Openfire

An XMPP server from the Ignite Realtime community for running your own company instant messaging service on open standards.

3.1k stars, 1.4k forks Java On GitHub since April 2014

Visit website View on GitHub How to run it

Openfire at a glance

Open sourceYes, Apache-2.0Some paid parts in the repository
Health71 of 100Actively developed
Self-hostingDocker, Desktop appsSteps in the README
AppsLinux, macOS, WindowsBuilds in GitHub releases
Interface16 languagesIncluding German, French and Spanish
Release rhythmEvery ~50 days6 releases in 12 months; latest v5.1.2

What is Openfire?

Openfire is a real-time collaboration server built on XMPP, the open instant messaging protocol also known as Jabber. Users connect with any XMPP client for one-to-one and group chat, and administrators run the server through an admin interface available in 16 languages. It comes from Ignite Realtime, an open community of users and developers, and aims to be easy to set up and run. Installers exist for Linux, macOS and Windows, plus nightly builds.

Good fit if

  • You want an internal company messenger on open standards that you administer from a web page.
  • You prefer ready installers over compiling and configuring by hand.

Look elsewhere if

  • You need very large scale or MQTT and SIP in the same server: ejabberd.
  • You want a web client for your XMPP users: Converse.js.

Before you adopt it

Openfire is Apache-2.0. Bundled libraries such as dom4j and jaxen keep their own license files, but none of the code is proprietary or sold. Five authors committed to it in the last 90 days, and the latest release is v5.1.2 from August 2026. Bugs are reported through the community Discourse forum rather than GitHub.

Drafted with AI from the project's README and repository data, then checked against that data on 4 November 2026. Report a correction

How to run Openfire yourself

Docker
Dockerfile or compose file in the repository
Compose file
None in the repository
Setup effort
Not rated: no compose file to judge from
Kubernetes
No Helm chart in the repository
Desktop and mobile
Builds for Linux, macOS, Windows in GitHub releases
Interface languages
16 languages, including German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and Japanese
Show all 16

Chinese, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian

Install instructions: igniterealtime.org or the README on GitHub.

Openfire health: is it still maintained?

71 of 100, actively developed

Release rhythmEvery ~50 days6 releases in 12 months; latest v5.1.2
Issue repliesNot measuredToo few recent issues from outside the team
Bus factorMedium riskThe most active of 5 authors wrote 52% of recent commits
  • Activity
    317 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 5 November 2026.
    30 / 30
  • Contributors
    5 people wrote the latest 100 commits; the most active wrote 52% of them.
    10 / 20
  • Releases
    6 releases in the last 12 months; the latest, v5.1.2, on 17 August 2026.
    17 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Too few recent issues from outside the team to measure, so this part gets a neutral score.
    10 / 20
  • Security practices
    OpenSSF Scorecard 3.6 of 10.
    4 / 10

Read from GitHub on 5 November 2026. How the score works

Openfire security practices

OpenSSF Scorecard checks how a project is developed and released: reviews, protected branches, pinned dependencies, signed releases. It does not audit the code itself.

OpenSSF Scorecard3.6 of 10How the project is built and released
Security policyNoNo SECURITY.md or similar
Signed releasesNoDownloads cannot be checked against a signature

What each check found

  • License file10 / 10A license file is present
  • Maintained10 / 10Steady commits and issue activity in the last 90 days
  • Packaging10 / 10Releases are published as packages from CI
  • Static analysis10 / 10Code is scanned for bugs on every change
  • Code review9 / 10Some changes are merged without review
  • Binary files5 / 10A few compiled binaries are checked into the repository
  • Best-practices badge0 / 10No OpenSSF Best Practices badge
  • Branch protection0 / 10The main branch has no protection rules
  • Dangerous workflows0 / 10GitHub Actions workflows have risky patterns
  • Fuzzing0 / 10No fuzz testing found
  • Pinned dependencies0 / 10Dependencies are not pinned to fixed versions
  • Security policy0 / 10No security policy
  • Signed releases0 / 10Releases are not signed
  • Token permissions0 / 10CI tokens have broad write rights

From the OpenSSF Scorecard of 19 October 2026. Checks that do not apply to Openfire are left out.

Openfire license: is it open source?

Openfire uses Apache-2.0, an open-source license approved by the OSI. Some features sit under a separate paid license inside the same repository.

  1. April 2014First published on GitHub.
  2. TodayApache-2.0, with paid parts: separate license documentation/licenses/LICENSE-dom4j.txt; separate license documentation/licenses/LICENSE-jaxen.txt.

Openfire for developers

Written in

  • Java 96%
  • HTML 3%
  • CSS <1%
  • Shell <1%
  • JavaScript <1%
  • Other <1%

Getting involved

Contributing guideNot foundNo CONTRIBUTING file in the repository
Open issues0On GitHub
Authors, 90 days5Of the latest 100 commits
DonationsGitHub SponsorsListed on GitHub

Language shares are GitHub’s count of the code in the repository.

Alternatives to Openfire

  • ejabberdRobust, Ubiquitous and Massively Scalable Messaging Platform (XMPP, MQTT, SIP Server) 80 health · GPL-2.0 · 6.7k stars
  • Converse.jsWeb-based XMPP/Jabber chat written in JavaScript 67 health · MPL-2.0 · 3.3k stars
  • Rocket.ChatThe Secure CommsOS™ for mission-critical operations 82 health · MIT · 46.4k stars
  • MattermostMattermost is an open source platform for secure collaboration across the entire software development… 74 health · Apache-2.0 · 39.5k stars
  • TinodeInstant messaging platform. Backend in Go. Clients: Swift iOS, Java Android, JS webapp, scriptable command… 59 health · GPL-3.0 · 13.6k stars

All 16 projects in Team chat

Questions about Openfire

Is Openfire open source?

Yes. Openfire is published under Apache-2.0, an OSI-approved open-source license. Some features are kept under a separate paid license in the same repository.

Is Openfire still maintained?

Its health score is 71 of 100 (actively developed). It had 317 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 5 November 2026, and its latest release came out on 17 August 2026.

How do I run Openfire?

You can run it with Docker, as an app for Linux, macOS, Windows. The README on GitHub has the exact steps.

What is Openfire written in?

Openfire is written mainly in Java (96% of the code), by GitHub’s count of the repository.

What languages is Openfire available in?

The repository has interface translations for 16 languages, including German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian and Ukrainian.

What are the alternatives to Openfire?

Close alternatives in the Team chat category include ejabberd, Converse.js, Rocket.Chat.