Tawk.to
tawk.to's widget 4.4.0 turns to keyboard and screen-reader fixes after a run of form work.
Comparison · Comms
Element vs Openfire
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Element and Openfire — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Element vs Openfire: at a glance
What is Element?
Element 1.12.33 ships: simpler recovery keys, mandatory verification, no libolm migration.
Element Web is in a sustained crypto-UX cleanup. The last three release lines made device verification mandatory by default, removed guest-token and NEB-link attack surface, and 1.12.33 now trims the recovery-key setup flow and prompts users about their key on logout. Alongside that, the legacy customisation API is gone and the Module API is growing X.509 identity hooks.
What is Openfire?
Openfire keeps its XMPP server current without changing what it is.
Openfire ships a maintenance release every one to two months, each a mix of dependency upgrades, MUC and pubsub correctness fixes, and occasional security hardening. 5.1.2 follows that shape exactly: Jetty, log4j2, and the PostgreSQL driver moved forward, three inapplicable Tomcat CVEs suppressed, and a set of MUC self-ping errors corrected to return the right XMPP error types. The last release with real feature content was 5.1.0 in June, which added channel binding and an admin console for failed server-to-server connections.
Element vs Openfire: editorial side-by-side
Element
5.0COMMS
Element 1.12.33 ships: simpler recovery keys, mandatory verification, no libolm migration.
◆ Current state
Element Web is in a sustained crypto-UX cleanup. The last three release lines made device verification mandatory by default, removed guest-token and NEB-link attack surface, and 1.12.33 now trims the recovery-key setup flow and prompts users about their key on logout. Alongside that, the legacy customisation API is gone and the Module API is growing X.509 identity hooks.
◆ Where it's heading
The direction is consistent: fewer optional security steps, more enforced ones, and a smaller legacy surface. Dropping libolm session migration means the Rust crypto stack is now the only path, and the X.509 work signals identity verification built for managed deployments.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release candidates to keep polishing recovery and verification dialogs, with further X.509 verification pieces landing in the Module API.
Openfire
2.5COMMS
Openfire keeps its XMPP server current without changing what it is.
◆ Current state
Openfire ships a maintenance release every one to two months, each a mix of dependency upgrades, MUC and pubsub correctness fixes, and occasional security hardening. 5.1.2 follows that shape exactly: Jetty, log4j2, and the PostgreSQL driver moved forward, three inapplicable Tomcat CVEs suppressed, and a set of MUC self-ping errors corrected to return the right XMPP error types. The last release with real feature content was 5.1.0 in June, which added channel binding and an admin console for failed server-to-server connections.
◆ Where it's heading
The project's direction is protocol conformance and operational currency rather than new capability. Recent cycles have gone into XEP compliance details - self-ping error semantics, XEP-0398 presence handling, base64 whitespace tolerance - and into keeping the dependency tree clean enough to pass a scanner. That is a reasonable posture for infrastructure a decade into deployment, and nothing in the last six releases suggests a change of scope.
◆ Prediction
Expect the same cadence: another patch in four to eight weeks carrying library bumps and MUC or pubsub conformance fixes, with anything larger held for a 5.2 line.
Alternatives to Element and Openfire
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 Element or Openfire.
Krisp
Krisp 2.83.4 brings Voice Translation into conference calls and lightens Accent Conversion.
Fonoster
Fonoster jumps to v0.33 in a week, rebuilding its SIP and media edge and defaulting to HTTPS.
Pixelfed
Pixelfed 0.15.2 ships the PHP RCE patches and turns cached timelines on for everyone.
Salesmsg
Salesmsg Reviews can now trigger follow-ups automatically based on a customer's latest rating.
Netcore Cloud
Netcore keeps publishing competitor comparisons and ecommerce posts after its Orbit launch.
See all Element alternatives → · See all Openfire alternatives →
Recent activity from Element and Openfire
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoElementElement 1.12.33 ships simpler recovery keys, ends libolm migration
- 9d agoElement1.12.33 RC simplifies recovery keys, drops libolm migration
- 12d agoElementElement 1.12.32 removes guest tokens and NEB links to fix 2 advisories
- 15d agoElementElement 1.12.31 makes device verification mandatory by default
- 20d agoElement1.12.31 second release candidate, feature list unchanged
- 22d agoElementRC adds PDF/Markdown viewers, mandatory device verification
- 2mo agoOpenfireOpenfire 5.1.2: MUC self-ping errors and library upgrades
- 3mo agoOpenfireOpenfire 5.1.1: MUC and pubsub subscription fixes
- 4mo agoOpenfireChannel binding support and S2S connection diagnostics
- 5mo agoOpenfireOpenfire 5.0.5: dependency currency and logging fixes
- 7mo agoOpenfireFixes high CPU from exception-based control flow
- 10mo agoOpenfireOpenfire 5.0.3: driver upgrades and MUC fixes
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Element and Openfire?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Element is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), 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 Element better than Openfire?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Element is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), 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 Element?
Top Element alternatives in Comms are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Element alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/element-web for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Openfire?
Top Openfire alternatives in Comms are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Openfire alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/openfire for the full list with editorial commentary on each.