Learn what Prosody IM offers as a free, open-source XMPP chat server, including its features, extensibility, and how it compares for self-hosting.
Prosody IM is a free, open-source XMPP (Jabber) server that lets individuals and organizations self-host their own real-time instant messaging infrastructure instead of relying on a third-party commercial chat platform. Development began in August 2008 under lead developer Matthew Wild, based in the United Kingdom, with the first public release (0.1.0) shipping in December 2008.
Written in the Lua programming language, Prosody was built around three explicit goals: low resource usage, ease of configuration for system administrators, and extensibility through a modular plugin system. It is maintained by a volunteer open-source community rather than a company, and the XMPP Standards Foundation itself runs Prosody to power the official xmpp.org chat infrastructure.
Prosody implements the core XMPP protocol along with widely used extensions (XEPs), including multi-user chatrooms, message archive management for chat history, and mobile push notification support, all configurable through a relatively simple Lua-based configuration file rather than a complex enterprise admin console.
Its plugin architecture lets administrators add or remove functionality as needed, from authentication backends to encryption support such as OMEMO when paired with compatible clients. Because it is self-hosted and federated like email, a Prosody server can communicate with any other standards-compliant XMPP server, and the project also underpins Snikket, a simplified Prosody-based distribution aimed at non-technical self-hosters.
Prosody itself is completely free to download, deploy, and modify under its open-source license (originally GPLv2, later MIT starting with its third release). There is no subscription, per-user fee, or paid tier from the project itself.
Any cost associated with running Prosody comes from the infrastructure an organization chooses to host it on (a VPS, dedicated server, or cloud instance) or from optional paid support and hosting offered by third-party companies within the broader XMPP ecosystem, not from Prosody itself.
Yes, Prosody is free and open-source software with no licensing fees; the only costs involved are for the server infrastructure you choose to run it on.
Prosody is written in Lua, chosen to keep the server lightweight and easy to extend through plugins.
Prosody development was started by Matthew Wild in August 2008, with the first release (0.1.0) shipping in December 2008.
Prosody implements XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol), also known as Jabber, an open, federated instant messaging standard.
Yes, because XMPP is federated like email, a Prosody server can exchange messages with any other standards-compliant XMPP server.
Yes, Prosody works with end-to-end encryption protocols like OMEMO when used with compatible XMPP clients.
Snikket is a simplified, easier-to-deploy self-hosted chat distribution built on top of Prosody, created by the same lead developer, Matthew Wild.