Element vs Palo Alto Networks

Element (Founded by the creators of Matrix, we build digitally sovereign, secure and interoperable real-time communication solutions for large organisations.) and Palo Alto Networks (We ensure each day is safer and more secure than the one before.) both appear on the Smoower Developer Ecosystem Index.

Palo Alto Networks (rank #93) holds a narrow lead over Element (rank #189) on the overall Smoower ecosystem score (56 vs 50). The gap of 6 points reflects composite signals across code, docs, community and reach.

On code quality (the state of repositories, tests, releases and polish), Element is slightly ahead of Palo Alto Networks. On education (docs, guides and learning material for developers), Palo Alto Networks is slightly ahead of Element. On community (issue response, PR reviews and discussion health), Element is slightly ahead of Palo Alto Networks. On reach (how visible the ecosystem is beyond its own repos), Element is slightly ahead of Palo Alto Networks. On momentum (release cadence and how fast the ecosystem moves), Palo Alto Networks is ahead of Element.

Element carries 34,608 GitHub stars across 137 public repos, with 33 repositories active in the last 90 days and 97 external contributors on record. Palo Alto Networks shows 6,403 stars across 525 public repos, 66 active in the last 90 days and 13 external contributors. The star gap on its own does not decide the comparison, but Element's footprint is roughly 5.4x larger, which usually shows up in downstream signals like inbound issues and third party integrations.

Element is the stronger read for anyone weighting community. Palo Alto Networks looks better where momentum is the deciding factor. The table below breaks the scores down pillar by pillar; the linked profiles cover the underlying repos, docs and community signals in full.