Dendrite vs Profanity
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?
Dendrite
Second-generation Matrix homeserver written in Go
VS
Profanity
Console-based XMPP client inspired by irssi
| Feature | Dendrite | Profanity |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,632 | ★ 1,530 |
| First released | 2017 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Slack, Discord | Slack |
Why pick each one
Choose Profanity if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Active community (1.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Dendrite or Profanity 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 Dendrite and Profanity free and open-source?
Yes. Dendrite is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Profanity under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dendrite and Profanity with Docker?
Dendrite: yes. Profanity: check the project docs for container support.