Ketesa 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?
Ketesa
Admin UI for Matrix homeservers
VS
Dendrite
Second-generation Matrix homeserver written in Go
| Feature | Ketesa | Dendrite |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 50 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 457 | ★ 5,632 |
| First released | 2023 | 2017 |
| Replaces | — | Slack, Discord |
Why pick each one
Choose Ketesa if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Written in TypeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Ketesa or Dendrite better?
Neither is universally better. Dendrite has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Ketesa and Dendrite free and open-source?
Yes. Ketesa is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Dendrite under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ketesa and Dendrite with Docker?
Ketesa: check the project docs for container support. Dendrite: yes.