Spectrum vs Synapse
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Spectrum
Open-source platform for building online communities
VS
Synapse
Reference homeserver for the Matrix network
| Feature | Spectrum | Synapse |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Forums & Community | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 10,837 | ★ 4,503 |
| First released | 2017 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Discord, Discourse | Slack, Discord, WhatsApp |
Why pick each one
Choose Spectrum if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 10.8k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Spectrum or Synapse better?
Neither is universally better. Spectrum has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Spectrum and Synapse free and open-source?
Yes. Spectrum is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Synapse under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Spectrum and Synapse with Docker?
Spectrum: yes. Synapse: yes.