Hydrogen 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?
| Feature | Hydrogen | Dendrite |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 50 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 709 | ★ 5,632 |
| First released | 2023 | 2017 |
| Replaces | — | Slack, Discord |
Why pick each one
Choose Hydrogen if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in TypeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Hydrogen or Dendrite better?
Neither is universally better. Dendrite has the larger community, while Hydrogen is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Hydrogen and Dendrite free and open-source?
Yes. Hydrogen is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Dendrite under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Hydrogen and Dendrite with Docker?
Hydrogen: check the project docs for container support. Dendrite: yes.