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

Pick ejabberd if

• Fits if you run a large messaging service and know Erlang or XMPP
• Works for companies that want to start free and add paid support later

Look elsewhere if

• Not for you if you want a chat app, as it is a server and users need a separate client
• Pricey if you want managed hosting, at €200 a month and rising with traffic
• Pricey if you want Business Edition, at €16,000 a year for a 2-node cluster
• Watch out: TURN, ICE and push for iOS and Android are not in the Community Server
• Skip it if you need paid support on the free edition, since it is community forums only

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

ejabberd

• It is a server, not a chat app: users need a separate XMPP client, and you run it yourself unless you pay for Fluux.
• Fluux is priced in euros and by traffic (Jabs) rather than per user; the first step is €200 a month, and the Growing and Established networks start at €1,400 and €6,000 a month.
• The Business Edition price of €16,000 a year is for a 2-node cluster, and its TURN/ICE relay and push features are not in the Community Server.
• Support on the Community Server is community forums and documentation only.

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.

ejabberd

Four protocols in one server

XMPP, an MQTT broker, a SIP service and Matrix bridging run in the same process.

Clustering

The Community Server has standard active-active clustering; the Business Edition and Fluux add consistent-hash clustering.

Mobile and web support

Push notifications, message archive management, multi-device sync, WebSocket and BOSH are built into the server.

REST API and CLI

A REST API and the ejabberdctl command line cover user and room management.

Database backends

The site lists PostgreSQL, MySQL, LDAP and ODBC backends.

Business and managed options

Long-term support releases, FIPS compliance and direct engineer support come with the Business Edition, and Fluux runs it as a managed service.

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.

ejabberd

• Community Server$0

  Open source under GPLv2; you host it yourself. Supports XMPP, MQTT, SIP and Matrix, with community forums and documentation.

• Fluux Emerging€200

  per month, managed cloud, 1 node on shared servers

  Managed by ProcessOne, with a shared-server domain and standard support. Price rises with traffic measured in Jabs: 9,000,000 Jabs at €200, 45,000,000 at €500.

• Business Edition€16,000

  per year for a 2-node cluster

  Commercial license with long-term support releases, push for iOS, Android and Firebase, and direct support from ProcessOne. Sold through sales.

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.

ejabberd

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.