Synapse
Server for [Matrix](https://matrix.org/), an open standard for decentralized persistent communication.
Description from awesome-selfhosted (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Still maintained? Yes: 288 commits in the last 90 days, latest release v1.164.1 (Oct 2026).
Comparisons in Communication - Custom Communication Systems: Slack alternatives, WhatsApp alternatives, Microsoft Teams alternatives, Discord alternatives.
Read the comparison: Tuwunel vs Continuwuity vs Conduit vs Synapse (2026)
At a glance
Synapse quick facts
- Health score
- 85/100 GOOD
- Stars
- 4,744
- Last commit
- today (Oct 2026)
- Latest release
- v1.164.1, Oct 2026
- Licence
- Apache-2.0
Top alternatives to Synapse
In its own words
The project's README opens: "Synapse is an open source Matrix homeserver implementation, written and maintained by Element . Matrix __ is the open standard for secure and interoperable real-time communications. You can directly run and manage the source code in this repository, available under an AGPL license (or alternatively under a commercial license from Element)."
Why it ranks here
Health score explained
Synapse scores 85/100, #22 of 44 in Communication - Custom Communication Systems: 288 commits in the last 90 days earn 35.0 of 35 points, the latest release (v1.164.1, 2 days ago) earns 25.0 of 25, 4,744 stars add 14.7 of 20, an active, unarchived repository keeps 10 and no advertised Docker image leaves the final 10 unclaimed. That places it in the good band (70 and above). The biggest shortfall is Docker support, worth 10.0 more points.
Recomputed nightly from the GitHub API. How the score is calculated.
- Commit activity 35.0 / 35
288 commits in 90 days (30+ scores full marks)
- Release recency 25.0 / 25
v1.164.1 released 2 days ago
- Stars 14.7 / 20
4.7k stars on GitHub (logarithmic)
- Not archived 10.0 / 10
Repository is active
- Docker support biggest shortfall 0.0 / 10
No Docker support advertised
Commit activity
- 288
- Last 90 days
- 921
- Last 12 months
- today
- Last push
Ranked #22 of 44 tools in Communication - Custom Communication Systems by health , between Mumble (#21) and Tox (#23) .
Details
| Licence | Apache-2.0 |
| Platforms | Python, deb |
| Latest release | v1.164.1 · 2 days ago |
| Stars | 4,744 |
| Open issues | 1,887 |
| Docker | Not advertised |
| Repository | element-hq/synapse ↗ |
Synapse vs its top 5 alternatives
Active tools that share a category with Synapse (Communication - Custom Communication Systems), scored on the same five terms.
| Tool | Health | Stars | Licence | Last commit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatwoot | 98 | 39k | ⊘ Proprietary | today |
| AnyCable | 94 | 2.4k | MIT | 9 days ago |
| Tuwunel | 94 | 2.7k | Apache-2.0 | yesterday |
| Continuwuity | 88 | 116 | Apache-2.0 | today |
| Synapse (this tool) | 85 | 4.7k | Apache-2.0 | today |
| RetroShare | 58 | 2k | GPL-2.0 | 22 days ago |
Synapse: common questions
Is Synapse still maintained?
Synapse had 288 commits in the last 90 days and its last push was today; the latest tagged release, v1.164.1, is from 2 days ago. Repoly recomputes this nightly.