on XMPP
| Feature | Dendrite Lite | Movim |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 73 · Good | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, binary | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 969 | ★ 2,055 |
| First released | 2017 | 2010 |
| Replaces | Slack, Discord | Facebook, Slack |
What are Dendrite Lite and Movim?
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
Movim
Movim is a federated social networking and instant messaging platform built on the XMPP protocol. It provides a modern web interface for chat, group conversations, and a publish-subscribe news feed.
- XMPP-based federation
- Modern web chat interface
- Built-in blogging and news feed
- OMEMO end-to-end encryption
Dendrite Lite vs Movim: key differences
Dendrite Lite is written in Go, while Movim is built with PHP. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Dendrite Lite versus AGPL-3.0 for Movim. Movim is the more established project (first released 2010), while Dendrite Lite arrived in 2017. Movim has the considerably larger community, at 2,055 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 Movim if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in PHP
Watch out for
- Requires an XMPP server
- Smaller ecosystem
Frequently asked questions
Is Dendrite Lite or Movim better?
Neither is universally better. Movim has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Dendrite Lite and Movim free and open-source?
Yes. Dendrite Lite is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Movim under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dendrite Lite and Movim with Docker?
Dendrite Lite: yes. Movim: yes.