Alternatives to ejabberd

An open-source XMPP server, MQTT broker and SIP service written in Erlang. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.

Replacements

Listings that take over the same core job as ejabberd.

  • Prosody

    A lightweight open-source XMPP chat server written in Lua that you run yourself.

    FreeOpen sourceSelf-hosted

    Prosody is a lightweight MIT-licensed XMPP server in Lua with simple setup and low resource use, but it does not include MQTT or SIP services.

  • Openfire

    An open-source XMPP chat server you host yourself, administered through a web console.

    FreeOpen sourceSelf-hosted

    Openfire is an Apache-2.0 XMPP server administered through a web console with plugins, but lacks ejabberd's built-in MQTT and SIP services.

  • Snikket

    A self-hosted XMPP messaging service with apps, built for families, friends and small groups.

    FreeOpen sourceSelf-hosted

    Snikket is a self-hosted XMPP service with its own apps, built for families and small groups rather than large organisations or millions of sessions.

  • Tinode

    An open-source instant messaging platform with a Go server you can host yourself and mobile and web clients.

    FreeOpen sourceAndroidiOSWebSelf-hosted

    Tinode is a self-hostable Go messaging server with its own mobile and web clients instead of XMPP, and can run in a cluster.

Also worth comparing

These listings name ejabberd as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.

  • Synapse

    A self-hosted Matrix homeserver, written in Python and Rust and maintained by Element.

    FreeOpen sourceSelf-hosted

    ejabberd switches to an Erlang-based XMPP server that also offers MQTT and SIP and scales to millions of sessions, with a more complex setup.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.