ejabberd vs Metronome IM
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted matrix & xmpp options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
ejabberd
Robust, scalable XMPP messaging server
VS
Metronome IM
Lightweight, fork-based XMPP communication server
| Feature | ejabberd | Metronome IM |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 91 · Excellent | 42 · Fair |
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Erlang | Lua |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,732 | ★ 175 |
| First released | 2002 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Slack, WhatsApp | Slack, WhatsApp |
What are ejabberd and Metronome IM?
ejabberd
ejabberd is a robust and scalable XMPP server powering instant messaging, presence, and real-time communication. It targets operators running large messaging deployments. It is deployed via Docker or native packages.
- Highly scalable XMPP server
- Clustering support
- Many extension modules
- MQTT and SIP support
Metronome IM
Metronome IM is a fork of Prosody that focuses on additional features and out-of-the-box configuration for XMPP communication. It supports modern messaging extensions and microblogging.
- Prosody-based XMPP server
- Built-in PEP microblogging
- Modern XEP support
- Lightweight Lua implementation
ejabberd vs Metronome IM: key differences
Ejabberd is written in Erlang, while Metronome IM is built with Lua. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for ejabberd versus MIT for Metronome IM. Metronome IM is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for ejabberd. Ejabberd is the more established project (first released 2002), while Metronome IM arrived in 2012. Ejabberd has the considerably larger community, at 6,732 GitHub stars versus 175.
Why pick each one
Choose ejabberd if…
- Extremely scalable
- Battle-tested
- Standards-based
Watch out for
- XMPP UX depends on clients
- Advanced config is complex
Choose Metronome IM if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Lua
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Watch out for
- Smaller community than Prosody
- Niche project
Frequently asked questions
Is ejabberd or Metronome IM better?
Neither is universally better. ejabberd has the larger community, while Metronome IM is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are ejabberd and Metronome IM free and open-source?
Yes. ejabberd is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Metronome IM under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ejabberd and Metronome IM with Docker?
ejabberd: yes. Metronome IM: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, ejabberd or Metronome IM?
Metronome IM has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for ejabberd. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.