Team Chat.
Your Server.
Self-hosted Slack alternative. Free and open source. Complete data control. Enterprise security built in.
Why Self-Host?
Cloud chat comes with hidden costs and compromises.
Paying $8-15 per user per month for chat?
Slack charges $8.75/user for Pro, $15/user for Business+. For a 100-person team, that's $10,500-$18,000/year just to send messages.
Worried about data privacy?
With cloud-only solutions, your conversations live on someone else's servers. Sensitive discussions, customer data, and trade secrets are out of your control.
Need to work in air-gapped environments?
Government, healthcare, and defense often require completely isolated networks. Cloud chat simply isn't an option.
Frustrated by vendor lock-in?
Migrating away from Slack or Teams is painful. Years of history, integrations, and workflows tied to a platform you don't control.
Everything You Need.
Nothing You Don't.
Modern team chat without the bloat.
Real-Time Messaging
Instant message delivery via WebSockets with Redis Pub/Sub for horizontal scaling. Sub-100ms latency in the same region.
Channels & DMs
Organize conversations with public and private channels. Direct messages support 1-on-1 and group conversations.
Rich Messaging
Markdown support with syntax highlighting, emoji reactions, custom emojis, message pinning, and thread conversations.
File Sharing
Share files with your team. Store locally or in S3. Automatic image previews and document handling.
Powerful Search
Full-text search across all messages with PostgreSQL GIN indexes. Filter by user, channel, or date range.
Enterprise Security
PostgreSQL Row Level Security ensures bulletproof data isolation. Every query is automatically scoped to your organization.
Chat Anywhere
Native desktop apps built with Tauri. Mobile apps coming soon.
Built for Performance
OpenChat vs. The Rest
| Feature | OpenChat Free (SSPL) | Slack $8.75-15/user/mo | Mattermost Free / $10/user/mo | Rocket.Chat Free / $4/user/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-Hosted | Full Control | No | Yes | Yes |
| Per-User Cost | $0 | $8.75-15 | $0-10 | $0-4 |
| Open Source | SSPL | No | MIT (Limited) | MIT |
| Row Level Security | Yes | N/A | No | No |
| Desktop Apps | All Platforms | All Platforms | All Platforms | All Platforms |
| Message Search | Unlimited | 90 days (Free) | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| File Storage | Your Choice | 5-20GB/user | Your Choice | Your Choice |
| SSO Included | Included | Business+ Only | Enterprise | Pro Plan |
Annual Savings with OpenChat
Ready to Own Your Chat?
Deploy OpenChat on your own infrastructure in minutes. No license fees, no per-user costs, no vendor lock-in.