At FOSDEM 2026, the world’s largest open source conference, Neil Johnson (Element’s Chief Engineering Officer) explored the critical role of sustainability in open source software - with a focus on decentralised networks like Matrix.

Before we begin, most people can see why the sustainability of an open source software project is important. Open source software underpins almost all pieces of critical infrastructure, and we need to find ways to safeguard these projects. 

However, why is it especially important in a decentralised network? The whole promise of a decentralised network is the absence of a single point of failure, leading to a network that is both resilient at the technical and governance levels.

However Decentralisation without sustainability is just deferred centralisation. Without long-term, structured support, power inevitably consolidates in a few central nodes. This does not just apply to Matrix, we see it in the internet at large, where we have increasing centralisation due to a failure in finding sustainable ways to support our infrastructure - we also see it in political systems. 

So what does sustainability mean for Matrix? Matrix is a very ambitious project and Matrix sustainability means building a project capable of having the same transformative impact over the next 50 years that email has had over the last 50.

Watch the whole presentation

A brief history

Matrix began in 2014, when the founding team first came together within a larger organisation. Early successes led to the creation of Element to help fund ongoing development. From there, the Matrix Foundation was established as an independent, nonprofit entity, while Element continued as a for-profit company to sustain growth and feature development.

As the project grew, it became clear that funding features was only part of the story. The true cost of development includes maintenance, support, and long-term infrastructure - all of which are cumulative and increasingly complex as the system scales.

The challenge of sustaining open source

Maintaining open source software is critical, yet traditional funding models often struggle to capture the ongoing value required. While professional services can indirectly support maintenance, this approach does not cover all the essential work. Much of what ensures Matrix’s long-term health - including core protocol development, SDK maintenance, and infrastructure operations - falls outside the scope of paid services, making dedicated support and sustainable investment vital for the ecosystem’s future.

Element contributes significantly to the ecosystem, including:

• Significant sponsorship of the Matrix spec core team and heavy investment in spec authorship.
• Maintaining Element clients, matrix.org home servers, the Rust SDK, the JS SDK, Synapse, MAS, and the admin console.
• Conducting protocol research, building long-term features, and supporting trust, safety, and compliance.
• Advising on public policy and providing legal, financial, and operational support for the Matrix Foundation.

While more and more ecosystem participants are starting to support these efforts, especially via the Governing Board, the need remains vast. Moreover, the success of Matrix paradoxically introduces new challenges: large organisations may deploy Matrix without contributing upstream, which can create gaps in sustainability.

Funding the ecosystem: open source vs. paid features

So if feature sponsorship and support contracts are not enough, what did we do instead? We need some way to hold back value without limiting growth of the eco-system at large.

Element’s approach balances open source freedom with practical sustainability:

• FOSS (Free and Open Source Software): Core features that empower end-users, including standard client functionality, cryptography, spaces, and threads.
• Paid features: Specialised enterprise functionality such as clustering, high availability, or regulatory compliance.

Licensing also plays a role. Moving from Apache 2 to AGPL ensures companies that fork the code contribute improvements back to the community. Element’s CLA guarantees that contributions remain available to the project, even under changes of leadership.

This strategy has allowed support from organisations including NATO, the European Commission, and other public institutions, demonstrating that sustainable funding is achievable in decentralised networks.

Investing in the long-term horison

Sustainability enables Element and the broader Matrix ecosystem to plan for the future. Some key initiatives currently underway include:

• Matrix 2.0: A collection of 28 MSCs (Matrix Spec Change) authored largely by Element, designed to improve client and server capabilities and allow Matrix to compete with centralised alternatives.
• Element X migration: Transitioning users to the next-generation mobile client for a smoother, more modern experience.
• ESS Community: A distribution of the Matrix stack that simplifies deployment and reduces friction for new users and organisations.
• Accessibility improvements: Ensuring Matrix can be used by everyone.
• Matrix RTC and VoIP: Building secure, real time communication with the same cryptographic guarantees as messaging.
• Rust SDK: Providing a performant, reliable foundation for all Matrix clients.
• Protocol research: Including federation security, MLS, and peer-to-peer initiatives, ensuring Matrix can evolve over time.

Deploying a complete Matrix 2.0 stack - including Synapse, MAS, a LiveKit backend, and the Sliding Sync proxy (while it existed) - was complex, particularly for smaller organisations or casual users. To simplify this, Element provides Element Server Suite Community (ESS Community), our official open source distribution for non-commercial Matrix deployments.

ESS Community is designed for easy setup and experimentation, making it ideal for evaluations, small to mid-sized deployments (1–100 users), or casual use. It offers a fully packaged stack aligned with Element’s robust enterprise practices, while allowing installations to complete quickly - even in live demonstrations. 

By lowering the barrier to entry, ESS Community enables new organisations to adopt Matrix easily, contribute back to the ecosystem, and explore the full capabilities of Matrix without the overhead of enterprise-grade deployments.

It’s important to note that ESS Community is a community-focused distribution. It is distributed under AGPLv3, emphasising its open source, community-driven nature while making clear that users are responsible for their own deployments. ESS Pro is designed for organisations, offering company directory integrations, audit logs, compliance tools, Mobile Device Management, Cyber Resilience Act compliance, and other enterprise-focused capabilities.

The Element X experience

If you haven’t made the move from the Element Classic app to Element X yet, now’s the time! Element X represents the next‑generation Matrix client - a complete rethink of the Element experience from the ground up. Rather than being a simple update to the existing app, Element X was rebuilt with performance, reliability, and usability at its core, drawing on modern architecture and the new Matrix 2.0 stack.

At the heart of Element X is the goal of delivering a fast, familiar, and dependable user experience across platforms. This means prioritising the things that matter most to people every day:

• Smooth migration from legacy apps — keeping continuity so users can transition seamlessly from classic Element clients to Element X without losing context or functionality.
• Full support for core Matrix features — including Spaces and Threads, with ongoing improvements to make these experiences feel intuitive and complete.
• Incremental delivery of smaller features — tackling gaps in functionality one at a time, with the aim of completing all major remaining work by April 2026. This phased approach lets users benefit from improvements now while long‑term work continues behind the scenes.
• Consistent ecosystem adoption — encouraging users and organisations across the Matrix ecosystem to standardise on Element X as the default experience, helping unify workflows and expectations

Takeaways

Thanks for following along! Over the course of my talk at FOSDEM (and this post), we’ve explored why sustainability is essential for decentralised communication, how Element X is shaping the future of Matrix clients, and how ESS Community makes it easier than ever to deploy and experiment with Matrix. We’ve also highlighted the challenges of maintaining open source software and the importance of supporting upstream development to keep the ecosystem healthy and growing.

With that in mind, here are some key takeaways:

Decentralisation without sustainability is just deferred centralisation. Supporting the Matrix ecosystem in a structured, long-term way is essential to ensure it remains truly decentralised and resilient.

Use Element X. If you haven’t already, it offers the best experience and represents the future of Matrix clients - fast, reliable, and fully featured.

Try ESS Community. It’s simple to install, robust, and enterprise-ready, making it easier than ever for new organisations to adopt and explore Matrix.

Support upstream development. Choose vendors who actively contribute to the ecosystem — sustainable funding is what drives ongoing innovation, reliability, and the long-term success of decentralised communication.

By investing in these areas, we ensure that Matrix continues to grow as a truly decentralised, user-controlled communication platform capable of serving both individuals and organisations for decades to come.