gomuks 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?
gomuks
Terminal-based Matrix client written in Go
VS
Synapse
Reference homeserver for the Matrix network
| Feature | gomuks | Synapse |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,706 | ★ 4,503 |
| First released | 2018 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Slack, Discord | Slack, Discord, WhatsApp |
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 Synapse better?
Neither is universally better. Synapse 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 Synapse free and open-source?
Yes. gomuks is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Synapse under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run gomuks and Synapse with Docker?
gomuks: check the project docs for container support. Synapse: yes.