XMPP and Matrix are very similar protocols that aim to accomplish roughly the same things. I'm looking to install a server on my (quite powerful) home server in order to communicate with my tech-savy friends and my girlfriend.
I would like to use the "perfect" one between the two, but I can't come to a decision.
Pros of Matrix
- Has more functionalities (albeit as far as I know XMPP can do pretty much the same with its extensions)
- It is JSON-based which helps reduce overhead, not by much, but it's free lunch
- I can't set cryptography wrong since it's built-in
- Messages and conversations can be synchronized from other servers if mine goes down for a short while. Its state seems generally stronger than XMPP's
Pros of XMPP
- More lightweight
- Less metadata leaks and supports aliases in public MUCs
- It's more "open" (less centralized)
Which one would you pick? We don't need to shield ourselves against the CIA but I'm a privacy freak so I'd like to pretend we do. Thank you.
Go with XMPP. You already know the technical reasons—lighter, less metadata, older protocol with more time-tested decentralization. But heres the thing most people skip over: XMPP is philosophically simpler. Its designed to be federated from day one, like email. Matrix is building toward that, but theres still more of a "server as platform" assumption baked in.
For a friends-and-girlfriend group chat? They both work fine. But if youre already running your own infrastructure because you care about this stuff, XMPP is cleaner. The learning curve exists, but youre clearly technical enough to handle it.
One caveat: clients matter more with XMPP. Conversations, Gajim, Psi—pick one that actually gets updates. Matrix clients tend to be more uniformly polished.