Profanity vs Syphon
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?
Profanity
Console-based XMPP client inspired by irssi
VS
Syphon
Privacy-focused Matrix client built with Flutter
| Feature | Profanity | Syphon |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | C | Dart |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,530 | ★ 1,061 |
| First released | 2012 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Slack | WhatsApp, Discord |
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
Choose Syphon if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Dart
Frequently asked questions
Is Profanity or Syphon better?
Neither is universally better. Profanity has the larger community, while Syphon is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Profanity and Syphon free and open-source?
Yes. Profanity is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Syphon under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Profanity and Syphon with Docker?
Profanity: check the project docs for container support. Syphon: check the project docs for container support.