this post was submitted on 11 Feb 2026
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Im confused by this list. It includes the matrix server implementations synapse and continuwuity, but not matrix itself or any of its clients. The only matrix client that could reasonably replace discord is element but its not even there.
I think you’re just confused about how Matrix works.
Synapse is Matrix itself. It is the reference home server implementation.
Matrix itself isn't a thing, Matrix is a spec/protocol. Synapse and continuwuity are implementations of the server, with synapse being the "reference implementation." Client apps like Element (the reference client) would be good to have there, but I'm not sure selfh.st will want to list clients because there is quite a few.
The whole website and list is dedicated for self hosting solutions. Unless it's peer to peer, any client apps aren't really the self host-able part, so it only makes sense to include the server side of the software.
Voice your opinion to the author. The contact link is at the bottom of the page.
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Synapse is the backend that you install on the server. Element is the client that connect to your backend. Now Matrix has many backends and many clients. Synapse + Element is probably the best fully-featured combo that we have, but also the most complicated.