ejabberd vs Sygnal
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
Sygnal
Reference push notification gateway for Matrix
| Feature | ejabberd | Sygnal |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Erlang | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,711 | ★ 192 |
| First released | 2002 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Slack, WhatsApp | Firebase Cloud Messaging |
Why pick each one
Choose Sygnal if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is ejabberd or Sygnal better?
Neither is universally better. ejabberd has the larger community, while Sygnal is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are ejabberd and Sygnal free and open-source?
Yes. ejabberd is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Sygnal under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ejabberd and Sygnal with Docker?
ejabberd: yes. Sygnal: yes.