I like the idea of matrix, but I wouldn't recommend it yet. Maybe after a few more years if the ux improves.
this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2026
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I am using conduit as a matrix server and fluffy chat as my main app. I think that most people could be happy with that :)
Buddy is selfhostig Matrix via Element server suite community edition and using element X on android as well as the normal element app on desktop. Never missed a notification, never
I have seen some bad reactions to Matrix from people, like them harassing others or focusing mainly on their paid customers.
Matrix is what I believe most in currently, but Fluxer might also be a good alternative in the future.
I've been using Synapse with Element X (earlier Element) for years. I remember, notifications were a problem some time ago, but it got a lot better. I also have ntfy as notification backend.
With Element X there are finally video conferences possible.
I self hosted matrix for probably a year after me and some people started getting spam on telegram. It was the first thing I really self hosted beyond jellyfin (and plex before that) so I didn't really fully understand what was I doing and that could have affected things.
I had a few hurdles that made it not work out for me and my friends/family. First, the end to end encryption, one of the main "selling" points I feel, makes it complicated to sign in for people who don't care about any of that. You end up getting a code to save, I had to verify them at first, we'd have times where something still showed unverified, etc.
Just started hosting nextcloud recently and I'm also seeing the notification issue, but at least you just sign up and start using it.
I also noticed in matrix we never got notifications for emoji reactions (which we all use with each other). Other notifications were relatively solid though.
I never got webrtc and some stuff working and I sort of lost steam trying, so we could use element or fluffychat but not element X and we couldn't have big group calls or anything like that. That's probably on me though, but in fairness nextcloud aio just has a checkbox and all that stuff works.
Since I'm the only dork in my little group interested in this stuff I abandoned matrix when nobody used it.
I'd love to run matrix but is seem/what I'm reading PITA to run.
I'm considering Zulip and Mattermost.
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I’m hosting a matrix/synapse server and it’s been pretty great tbh. I use this ansible project to manage installation and updates for me and it’s been fairly painless
We use synapse (Matrix). Its stability is great but we have stable internet and backup power so…
The fun one is host an OSCAR server and use AIM.
https://veronicaexplains.net/open-oscar-server/
It's super lightweight to host, simple to setup, and works with any open source client that used to work with AIM.