gomuks vs Dendrite
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?
gomuks
Terminal-based Matrix client written in Go
VS
Dendrite
Second-generation Matrix homeserver written in Go
| Feature | gomuks | Dendrite |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,706 | ★ 5,632 |
| First released | 2018 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Slack, Discord | Slack, Discord |
Why pick each one
Choose gomuks if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is gomuks or Dendrite better?
Neither is universally better. Dendrite has the larger community, while gomuks is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are gomuks and Dendrite free and open-source?
Yes. gomuks is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Dendrite under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run gomuks and Dendrite with Docker?
gomuks: check the project docs for container support. Dendrite: yes.