Tuwunel

What is Tuwunel?

Tuwunel is an open source Matrix homeserver written in Rust that lets you run your own private, federated chat network. It implements the Matrix protocol so you can host messaging, voice, and video for your team or community and connect to the wider Matrix federation — a self-hostable alternative to Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Discord. It is the official successor to conduwuit.

What is Tuwunel best for?

Tuwunel is best for teams, communities, and organizations that want a low-resource, self-hosted Matrix server without the operational weight of Synapse. Because it ships as a single Rust binary backed by RocksDB, it suits small VPS deployments and hobbyists as readily as enterprise clusters — the Swiss government sponsors it and runs it in production for citizens.

What can Tuwunel do?

• Run a fully functional Matrix homeserver — registration, rooms, direct messages, media, and moderation — for any Matrix client, bridge, or bot.
• Federate with other Matrix servers, so your users can talk to anyone across the Matrix network.
• Support Element Call voice and video conferencing through built-in Matrix RTC.
• Authenticate users via OAuth 2.0, OIDC, LDAP, and JWT.
• Expose Synapse-compatible Admin APIs for user, room, device, registration, and moderation management.
• Cover 93% of in-scope Matrix Spec Changes (186 of 200) and pass over 80% of the Complement acceptance tests.
• Deploy as a Docker image, static binary, Debian/RPM/Alpine package, AUR/Gentoo build, or NixOS module.

Where does Tuwunel fall short?

There is no automated migration path from Synapse yet — it is on the roadmap, so moving an existing Synapse server means starting fresh or waiting. Coming from conduwuit or a Conduit fork is painless (a “binary swap” with an automatic database migration on first boot), but Synapse users don’t get that.

It also isn’t a 100% complete Matrix implementation. The project deliberately targets “all but the most niche uses,” so a handful of specialized MSCs and edge-case features that Synapse supports may be missing. And Tuwunel is only the server — you still need a Matrix client like Element for people to actually chat, which is a different setup than an all-in-one product like Slack.

Is Tuwunel free?

Yes — Tuwunel is fully free and open source under the Apache-2.0 license, with no paid tier, seat pricing, or hosted-cloud upsell. You self-host it and your only costs are the server and bandwidth you run it on. Development is funded by corporate users and government sponsorship rather than a commercial edition.

What does Tuwunel replace?

Tuwunel stands in for hosted team-chat products where you’d rather own your data and infrastructure. It’s a self-hosted Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Discord alternative — giving you channels, DMs, and calls without a per-user SaaS bill or a third party holding your conversations. If you want an all-in-one app rather than the Matrix server-plus-client model, compare it with Mattermost or Rocket.Chat.

FAQ

Is Tuwunel open source? Yes. Tuwunel is licensed under Apache-2.0 and developed in the open on GitHub as the official successor to conduwuit.

Can I self-host Tuwunel for free? Yes. It’s free to self-host with no paid tiers — you only pay for the server it runs on. It ships as a single Rust binary with RocksDB, so it runs comfortably on a small VPS.

Is Tuwunel a good Slack or Teams alternative? For teams that want federation, data ownership, and no per-seat cost, yes — it hosts your own chat network. Note it’s a Matrix server, so users connect through a Matrix client such as Element rather than a single branded app.

What do I need to run Tuwunel? A Linux host and a domain name. Deploy the Docker image, a static binary, or a system package; existing conduwuit or Conduit databases migrate automatically on first boot.