Joining Us

What is Matrix?

Matrix is a protocol made for decentralized (federated) instant messaging, this means that everyone can spin up their server and start to talk with every other Matrix user. As this protocol is open, anyone can implement the specifications into a client (more on that later). Most of those clients are also Open-Source. As of now, Matrix has End-To-End Encrypted private messages by default, and it can also be enabled in any room. You can read more about the protocol itself on their official website.

Homeserver

In Matrix, a server is called homeserver and choosing the right one is essential as you will have to trust it. Good lists of homeservers are the JoinMatrix homeserver list and the French CHATONS. It is generally preferable to avoid the m.org homeserver (Matrix.org) as it is already overloaded with users and can sometimes be very slow.

Clients

In Matrix, you have the choice to choose between a good number of clients, here is a small list of the best with a description:

• Element - The official client, the best client to experience Matrix
• Fluffychat - A cute client, probably the second most advanced of all
• Cinny - A Matrix client looking more like Slack/Discord
• Nheko - A fully featured native Matrix client made in C++
• SchildiChat - An Element fork containing a number of quality of life changes

All the clients listed support E2EE, some other might not.

Other Information

On Matrix, every user has an MXID (Matrix ID) that is composed like this: @user:server.tld for instance, the user @me:jae.fi means that the user is "me" and is located on the homeserver "jae.fi". The same goes with rooms but with # instead of @.