Tuwunel vs Continuwuity vs Conduit vs Synapse (2026)

Quick answer

Tuwunel is a Matrix homeserver written in Rust, and the successor to conduwuit, a fork of Conduit whose repository was archived in April 2025. It runs as a single server on an embedded RocksDB database, and its README pitches it as a “scalable, low-cost, enterprise-ready” alternative to Synapse. Continuwuity is a second, unrelated continuation of conduwuit, run by volunteers. Conduit is the project both descend from, and Synapse is the Python and Rust server written by Element.

• Pick Tuwunel if you want a light Rust server with the most features of the three: built-in OpenID Connect login, S3 media storage, compatibility with Synapse admin tools, and a team with paid sponsorship. It is also the only one that can take over a Conduit database.
• Pick Continuwuity if you run conduwuit today or prefer a community project funded by donations, with a new release every week or two.
• Pick Conduit if you already run it and it does what you need. It is still in beta, and for a new server the two forks have moved further ahead.
• Pick Synapse if you need every Matrix feature as it lands, enterprise sign-in (SAML, CAS, LDAP or Matrix Authentication Service), workers to scale out, or paid support from Element. Expect to run PostgreSQL and give it more memory.

All four are free to self-host. Whichever you choose, pick your server name carefully: Synapse’s docs warn that it “cannot be changed later”, and none of the three Rust servers can import accounts from Synapse.

At a glance

The first five rows are live: they come from our nightly refresh of each project’s repository, the same data behind every Repoly ranking. The last three are our summary of the official docs and of matrix.org’s list of servers.

Health is our 0 to 100 maintenance score: commits in the last 90 days, release recency, stars, archive status and Docker support. The formula is on our data page. Three caveats apply here.

First, the licence row shows Synapse as Apache-2.0. That comes from our upstream dataset and is out of date. Element moved Synapse to its own repository and relicensed it in late 2023, and Synapse 1.99.0, released in January 2024, was the first release under the AGPL. Today it is dual-licensed: free under AGPL-3.0 or later, or under a paid Element commercial licence. Tuwunel, Continuwuity and Conduit are all Apache-2.0.

Second, our source data records no Docker image for Conduit or Synapse, so both miss the Docker points in their scores. Both publish official images, named in their sections below.

Third, only Tuwunel and Synapse are developed on GitHub. Continuwuity lives on its own Forgejo server and Conduit on GitLab, so their star counts are not comparable with the other two. Continuwuity also keeps a GitHub mirror, whose stars our refresh does not count.

Where Tuwunel and Continuwuity came from

Conduit came first. Its first commit dates from February 2020, and it describes itself as “a lightweight open-source server implementation of the Matrix Specification with a focus on easy setup and low system requirements”. It is still maintained, under the Famedly group on GitLab.

conduwuit was a hard fork of Conduit that, in its own words, “has existed since around November 2023”. matrix.org’s list of servers described it as a hard fork “with tons of new features, many bug fixes, huge performance improvements”. Its repository was archived in April 2025, and that list now marks it “Obsolete”.

Two projects picked it up. Tuwunel says it is “the official successor to conduwuit after it reached stability”, and conduwuit’s archived README now points to Tuwunel as its only official successor. Continuwuity calls itself “the official community continuation of the conduwuit homeserver”, started by “a group of community contributors” so the server would not disappear. The two are separate projects with separate teams. If you run conduwuit today, both offer a direct upgrade; the migration section covers which way each path works.

Tuwunel

Tuwunel’s README calls it “a featureful Matrix homeserver you can use instead of Synapse”, written in Rust and “fully implementing the Matrix Specification for all but the most niche uses”. It is developed by the matrix-construct organisation on GitHub and licensed Apache-2.0.

Strengths. It has paid backing: the README says it “is primarily sponsored by the government of Switzerland where it is currently deployed for citizens”, and that it “is now used by many companies”. It also has the widest feature list of the three. It ships “a built-in OAuth 2.0 / OpenID Connect authorization server” for the next-generation Matrix login, can sign users in through an external identity provider such as GitHub, Google, Keycloak, Authelia or Authentik, and supports JWT login. Media can live on the local disk or on S3-compatible storage, with several providers “active simultaneously”. It serves Synapse’s admin API at /_synapse/admin “so that existing Matrix server administration tools work against it”, naming the synapse-admin dashboard and the Draupnir moderation bot among them. It supports Element X through simplified sliding sync, and Element Call through an external LiveKit server. On speed, its docs cite an independent academic study in which “a single Tuwunel process” outperformed “an 18-worker Synapse deployment” on /sync in all three lazy-loading tests under heavy load, while Synapse led in the full-state test. Packaging is broad: Docker images (jevolk/tuwunel and ghcr.io/matrix-construct/tuwunel), static binaries, Debian, Ubuntu and RPM packages, the AUR, Nix and NixOS, Alpine, Gentoo and the matrix-docker-ansible-deploy playbook.

Weaknesses. “RocksDB is the only supported database”: SQLite support has been removed, and there is no PostgreSQL option. You cannot move a Synapse server to it yet; the README says that migration is “planned and an important issue”, but not available. LDAP is “a compile-time feature”, not part of the default build. For calls you run LiveKit yourself, because Tuwunel “does not embed an SFU”. The disagreement over who succeeds conduwuit is also worth knowing about when you read forum threads, though it changes nothing about running the software.

Who it suits. Individuals, communities and companies who want a fast single server with single sign-on, object storage and familiar admin tools, and anyone moving off conduwuit or Conduit.

Project health. Tuwunel scores 94/100 (GOOD) in our data, with 1,066 commits in the last 90 days, 70 open issues and v1.9.4 as the latest release. It uses ordinary version numbers (1.0.0 shipped in June 2025), and the README says “only tagged releases are true releases”.

Continuwuity

Continuwuity’s README heading reads “A community-driven Matrix homeserver”. Its team describes itself as Matrix enthusiasts, developers and system administrators who used conduwuit, including some of its previous contributors. It is written in Rust and licensed Apache-2.0.

Strengths. It moves quickly: “Every week or two, a new release is cut”, and since v26.6.0 in July 2026 versions are dated, so v26.9.1 is from September 2026. Moving from conduwuit is a drop-in replacement. It supports Element X through simplified sliding sync, Element Call through an external LiveKit server, and the newer OAuth login, which arrived natively in v26.6.0. Sign-in can also be delegated to Authentik, Kanidm or Keycloak. Push notifications include UnifiedPush. Packaging covers OCI images (forgejo.ellis.link/continuwuation/continuwuity, mirrored on ghcr.io and Docker Hub), x86_64 and aarch64 binaries, Debian and Ubuntu packages, RPMs for Fedora and openSUSE, the AUR, Nixpkgs and NixOS. Its site describes it as “light and fast, using a fraction of the resources of other major homeservers”, though it gives no figures.

Weaknesses. It is run by volunteers: “Everything is built by people who care about the project volunteering their free time”, funded by donations through Open Collective. Like Tuwunel it supports only RocksDB. v26.6.0 “Removed support for LDAP”, along with guest registration. If you delegate sign-in to an identity provider, Continuwuity “will disable its support for legacy logins”, so “Only clients that support OAuth” can log in. We found no S3 media storage in its docs, and no Synapse-compatible admin API; administration happens through commands in an admin room. It cannot take over a Conduit or Synapse database. One naming quirk: “The binary for Continuwuity is called conduwuit, and the configuration file conduwuit.toml.”

Who it suits. People moving off conduwuit, and small communities who prefer a volunteer, community-governed project with frequent releases.

Project health. Continuwuity scores 88/100 (GOOD), with 288 commits in the last 90 days on forgejo.ellis.link and v26.9.1 as the latest release.

Conduit

Conduit’s README calls it “A Matrix homeserver written in Rust”, and suggests installing it “on a mini-computer like the Raspberry Pi to host Matrix for your family”. It is licensed Apache-2.0, and its README thanks FUTO, Famedly and the Prototype Fund for financial support.

Strengths. It is the simplest of the four and the only Rust server here that still offers SQLite as well as RocksDB, which suits a very small install. Simplified sliding sync arrived in v0.10.0 in May 2025, so Element X works. Official Docker images are published at registry.gitlab.com/famedly/conduit/matrix-conduit and docker.io/matrixconduit/matrix-conduit, with static binaries and Debian packages for x86_64 and aarch64, and a NixOS module. It is still maintained: recent 0.10.x releases have been mostly security fixes.

Weaknesses. “Conduit is Beta, meaning you can join and participate in most Matrix rooms, but not all features are supported and you might run into bugs from time to time.” The README lists missing features, including “Outgoing read receipts, typing, presence over federation” and “E2EE emoji comparison over federation”. Its FAQ says it “doesn’t support room versions 1 and 2 at all, and doesn’t properly support versions 3-5”. We found no single sign-on, OpenID Connect or LDAP login in its docs, only passwords and JWT, and no support for Element Call. S3 media storage is documented on its development branch but is not in a release yet.

Who it suits. Families and small groups already running it on modest hardware. For a new server, Tuwunel can migrate a Conduit RocksDB database later if you outgrow it.

Project health. Conduit scores 56/100 (SLOWING) in our data, with 8 commits in the last 90 days on GitLab and v0.10.15 as the latest release.

Synapse

Synapse’s README says it “is an open source Matrix homeserver implementation, written and maintained by Element”. It is written in Python on Twisted, with parts in Rust, and ships as part of Element’s own Element Server Suite.

Strengths. It has the broadest feature set and gets new Matrix features first. Native simplified sliding sync for Element X has been on by default since 1.114.0 in September 2024. The Matrix Authentication Service (MAS), Element’s server for the next-generation OAuth login, “only supports Synapse”. Synapse itself “supports single sign-on through the SAML, Open ID Connect or CAS protocols”, with LDAP through modules such as matrix-synapse-ldap3. It has a full admin API, bridges through application services, and Element Call through LiveKit. Small servers run as one process; larger ones can “split out functionality into multiple separate python processes” called workers. Releases follow “a two week release cycle”. Official installs include the matrixdotorg/synapse and ghcr.io/element-hq/synapse Docker images, Debian and Ubuntu packages from packages.matrix.org, and PyPI. Element also offers paid support, which its README says is the only kind: “There is no support provided by Element unless you have a subscription from Element.”

Weaknesses. It is the heaviest to run. The docs say “Almost all installations should opt to use PostgreSQL” and “SQLite is only acceptable for testing purposes”, and Synapse needs PostgreSQL 14 or newer and Python 3.10 or newer. Its admin FAQ admits “Synapse’s architecture is quite RAM hungry currently”, and the install guide asks for “at least 1GB of free RAM if you want to join large public rooms”. Workers need PostgreSQL and a Redis server. Some Element Call features still need experimental flags. The AGPL licence matters if you plan to modify Synapse and offer it as a service. Element’s Kubernetes packaging, ESS Community, is described as “tailored to small-/mid-scale, non-commercial community use cases with up to 100 users”; its paid edition uses Synapse Pro, a commercial version for which Element claims a “5x smaller” memory footprint.

Who it suits. Organisations that need enterprise sign-in, the newest Matrix features as they land, scale-out with workers, or a support contract.

Project health. Synapse scores 85/100 (GOOD), with 288 commits in the last 90 days, 1,887 open issues and v1.164.1 as the latest release.

Head-to-head comparison

Resource use. The three Rust servers all claim to be lighter than Synapse, and Synapse’s own docs call it “RAM hungry”. Only Tuwunel cites measurements, from one academic study, and that study found Synapse faster in one of its four tests. If memory is tight, a Rust server is the safer bet; if you expect to grow past one machine, Synapse’s workers are the documented path.

Login. If your organisation already has an identity provider, Synapse with MAS and Tuwunel’s built-in OpenID Connect server are the strongest options. Continuwuity supports OAuth but drops older clients once sign-in is delegated. Conduit has no single sign-on.

Administration. Synapse’s admin API is what most third-party admin dashboards and moderation bots are written for. Tuwunel serves a compatible version of it; Continuwuity and Conduit are run through commands in an admin room.

Governance. Synapse is a company product under a copyleft licence with a commercial option. Tuwunel is funded by sponsors and companies. Continuwuity is volunteer-run. Conduit is maintained under the Famedly group on GitLab, with support from FUTO, Famedly and the Prototype Fund.

Migrating between them

There is no supported path from Synapse to any of the Rust servers. Conduit’s FAQ answers “Not really. You can reuse the domain of your current server with Conduit, but you will not be able to migrate accounts automatically”, and adds that rooms can be rejoined through other servers but “media and the like may be deleted from remote servers after some time”. Tuwunel says Synapse migration is “Not yet” available, and Continuwuity says “No”. Moving off Synapse means starting a new server, so decide before you build a community on one.

Among the Conduit family, each project documents what it accepts:

• conduwuit to Tuwunel: supported. Tuwunel calls it a “binary swap”, promised “at a minimum for one year, but likely indefinitely”.
• conduwuit to Continuwuity: supported; its README lists conduwuit as “Yes”.
• Conduit to Tuwunel: supported for RocksDB databases, which “migrate in place on first boot”.
• Conduit to Continuwuity: not supported; its README says the “database is now incompatible”.
• Continuwuity to Tuwunel: Tuwunel’s table accepts “a fork of conduwuit”, which covers Continuwuity. Continuwuity documents no way back.

Tuwunel’s README also warns: “Always back up your database before migrating”, because “Switching a database between two other forks of Conduit can still permanently corrupt it”. Take a copy of the RocksDB directory before any switch.

FAQ

What is Tuwunel?

Tuwunel is an open-source Matrix homeserver written in Rust and licensed Apache-2.0. It is the successor to conduwuit, which was itself a fork of Conduit, and matrix.org lists it as Stable. You run it on your own server so that you and your users can chat with anyone on the Matrix network from clients such as Element.

Is conduwuit still maintained?

No. conduwuit’s repository was archived in April 2025, and matrix.org marks it obsolete. Tuwunel and Continuwuity both continue it, and both can take over a conduwuit database.

Tuwunel vs Continuwuity: which should I choose?

They share a codebase and a database engine, so the difference is the project behind them. Tuwunel has sponsorship and the wider feature set: S3 media, LDAP as an option, and Synapse admin API compatibility. Continuwuity is volunteer-run and releases every week or two. Both are listed as Stable by matrix.org.

Can I migrate from Synapse to Tuwunel?

Not yet. Tuwunel lists migration from Synapse as planned, and Continuwuity and Conduit do not offer it. Moving off Synapse means setting up a new server and rejoining rooms.

Do these servers work with Element X?

Yes. All four support simplified sliding sync, which Element X needs: Synapse since 1.114.0, Conduit since 0.10.0, and Tuwunel and Continuwuity in current releases.

Do I need PostgreSQL?

Only for Synapse, which says SQLite is for testing only. Tuwunel and Continuwuity use an embedded RocksDB database, and Conduit uses RocksDB or SQLite, so none of the three needs a separate database server.

Verdict

Choose Tuwunel for a fast, light single server with the most features among the Rust options, or to move off conduwuit or Conduit. Choose Continuwuity if you are on conduwuit and prefer a volunteer-run community project. Keep Conduit if it already serves your family well, but expect it to trail the forks. Choose Synapse when you need enterprise sign-in, workers to scale out, the newest features first or paid support from Element.

You will also need a client: see Element, or browse every self-hosted server in our custom communication systems category, ranked by health. Matrix servers with bridges also appear among our open source WhatsApp alternatives.

Sources

• Tuwunel README and migration table: github.com/matrix-construct/tuwunel
• Tuwunel docs: matrix-construct.github.io/tuwunel
• Tuwunel deploying, database and packages: docs/deploying.md
• Tuwunel OpenID Connect server: docs/authentication/oidc-server.md
• Tuwunel LDAP: docs/authentication/ldap.md
• Tuwunel media storage: docs/media/storage.md
• Tuwunel MatrixRTC and Element Call: docs/calls/matrix_rtc.md
• Tuwunel Synapse admin API compatibility: docs/development/compliance/synapse-admin.md
• Tuwunel performance study: docs/introduction.md and doi.org/10.5753/sbrc.2026.19722
• Continuwuity README and migration list: forgejo.ellis.link/continuwuation/continuwuity
• Continuwuity docs: continuwuity.org
• Continuwuity changelog: CHANGELOG.md
• Continuwuity delegated authentication: docs/authentication/oidc.mdx
• Conduit README: gitlab.com/famedly/conduit
• Conduit FAQ: docs/faq.md
• Conduit site: conduit.rs
• conduwuit (archived): github.com/x86pup/conduwuit
• Synapse README and licence: github.com/element-hq/synapse
• Synapse installation: element-hq.github.io/synapse/latest/setup/installation.html
• Synapse workers: element-hq.github.io/synapse/latest/workers.html
• Synapse admin FAQ: element-hq.github.io/synapse/latest/usage/administration/admin_faq.html
• Synapse single sign-on: element-hq.github.io/synapse/latest/usage/configuration/user_authentication/single_sign_on/
• Synapse release cycle: element-hq.github.io/synapse/latest/development/releases.html
• Synapse 2024 changelog (AGPL from 1.99.0, sliding sync in 1.114.0): CHANGES-2024.md
• Element’s licence change: element.io/blog/element-to-adopt-agplv3
• Matrix Authentication Service and Synapse: element-hq.github.io/matrix-authentication-service/setup/homeserver.html
• Element Server Suite editions: github.com/element-hq/ess-helm
• Synapse Pro: element.io/server-suite/synapse-pro
• matrix.org list of servers and maturity labels: matrix.org/ecosystem/servers
• Live health, stars, commits and releases: Repoly open data, refreshed nightly