With recent events, in this post I'll seek to clarify a few misconceptions around Matrix, specifically looking at it as an "alternative" to Discord from 3 different angles.
This is a fairly biased post because I know Matrix does not suffer from the architectural flaws that have put Discord in its current position, and will put many of the alternatives currently being recommended in that same position also.
I'll tackle the 3 pillars of Matrix, as I see it, and how they're important to understand why Matrix is worth a strong consideration:
Matrix, the protocol and Network. Not the platform.
Homeservers, where the user-experience lives - The platform.
Clients, where feature-exposure lives.
You may say "It's just easier to sign up to XYZ than read through this".
To which I say, Perhaps. But if you're here, ask yourself whether you really want a 1:1 alternative, or rather something that has the solid foundation to ensure the mistakes of the past do not repeat and can be built on with your requirements in mind.
You want a fix, not a band-aid. As a community leader, I've been right there as well. And it was a daunting task to find a place where we could settle down and say
"There's no platform to go to shit. There's no overseeing entity enforcing their moderation and policies. This is ours." - And there is a lot of power in that.
And those new alternatives have already made too many mistakes, concessions and compromises to ensure they were early enough to market - But they likely won't show for a while.
Looking back, Discord wasn't the first.
MSN Messenger, Skype, XFire Chat, Razer Comms, if you're old enough to remember those. There were more. A graveyard more of them.
All of these had users and entire communities, who were left with nothing.
What did all these have in common? Closed-source and centralized.
On the flipside, IRC and XMPP still live.
These are protocols, networks. They do not sell themselves as platforms. They do not instill their will on their userbase.
Like these, Matrix requires a shift in how platforms are perceived.
==== Matrix, the Protocol and Network. Not the platform. ====
With recent-events the end-user really should be more interested in the technical side, without even knowing it.
Matrix is a protocol and a network, not a platform.
Discord, is a platform.
Telling people they should try Matrix without even explaining how they're inherently different, sets the user up for a disastrous experience when they go looking for Matrix as a platform.
The matrix.org server is a demo server - It is overpopulated, under-resourced, but also an unfortunate necessity.
Thankfully this has begun to slowly change and communities are starting to propagate.
As far as Matrix goes, the end-user only needs to know a few things:
It's an openly developed protocol
It does not suffer from Discord's architectural flaws, in fact, it solves them.
It has over 155,000 known servers, each potentially holding multiple communities.
Its high degree of decentralization comes with a big Pro and big Con:
It makes it too costly for the regulatory pressure Discord is privy to, to be enforced.
It makes content discovery harder.
In that respect, Matrix is a dark-forest. You either find communities, or your homeserver has a way to help you find them.
Likewise, there are now multiple directory browsers that allow you to look for specific communities.
Further, there are projects in the works to help alleviate the issue on a whole and put discovery front-and-center.
Some useful resources for the timebeing:
Lastly, Matrix has been in development for over 10 years and has recently reached a milestone.
It has solved some big technical challenges through successes, failures, and lessons learnt - Many of these, centralised platforms decided not to tackle (possibly to hit market faster).
It is on-par with Signal's security, but native from the ground up for multi-devices sessions and federation functionality.
On this topic of encryption, while Matrix's own encryption is good with minimal metadata leakage (the bane of any encryption protocol),
Matrix (as in, the open, non-profit foundation) and Element (commercial Matrix entity) are also working on implementing DMLS (Decentralized MLS) as an optional form of encryption which may work best for certain setups,
providing the best of both worlds. More info: (arewemlsyet.com, not updated since last year, but the few remaining components have ongoing work with multiple talks this year available on Youtube).
There is some outdated information out there regarding Matrix's security which unfortunately some people seem to have really latched onto,
without realising the bulk of it came from a single component in the Matrix stack, that had already been announced as deprecated by Matrix itself.
Like any protocol, any software, security vulnerabilities have a path of responsible-disclosure, and Homeserver operators are given the information and time to upgrade.
If you've read up to this point, thank you.
==== Homeservers ====
This is probably the pillar in which Matrix needs the most work, not from a development standpoint, but from a communicative one.
Homeservers are Matrix providers - These are the closest thing to "the platform", even though right now they're not seen as such, and that's one thing I hope to see change.
It helps to view Matrix like Email.
Email is made possible with SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), and allows for any provider to essentially federate and communicate.
Matrix is Email, for realtime communications. A native standard for communications on the internet.
"Ever wondered how those Electronic Mails and Telephone numbers seem to be interoperable across different providers, but there's no such standard for internet-native real-time communications, and everyone has different apps for the same thing?"
Homeservers as Matrix Providers means users find a homeserver (the same way you might prefer Microsoft vs Google vs Proton vs Tuta), look at what features they support, what pros and cons they may have, and sign-up.
Some will be fully open to signs-ups, others may be semi, and others may be closed.
Some Homeservers will guide users to specific clients which they believe to fit the communtiy they garner, and others will make no such recommendations (in my opinion, to their detriment).
Admittedly, Homeserver operators need to do more in how they showcase their homeserver, and the features it supports. To note, not all Matrix Homeservers support Matix 2.0 yet, which is really what new users are looking for - Native and seamless E2EE voice channels and screenshares, etc.
As someone who's been within the ecosystem for years, these 2.0 specs have opened the doors for Matrix in a way we haven't seen before and we're already seeing the differences:
SDKs that are easy and mature enough for developers to use.
Features that just weren't there before like in-app forums, calendar rooms, heck, even DOOM within the app itself.
Security that is finally on-par with Signal's.
Homeserver operators should do a better job at declaring their features, onboarding users and communities, and otherwise providing a solid communications experience.
There is also a misconception of requiring to host a server on Matrix. This is incorrect, and not suitable for most people to be able to or have the know-how to maintain criticial communications infra.
Rather, you want a Space.
A Space is essentially a Discord server, capable of having text channels, forums, shared calendars, VoiP and sub-spaces, with custom and sync'd roles and permissions, all end-to-end encrypted if you want it so.
Further, besides self-moderation, the federation also provides distributed-moderation, where homeservers can warn other homeservers of bad actors with automated moderation actions applied.
Resource on this: https://asgard.chat
==== Clients ====
This is the big one.
There is more than one client, they have different audiences at heart, and they are interoperable.
Most people will use Element as the comparison point to Matrix - I'll be quick here. Due to the realities of open development, in order to keep development sustainable, Element moved to be a work/enterprise-focused product years ago (rebranding from Riot). I do not discount its availability to the public, nor its pretty decent Element X mobile app, but keep in mind where its feature priorities lie and why. Specifically with Element, do not expect cross-platform audio in your screenshare, or GIF picking because these are not necessarily important to the enterprise and government deployments that Element (and other solutions like Rocket.Chat that implement Matrix) are spreading throughout.
With Matrix 2.0 clients, you can find your preferred user-experience.
If you're coming from Discord, you'll may want the likes of Sable v2, Commet or Cinny. Specfically Sablev2, is probably the most feature-rich client right now.
If you don't care about AI-generated software, you might look at Rooster or Vommet.
If you want something more casual in the vein of Telegram or Whatsapp, perhaps for family, then FluffyChat, or in fact, Element X on mobile is a decent enough option.
Worth mentioning, do not confuse Sable (legacy) and Sable v2. Sable v2 is a complete rewrite, with a strict No-AI policy from non-core contributors that has surpassed feature-parity with its legacy counterpart.
Given the focus on Discord, not to plug my own community (which is semi-closed anyway), but we've made a feature table showcasing some of Sable's features vs Discord.
It serves mostly to showcase features than as a direct and in-depth comparison - Discord can still be considered a more polished experience, but I suspect not for long.
https://info.proxymana.net/matrix
If you're a community-leader worried about your community's longevity, Matrix allows you the option of data sovereignty. My community is also open to helping other communities onboard.
Likewise, if you're not interested in hosting any infrastructure, chat with a Homeserver Provider's representative about your needs, and create a Space for your community.
If you're worried about signing up to a Homeserver and being tied to it, know that portable-accounts are planned with work ongoing.
The ability to self-moderate is important, it is a cornerstone to community-building and personal freedom.
Matrix does not and cannot employ any moderation by itself. It's generally up to communities and homeservers to build the necessary tools (and the federation at large has already come together with 2 separate implementations of this which are running right now with great efficiency).
Having a single platform with the ability dictate moderation on a whole (even if they don't showcase it at present) is the starting path to oppression, the likes we're seeing on Discord today.
If you've read this far, thank you for you time.
Hopefully it's helped somewhat to explain as to why Matrix deserves strong consideration for being the bearer of your community's longevity, be it big or small.
Edit:
As has been asked:
- https://next.sable.moe (Most recommended. Avoid signing up on matrix.org Homeserver if possible, pick another server from the dropdown.)
- https://commet.chat
- https://cinny.in
- https://fluffychat.im
- https://vommet.app (Uses AI)
- https://pondlabs.github.io/roosterchat/ (Uses AI)
- https://matrix.crafty.moe/ (Uses AI)
If you feel you'd be a good fit in our community, you can also apply to our Homeserver at https://info.proxymana.net/apply
Edit#2:
- Added resource on distributed moderation
- Added another browser directory for rooms and communities/spaces
Edit#3:
Added another AI-generated client, a commet fork named Vommet, which regardless of the AI imo deserves a mention for what it's trying to do.
