Frequency of updates
To use it, you need updates.
Here we’re considering whether the client you pick will keep going for a reasonable time. If not, you should think twice before using it because you may end up with an unsupported product. To make a decision in this regard, you need to see how much development is going on and whether there are groups of people making it popular in different ways.
You can see on sites like GitHub whether any updates have happened lately and how much activity of other kinds is going on. If you look for support requests, you can also see how many people are using it. The more users, the bigger the incentive to continue developing the application. It is not always obvious by looking at just one of these indicators but combine them and you have a clear picture.
The winning client here is Element, which is supported by an entire company selling services for Matrix. This is a group that is completely dedicated to Matrix and its own client, making it a reliable choice when it comes to maintenance.
In stark contrast, Mirage has many fans but even the development team has not made much noise in the last 18 months. Without activity from these groups, all you can hope for is that your contribution can somehow get things running again. Sad, considering how pretty the application is.
The two clients that occupy the middle ground are Fractal and NeoChat, which are both supported by the bigger desktop groups. This may mean that there is a higher probability that someone will pick them up again and create newer, greater versions. You can also see that there is a new version of Fractal being developed as this Roundup is being written.
That leaves Cinny. This project has a promising 36 contributors on GitHub and keeps sending updates to the code. With several sponsors and such an active project, this client sees a bright future ahead. Add a few cosmetic features and it could be a real contender.