Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Prosody VS Openfire

Compare Prosody VS Openfire and see what are their differences

Prosody logo Prosody

Prosody is a modern flexible communications server for Jabber/XMPP written in Lua.

Openfire logo Openfire

Openfire (formerly Wildfire) is a cross-platform instant messaging (IM) and groupchat server.
  • Prosody Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-04
  • Openfire Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-07-27

Prosody features and specs

  • Lightweight
    Prosody is designed to be lightweight and efficient, consuming minimal system resources compared to other XMPP servers, which makes it ideal for deployment on smaller servers or for situations requiring high performance.
  • Easy Configuration
    Prosody offers simple configuration files, allowing for easy setup and maintenance. This lowers the entry barrier for new users and administrators who may not be familiar with XMPP server configurations.
  • Flexible and Extensible
    With its modular architecture, Prosody supports plugins and modules, enabling users to extend and tailor the server to meet specific needs without modifying the core codebase.
  • Active Community
    Prosody has an active and supportive community which provides forums, tutorials, and ongoing development, ensuring that users have access to help and continual improvements.
  • Security Features
    Prosody supports state-of-the-art security features such as TLS encryption, ensuring that communications are secure and private by default.

Possible disadvantages of Prosody

  • Limited Built-in Features
    Compared to some other XMPP servers, Prosody may offer fewer features out-of-the-box, requiring users to rely heavily on modules for functionality.
  • Performance in Large Setups
    While Prosody is efficient, its performance might not scale as well in extremely large enterprise environments compared to some other dedicated enterprise XMPP solutions.
  • Less User-Friendly Advanced Configuration
    Advanced users looking to customize the server extensively may find the configuration and module system less intuitive or require additional learning compared to more GUI-based solutions.
  • Dependency on External Modules
    Since many features are implemented through third-party modules, reliability and stability can vary based on the module's maintainer and may introduce additional points of failure.

Openfire features and specs

  • Easy to Install
    Openfire comes with an easy-to-use installation wizard which makes setting up the server relatively straightforward, even for those with limited technical expertise.
  • Real-time Collaboration Features
    Openfire supports various real-time collaboration tools such as messaging, file transfer, and group chat, which enhances team collaboration.
  • Extensible
    Openfire is built on the Smack library, which allows for easy extension through plugins. Users can add features like multi-user chat, gateways to other protocols, and more.
  • Active Community
    Being an open-source project, Openfire has an active community of developers and users who contribute to its development and provide support.
  • Administration Interface
    Openfire includes a powerful and user-friendly web-based admin console, which simplifies server management and monitoring.
  • Security
    Openfire offers various security features including SSL/TLS support for encrypted communication, making it reliable for enterprise use.

Possible disadvantages of Openfire

  • Scalability Issues
    Openfire can struggle with scalability and performance when handling very large numbers of concurrent users, which might not make it suitable for extremely large deployments.
  • Java Dependency
    The software is Java-based, which could be a limitation for environments where Java is not preferred or where there are specific performance constraints related to JVM.
  • Limited Mobile Support
    While there are some mobile clients available, the experience and features can be inconsistent compared to desktop versions.
  • Maintenance Overhead
    Running and maintaining an Openfire server requires regular updates and monitoring, which can introduce operational overhead.
  • Plugin Quality
    The quality and reliability of third-party plugins can vary, potentially leading to issues if they are not well-maintained.

Prosody videos

Pat Pattison - Introduction to Prosody in songwriting

More videos:

  • Review - Prosody and alliteration in musical compositions | Dr. B. Balasubramanyan | 29.12.2019

Openfire videos

The Kamoto OpenFire Pit by Primus [Review]

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Prosody and Openfire)
Group Chat & Notifications
Communication
47 47%
53% 53
Chat
100 100%
0% 0
Network & Admin
46 46%
54% 54

User comments

Share your experience with using Prosody and Openfire. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Prosody seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 15 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Prosody mentions (15)

  • Lua: The Little Language That Could
    There's also the http://prosody.im/ XMPP server that's written in Lua, and it's very successful there. The other major XMPP server implementation is in Erlang and they are equally praised, so that should tell something about Lua's versatility. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Lua: The Little Language That Could
    Lua on its own right can be fun too! If you are looking for a project to contribute to, there's for instance the Prosody XMPP server that's written in it, and contributes to the betterment of internet by promoting federated protocols. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • A History of Lua
    You can write largish standalone application in Lua and it is not always a poor choice - Prosody [1] first comes to mind. But qualities which make it a good embedded language make it less _attractive_ for other uses. Lua has very simple syntax and small stdlib which allows its implementation to be very small - you can add Lua to your application and not increase its size significantly. But when the size is not a... - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Chat app to allow messaging between my daughter and I?
    If you are really set on a LAN-only setup you could look at Prosody (combined with an Android app such as Conversations) which Snikket is based upon. It's not as "ready to go, out of the box" as Snikket and therefore requires a slightly higher skill level, but in exchange it is a lot more customizable and adaptable to different kinds of deployment scenarios. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Ask HN: What is your recommended stack for real time chat?
    My choice, because it's the stack I know very well, would be Prosody ( https://prosody.im/ - I'm one of the devs) and a web client such as Converse.js ( https://conversejs.org/ ). XMPP is highly extensible, Prosody is highly modular, which make them a good foundation for building on top of. That said, the right stack is generally the one that matches your requirements, and (if this isn't primarily a learning... - Source: Hacker News / about 3 years ago
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Openfire mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Openfire yet. Tracking of Openfire recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Prosody and Openfire, you can also consider the following products

Apache Vysper - Apache Vysper aims to be a modular, full featured XMPP (Jabber) server.

Viber - Free and secure calls and messages to anyone, anywhere. Keep your conversations going no matter where you are.

Matrix.org - Matrix is an open standard for decentralized persistent communication over IP.

MiVoice Business - MiVoice Business is a business communication platform that delivers voice, messaging, mobility, presence, conferencing, collaboration and applications.

Rocket.Chat - Rocket.Chat is a Web Chat Server, developed in JavaScript, using the Meteor fullstack framework.

ejabberd SaaS - Realtime XMPP and MQTT Software and Infrastructure as a Service.