Element
App in the BluixApps catalog
What it is
Element is the flagship client for Matrix — the decentralized, end-to-end-encrypted real-time communication protocol. Self-hosted Element + Synapse (the Matrix server) gives you Slack-level chat + voice + video on your own infrastructure, with federated communication between organizations.
For privacy-bound orgs needing the most rigorous self-hosted chat, Element on Matrix is the gold standard.
What it's for
- Secure team chat — E2E-encrypted by default, no plaintext on server
- Federated communication — chat across organizations without trust boundary
- Government / regulated communications — Element is FedRAMP-track, French gov-approved
- Open protocol — Matrix is decentralized; switch clients/servers without losing data
- Voice + video — WebRTC calls integrated
Who it's for
- Government & defense under strict data sovereignty mandates
- Privacy-first organizations rejecting Slack / Teams for security model
- Compliance-bound enterprises needing E2EE audit trails
- Open-source communities federating across organizations
- Activists / journalists requiring strongest security guarantees
Why teams pick Element over alternatives
- Apache 2.0 — fully open
- E2EE by default — encryption built into the protocol
- Matrix federation — talk across organizations natively
- Government adoption — French state IT, German Bundeswehr use Matrix
- Active development — backed by Element (UK)
- Multi-client — Element is one of many Matrix clients
Integrations
- Bridges — Slack, Discord, IRC, Telegram, WhatsApp, Signal via Matrix bridges
- Identity — local + LDAP + OpenID Connect + SAML
- Bots — Matrix bot framework + Maubot for app integrations
- Voice / Video — built-in WebRTC + Element Call
- Federation — speak to any Matrix homeserver
- Single sign-on — corporate SSO via OIDC
- Plugin ecosystem — widgets for Jitsi, custom apps
Notable users & community
- 11k+ GitHub stars on element-web
- Production-deployed: French government (Tchap), German Bundeswehr (BwMessenger), KDE
- Backed by Element (formerly New Vector, UK) — sustainable government contracts
- Standard secure-chat tool in OSS / privacy communities
- Active development with public roadmap
Tips & operations
- Synapse is heavy — Matrix homeserver is resource-hungry; size VPS generously
- Use Conduit if Synapse too heavy — alternative Matrix server, Rust-based, lighter
- Postgres backend — SQLite only for testing; production needs Postgres
- Federation reality — opens you to global federation; can be DoS target
- Backup is essential — message history is critical; daily Postgres dumps
- Update Synapse frequently — security patches matter; auto-update via Watchtower
What we ship in BluixApps
- Docker compose: Element web + Synapse (Matrix homeserver) + Postgres
- Pinned Synapse + Element to current LTS
- HTTPS via Let's Encrypt
- Admin user via env config
- Persistent Postgres + media volumes
- Federation enabled by default
- Backup hook covers Postgres + media (messages can be encrypted, but media isn't)
Get this app — pick a BluixApps plan
Same catalog. Scaling tenant isolation, white-label and support tier.
| Tier | Tenants | Catalog | Support | White-label | Monthly | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stacks | 1 | 19 curated stacks | Standard | — | $19/mo | DetailDeploy |
| Starter | 10 | Full catalog | Standard | +$15–25/mo | $49/mo | DetailDeploy |
| Pro | 25 | Full catalog | Priority bugfix | +$15–25/mo | $149/mo | DetailDeploy |
| Growth | 100 | Full catalog | Priority bugfix | +$15–25/mo | $349/mo | DetailDeploy |
| Scale | 500 | Full catalog | 7-day window | +$15–25/mo | $799/mo | DetailDeploy |
| Enterprise | Unlimited | Full catalog | Priority 7-day | Bundled | $1,499/mo | DetailDeploy |
