ejabberd vs Tuwunel
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
Tuwunel
Simple, fast and reliable chat server powered by Matrix based on
| Feature | ejabberd | Tuwunel |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Erlang | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 50 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,711 | ★ 2,407 |
| First released | 2002 | 2025 |
| Replaces | Slack, WhatsApp | Conduit, Dendrite, Synapse |
Why pick each one
Choose Tuwunel if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Active community (2.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is ejabberd or Tuwunel better?
Neither is universally better. ejabberd has the larger community, while Tuwunel is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are ejabberd and Tuwunel free and open-source?
Yes. ejabberd is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Tuwunel under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ejabberd and Tuwunel with Docker?
ejabberd: yes. Tuwunel: check the project docs for container support.