Prosody vs Synapse
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 | Prosody | Synapse |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 10 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | — | ★ 4,503 |
| First released | 2023 | 2014 |
| Replaces | — | Slack, Discord, WhatsApp |
Why pick each one
Choose Prosody if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Tiny footprint — runs in 10 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Prosody or Synapse better?
Neither is universally better. Synapse has the larger community, while Prosody is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Prosody and Synapse free and open-source?
Yes. Prosody is licensed under MIT and Synapse under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Prosody and Synapse with Docker?
Prosody: check the project docs for container support. Synapse: yes.