ejabberd vs Synapse Admin
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
Synapse Admin
Web admin interface for Synapse Matrix homeservers
| Feature | ejabberd | Synapse Admin |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Erlang | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,711 | ★ 457 |
| First released | 2002 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Slack, WhatsApp | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Synapse Admin if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is ejabberd or Synapse Admin better?
Neither is universally better. ejabberd has the larger community, while Synapse Admin is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are ejabberd and Synapse Admin free and open-source?
Yes. ejabberd is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Synapse Admin under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ejabberd and Synapse Admin with Docker?
ejabberd: yes. Synapse Admin: yes.