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Mattermost vs Element: catalog facts
Mattermost	Element
Freemium The desktop client is free and open source. The Mattermost server has a free self-hosted…	Freemium The client is free and open source under the AGPL 3.0. Element Matrix Services sells…
Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Web, Self-hosted
The server is self-hosted, so message data never leaves your infrastructure Server dropdown lets one client connect to several Mattermost instances	End-to-end encryption with cross-signed device verification Federated, so you can run your own server and still reach everyone
Needs a Mattermost server, which is real infrastructure to run Electron, so memory use is high for a chat client	Encryption key management confuses people the first time they log in on a new device Heavy on memory for a chat app, and slow with many large rooms
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: Apache-2.0	License: AGPL-3.0
Account needed	Account needed
Needs internet	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.