Profanity 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?
Profanity
Console-based XMPP client inspired by irssi
VS
Tuwunel
Simple, fast and reliable chat server powered by Matrix based on
| Feature | Profanity | Tuwunel |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | C | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 50 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,530 | ★ 2,407 |
| First released | 2012 | 2025 |
| Replaces | Slack | Conduit, Dendrite, Synapse |
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 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 Profanity or Tuwunel better?
Neither is universally better. Tuwunel has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Profanity and Tuwunel free and open-source?
Yes. Profanity is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Tuwunel under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Profanity and Tuwunel with Docker?
Profanity: check the project docs for container support. Tuwunel: check the project docs for container support.