Dino vs Synapse
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted matrix & xmpp options
— licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one
replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Compare Dino with
choose an app… Rocket.Chat Mattermost Zulip Tinode Element Web Let's Chat Matterbridge ejabberd The Lounge Dendrite qTox Cinny WeeChat Ergo Converse.js irssi Openfire FluffyChat Tox Nheko Tuwunel Conduit Nextcloud Talk ZNC Movim Peer-calls mautrix-whatsapp MongooseIM gomuks Profanity Toxic Convos IRC Syphon Element Call Dendrite Lite Element X Fractal Maubot JSXC Hydrogen matrix-nio Continuwuity mautrix-signal CoyIM Spark IM Gajim Linphone mautrix-discord SchildiChat Ketesa Synapse Admin Jangouts jabberd2 Mjolnir Jami Server Bridge Construct Tigase XMPP Server Pantalaimon Sliding Sync Proxy matrix-appservice-slack Coqui Chat Synapse-MAS aioxmpp Poezio Slidge Sygnal Metronome IM matrix-corporal PeerTube Plugin LiveChat Commet go-sendxmpp Simple-Matrix-Bot-Lib Monocles Chat Openfire Pade Plugin Prose Jami conduwuit Prosody
Compare Synapse with
choose an app… Rocket.Chat Mattermost Zulip SimpleX Chat Tinode Element Web Spectrum Let's Chat Berty Mumble Matterbridge ejabberd The Lounge Dendrite qTox Cinny WeeChat Ergo Converse.js Revolt irssi Openfire FluffyChat Quicksy Bridge Tox Nheko Tuwunel Conduit Spacebar Nextcloud Talk ZNC Movim mautrix-whatsapp MongooseIM gomuks Profanity InspIRCd Toxic Convos IRC Syphon Element Call KiwiIRC Dendrite Lite Bonfire Delta Chat Element X Fractal Maubot Briar Mumble Web JSXC Hydrogen matrix-nio Continuwuity mautrix-signal CoyIM Gajim Miaou Session mautrix-discord Chatmail Chatmail Relay SchildiChat Ketesa Synapse Admin jabberd2 Mjolnir Snikket Construct Tigase XMPP Server Pantalaimon Sliding Sync Proxy matrix-appservice-slack Coqui Chat Synapse-MAS Wesh Network aioxmpp Poezio Slidge Sygnal Metronome IM matrix-corporal PeerTube Plugin LiveChat Commet go-sendxmpp Simple-Matrix-Bot-Lib Monocles Chat Openfire Pade Plugin Prose conduwuit Prosody
Feature Dino Synapse Category Matrix & XMPP Matrix & XMPP License GPL-3.0 AGPL-3.0 Language Vala Python Setup difficulty Easy Hard Min. RAM 128 MB 1,024 MB Deployment binary, source docker, bare-metal GitHub stars ★ 2,472 ★ 4,503 First released 2017 2014 Replaces Skype, Slack Slack, Discord, WhatsApp
Why pick each one
Choose Dino if… Released under the GPL-3.0 license Easy to set up — beginner-friendly Active community (2.5k GitHub stars) Written in Vala Dino details Choose Synapse if… Open federated protocol Strong encryption Bridges to other chats Synapse details
Frequently asked questions Is Dino or Synapse better? Neither is universally better. Synapse has the larger community, while Dino is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Dino and Synapse free and open-source? Yes. Dino is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Synapse under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dino and Synapse with Docker? Dino: check the project docs for container support. Synapse: yes.