Hydrogen vs Openfire
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 | Openfire |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 50 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 709 | ★ 3,052 |
| First released | 2023 | 2004 |
| Replaces | — | Slack, Microsoft Teams |
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 Openfire better?
Neither is universally better. Openfire 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 Openfire free and open-source?
Yes. Hydrogen is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Openfire under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Hydrogen and Openfire with Docker?
Hydrogen: check the project docs for container support. Openfire: yes.