Element Web vs Synapse
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?
Compare Element Web with
choose an app… Rocket.Chat Mattermost Zulip Tinode Spectrum Let's Chat BigBlueButton Mumble Matterbridge ejabberd The Lounge Dendrite Cinny WeeChat Ergo Converse.js Revolt irssi Openfire FluffyChat Tox Dino Nheko Tuwunel La Suite - Meet Conduit Spacebar Nextcloud Talk ZNC Movim Twake Workplace mautrix-whatsapp MongooseIM gomuks Profanity InspIRCd Convos IRC Syphon Element Call KiwiIRC Dendrite Lite Bonfire Element X Fractal Maubot Mumble Web JSXC Hydrogen matrix-nio Continuwuity mautrix-signal CoyIM Gajim Miaou mautrix-discord SchildiChat Ketesa Synapse Admin jabberd2 Mjolnir Construct Tigase XMPP Server Pantalaimon Sliding Sync Proxy matrix-appservice-slack Coqui Chat Synapse-MAS aioxmpp Poezio Slidge Sygnal Metronome IM matrix-corporal PeerTube Plugin LiveChat Commet go-sendxmpp Simple-Matrix-Bot-Lib Monocles Chat Openfire Pade Plugin Prose conduwuit Prosody
Compare Synapse with
choose an app… Rocket.Chat Mattermost Zulip SimpleX Chat Tinode Spectrum Let's Chat Berty Mumble Matterbridge ejabberd The Lounge Dendrite qTox Cinny WeeChat Ergo Converse.js Revolt irssi Openfire FluffyChat Quicksy Bridge Tox Dino Nheko Tuwunel Conduit Spacebar Nextcloud Talk ZNC Movim mautrix-whatsapp MongooseIM gomuks Profanity InspIRCd Toxic Convos IRC Syphon Element Call KiwiIRC Dendrite Lite Bonfire Delta Chat Element X Fractal Maubot Briar Mumble Web JSXC Hydrogen matrix-nio Continuwuity mautrix-signal CoyIM Gajim Miaou Session mautrix-discord Chatmail Chatmail Relay SchildiChat Ketesa Synapse Admin jabberd2 Mjolnir Snikket Construct Tigase XMPP Server Pantalaimon Sliding Sync Proxy matrix-appservice-slack Coqui Chat Synapse-MAS Wesh Network aioxmpp Poezio Slidge Sygnal Metronome IM matrix-corporal PeerTube Plugin LiveChat Commet go-sendxmpp Simple-Matrix-Bot-Lib Monocles Chat Openfire Pade Plugin Prose conduwuit Prosody
Feature Element Web Synapse Category Matrix & XMPP Matrix & XMPP License AGPL-3.0 AGPL-3.0 Language TypeScript Python Setup difficulty Easy Hard Min. RAM 128 MB 1,024 MB Deployment docker, bare-metal, source docker, bare-metal GitHub stars ★ 13,353 ★ 4,503 First released 2016 2014 Replaces Slack, Discord, Microsoft Teams Slack, Discord, WhatsApp
Why pick each one
Choose Synapse if… Open federated protocol Strong encryption Bridges to other chats Synapse details
Frequently asked questions Is Element Web or Synapse better? Element Web is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Synapse if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Element Web and Synapse free and open-source? Yes. Element Web is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Synapse under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Element Web and Synapse with Docker? Element Web: yes. Synapse: yes.