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Self-Hosting Conduit: Lightweight Matrix Server

Conduit is a lightweight Matrix server written in Rust. Fraction of Synapse's resources while supporting the Matrix protocol.

conduitmatrixmessagingrust

What Is Conduit?


Conduit is a Matrix homeserver written in Rust. It implements the Matrix protocol with dramatically fewer resources than the reference Synapse server.


Conduit vs Synapse


  • Conduit: ~20 MB RAM, Rust, single binary, fast
  • Synapse: 1+ GB RAM, Python, complex deployment
  • Conduit: Missing some advanced features
  • Synapse: Complete feature set

    • Features


    Messaging

  • Encrypted messaging (E2EE)
  • Group chats
  • Direct messages
  • Media sharing
  • Reactions and replies

    • Federation

  • Federate with other Matrix servers
  • Join rooms on other servers
  • Cross-server messaging

    • Other

  • Single binary deployment
  • SQLite or RocksDB storage
  • Minimal configuration
  • Jemalloc for memory efficiency

    • Limitations vs Synapse


  • Some advanced admin features missing
  • Fewer room management options
  • Smaller community
  • Less battle-tested at scale

    • When to Choose Conduit


  • Personal or small-group Matrix server
  • Limited server resources
  • Want the simplest possible Matrix setup
  • Value resource efficiency

    • Deployment


    1. Deploy Conduit on TinyPod

    2. Configure federation (optional)

    3. Create accounts

    4. Connect Element or other Matrix clients


    Resources: 1 CPU, 64 MB RAM.


    Conduit proves that Matrix doesn't require heavy resources. A personal Matrix server on the cheapest VPS — that's Conduit's promise.