Cinny vs Mattermost (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Cinny if

• Fits if you already have a Matrix account and want a lighter client
• Works for people who want Matrix in a browser or on a desktop

Look elsewhere if

• Not for you if you have no Matrix server, as you need an account on one
• Skip it if you want a phone app, as none is listed
• Watch out: server limits and features come from your Matrix server
• Watch out: some Matrix features may be missing, as the site says more are still to come

Pick Mattermost if

• Fits if your chat has to stay on your own servers or on an air-gapped network
• Works for technical teams who can run and maintain their own server

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if nobody on the team wants to run a server, as it's self-hosted by design
• Not for you if you want to see a price before talking to anyone, because every paid license is quoted by sales
• Tight if you rely on the free Entry mode, which only shows the latest 10,000 channel messages and has community support
• Watch out: Team Edition has no single sign-on, and the vendor doesn't recommend it for sensitive work
• Pricey if you need workflow automation or boards, as both start on Enterprise, sold as prepaid annual seats

Cinny

• Cinny is a client only; you need an account on a Matrix homeserver, and server limits and features come from that server.
• The project's GitHub page lists desktop installers but no iOS or Android app.
• The source is under the AGPL-3.0 license, and a Dockerfile is in the repository for hosting it yourself.
• The site says more features are still to come, so some Matrix features may be missing.

Mattermost

• No prices are published: Professional, Enterprise and Enterprise Advanced are quoted by sales and sold as prepaid annual seat subscriptions.
• Entry shows only the latest 10,000 channel messages and has community support only; the vendor suggests it for teams of fewer than 50 users.
• It is self-hosted by design; the only vendor-hosted option described is single-tenant Mattermost Cloud Enterprise, arranged through sales.
• Team Edition has no single sign-on, and the vendor does not recommend it for government or sensitive commercial workloads.

Cinny

Matrix client

It connects to Matrix, so you sign in with an account on any Matrix server rather than a Cinny-run service.

Encrypted chat

The site says conversations are protected by end-to-end encryption.

DMs separate from channels

Direct messages are kept apart from channels to reduce clutter.

Themes

The home page shows selectable light and other themes.

Web and desktop

The web app is at app.cinny.in, and installers for macOS, Windows and Linux are on the desktop project's GitHub releases.

Mattermost

Channel-based messaging

1-1 and group messages, public and private channels, threaded discussions, file sharing and search across web, desktop and mobile, in 20 languages.

Playbooks

Repeatable playbooks for incident response, change management and compliance, with conditional checklists and escalation. The pricing page lists workflow automation from Enterprise.

Calls and screen sharing

1:1 audio calls with screen sharing are in every paid package, and group calls support about 50 concurrent users per self-hosted server. A 40-minute call limit is planned for Entry.

Boards

Kanban, table, calendar and gallery boards for assigning and tracking tasks next to the conversation. The pricing page lists work management from Enterprise.

AI agents

Agents summarize conversations and take actions using an LLM provider the customer chooses, or a self-hosted model in air-gapped environments.

Integrations and API

A REST API with an OpenAPI 3.0 spec, webhooks, slash commands and a plugin platform, with prebuilt integrations for tools such as Jira, GitHub and GitLab.

Cinny

• Free$0

  The full client, with optional donations through Open Collective, GitHub Sponsors or Liberapay.

Mattermost

• Entry$0

  Free mode of the Enterprise Edition: Enterprise Advanced features with 10,000 viewable messages, community support, and no compliance or high availability.

• Team Edition$0

  Open-source, MIT-licensed edition for small teams and personal use under 250 activated users, without single sign-on.

• ProfessionalCustom

  For teams of up to 250 users: single sign-on, AD/LDAP sync, guest accounts and next-business-day support. Sold as prepaid annual seats.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Adds workflow automation, work management boards, compliance and data retention tools, federated communications and high availability.

• Enterprise AdvancedCustom

  Adds zero-trust attribute-based access controls, classification banners, burn-on-read messages and support for air-gapped environments.

Cinny

No public discounts listed.

Mattermost

• Nonprofit

  3-year Professional license for $250

  Eligible nonprofit and open-source organizations can apply for a 3-year self-hosted Mattermost Professional subscription for up to 1,000 users for a $250 fee.