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Comparison · Comms
Converse.js vs Maddy
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Converse.js and Maddy — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:security
Converse.js vs Maddy: at a glance
What is Converse.js?
Converse.js 14.0.1 fixes OMEMO:2 group decryption broken by Chromium 153.
Converse.js shipped 14.0.0 in June with OMEMO:2, the current revision of XMPP's end-to-end encryption, plus fixes that make encryption state and errors visible. 14.0.1 in October fixes OMEMO:2 group messages that stopped decrypting in Chromium 153, a bug that also skipped a sender check.
What is Maddy?
maddy's latest release is a security fix, five months after its last feature work.
maddy is an all-in-one Go mail server for SMTP and IMAP. Its most recent release, 0.9.6 in October, requires explicit trust for PROXY protocol headers and closes an auth misconfiguration that could skip password checks. Before that, the 0.9 line ran from March to May: no-downtime config reload in 0.9.0, an LDAP injection fix, and removal of long-deprecated commands.
Converse.js vs Maddy: editorial side-by-side
Converse.js
2.5COMMS
Converse.js 14.0.1 fixes OMEMO:2 group decryption broken by Chromium 153.
◆ Current state
Converse.js shipped 14.0.0 in June with OMEMO:2, the current revision of XMPP's end-to-end encryption, plus fixes that make encryption state and errors visible. 14.0.1 in October fixes OMEMO:2 group messages that stopped decrypting in Chromium 153, a bug that also skipped a sender check.
◆ Where it's heading
The project is in a stabilisation phase on the 14 line, with encryption correctness as the main concern. Releases are months apart.
◆ Prediction
Expect further 14.0.x patches for encryption and browser compatibility; no next major is signalled.
Maddy
0.0COMMS
maddy's latest release is a security fix, five months after its last feature work.
◆ Current state
maddy is an all-in-one Go mail server for SMTP and IMAP. Its most recent release, 0.9.6 in October, requires explicit trust for PROXY protocol headers and closes an auth misconfiguration that could skip password checks. Before that, the 0.9 line ran from March to May: no-downtime config reload in 0.9.0, an LDAP injection fix, and removal of long-deprecated commands.
◆ Where it's heading
The project is moving from convenient defaults to safer ones, accepting breaking changes on the way. Older conveniences such as SASL LOGIN, STARTTLS plaintext fallback and the maddyctl symlink have been removed, and 0.9.1 flagged several DNS providers for removal in 0.10.0. Two of the last four releases were security fixes.
◆ Prediction
0.10.0 is scoped by the deprecations announced in 0.9.1: expect the flagged DNS providers to go and gandi to require Bearer tokens. The five-month gap gives no date for it.
Alternatives to Converse.js and Maddy
Other Comms products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Converse.js or Maddy.
Grain
Grain adds consent controls and rule-based privacy as its meeting data reaches more AI tools.
Element iOS
Element Classic now asks its own users to move to Element X, if their server opts in.
Brosix
Brosix follows its communities launch with a referral push and a private-room how-to.
VerneMQ
VerneMQ follows its year-in-the-making 2.2.0 with a quick round of subscription fixes.
Session
Session survived its funding scare; now Pro is on hold and Protocol v2 is the bet.
See all Converse.js alternatives → · See all Maddy alternatives →
Recent activity from Converse.js and Maddy
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 16d agoConverse.jsRelease 14.0.1 (2026-10-17)
- 1mo agoMaddymaddy 0.9.6 fixes PROXY trust and auth bypass misconfig
- 4mo agoConverse.jsOMEMO:2 encryption support ships in Converse 14 ⚡
- 4mo agoConverse.jsOMEMO bundle self-healing and new PubSub API methods
- 4mo agoConverse.jslibomemo.js dependency bump
- 4mo agoConverse.jsclient-compress replaced with native browser APIs
- 4mo agoConverse.jsFirst beta carrying the OMEMO usability fixes
- 5mo agoMaddymaddy 0.9.5 fixes nested pipeline logging and systemd reload reporting
- 6mo agoMaddymaddy 0.9.4 removes the maddyctl symlink and implicit run command
- 6mo agoMaddymaddy 0.9.3 patches an LDAP injection flaw in auth.ldap
- 7mo agoMaddymaddy 0.9.2 fixes an rspamd panic on unspecified tls_client
- 7mo agoMaddymaddy 0.9.1 flags libdns providers for removal in 0.10.0
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Converse.js and Maddy?
Both compete on the same themes — security — within Comms. Converse.js is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 2.5 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Converse.js better than Maddy?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Converse.js is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 2.5 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Comms products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Converse.js?
Top Converse.js alternatives in Comms are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Converse.js alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/converse-js for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Maddy?
Top Maddy alternatives in Comms are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Maddy alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/maddy for the full list with editorial commentary on each.