ejabberd vs Profanity
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
Profanity
Console-based XMPP client inspired by irssi
| Feature | ejabberd | Profanity |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Erlang | C |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,711 | ★ 1,530 |
| First released | 2002 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Slack, WhatsApp | Slack |
Why pick each one
Choose Profanity if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Active community (1.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is ejabberd or Profanity better?
Neither is universally better. ejabberd has the larger community, while Profanity is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are ejabberd and Profanity free and open-source?
Yes. ejabberd is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Profanity under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ejabberd and Profanity with Docker?
ejabberd: yes. Profanity: check the project docs for container support.