Profanity vs ZNC
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?
| Feature | Profanity | ZNC |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | C | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,530 | ★ 2,123 |
| First released | 2012 | 2004 |
| Replaces | Slack | IRCCloud |
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 Profanity or ZNC better?
Neither is universally better. ZNC has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Profanity and ZNC free and open-source?
Yes. Profanity is licensed under GPL-3.0 and ZNC under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Profanity and ZNC with Docker?
Profanity: check the project docs for container support. ZNC: yes.