Convos IRC vs Tuwunel
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?
Convos IRC
Always-online web IRC client you can self-host
VS
Tuwunel
Simple, fast and reliable chat server powered by Matrix based on
| Feature | Convos IRC | Tuwunel |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | Artistic-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 50 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,188 | ★ 2,407 |
| First released | 2012 | 2025 |
| Replaces | Slack, IRCCloud | Conduit, Dendrite, Synapse |
Why pick each one
Choose Tuwunel if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Active community (2.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Convos IRC or Tuwunel better?
Neither is universally better. Tuwunel has the larger community, while Convos IRC is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Convos IRC and Tuwunel free and open-source?
Yes. Convos IRC is licensed under Artistic-2.0 and Tuwunel under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Convos IRC and Tuwunel with Docker?
Convos IRC: yes. Tuwunel: check the project docs for container support.