ejabberd vs Ketesa
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?
| Feature | ejabberd | Ketesa |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Erlang | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 50 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,711 | ★ 457 |
| First released | 2002 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Slack, WhatsApp | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Ketesa if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Written in TypeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is ejabberd or Ketesa better?
Neither is universally better. ejabberd has the larger community, while Ketesa is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are ejabberd and Ketesa free and open-source?
Yes. ejabberd is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Ketesa under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ejabberd and Ketesa with Docker?
ejabberd: yes. Ketesa: check the project docs for container support.