ejabberd vs gomuks
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?
ejabberd
Robust, scalable XMPP messaging server
VS
gomuks
Terminal-based Matrix client written in Go
| Feature | ejabberd | gomuks |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | GPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Erlang | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,711 | ★ 1,706 |
| First released | 2002 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Slack, WhatsApp | Slack, Discord |
Why pick each one
Choose gomuks if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is ejabberd or gomuks better?
Neither is universally better. ejabberd has the larger community, while gomuks is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are ejabberd and gomuks free and open-source?
Yes. ejabberd is licensed under GPL-2.0 and gomuks under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ejabberd and gomuks with Docker?
ejabberd: yes. gomuks: check the project docs for container support.