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Synapse vs Conduit: catalog facts
Synapse	Conduit
Free Free under the AGPL; Element sells commercial licenses, support subscriptions and ESS Pro.	Free Free and open source, funded by donations.
Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Reference Matrix homeserver maintained by Element Works with any Matrix client	Single binary with an embedded database Low system requirements
Running a homeserver takes server administration work No support from Element without a paid subscription	Still in beta and missing some smaller features Requires a server you administer
Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Open source	Open source
License: AGPL-3.0	License not stated
Not stated if an account is needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026

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