ejabberd vs SimpleX Chat

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureejabberdSimpleX Chat
CategoryMatrix & XMPPChat & Communication
LicenseGPL-2.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageErlangHaskell
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 6,711★ 19,211
First released20022021
ReplacesSlack, WhatsAppSignal, WhatsApp, Telegram

Why pick each one

Choose ejabberd if…

  • Extremely scalable
  • Battle-tested
  • Standards-based
ejabberd details

Choose SimpleX Chat if…

  • Best-in-class metadata privacy
  • Run your own relays
SimpleX Chat details

Frequently asked questions

Is ejabberd or SimpleX Chat better?

SimpleX Chat is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider ejabberd if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are ejabberd and SimpleX Chat free and open-source?

Yes. ejabberd is licensed under GPL-2.0 and SimpleX Chat under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run ejabberd and SimpleX Chat with Docker?

ejabberd: yes. SimpleX Chat: yes.

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