Was your experience with Matrix bad because of the server setup or the Element client app? If server, I found this video to be super helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDddKmdLEdg
I didn't set up my own server though, that was through matrix.org. And probably an intermittent issue.
That video explains the setup very well if one is inclined to run their own server. Thanks for sharing.
Integrating with Slack, IRC, etc all in one app has also been quite convenient.