Self-hosted alternatives to Facebook Messenger
Self-hosted messaging with your data under your control. Below are 12 open source options you host on your own server — with no monthly per-user fee and full control of your data.
Rocket.Chat
★ 45,690Rocket.Chat is a complete communication platform (chat, voice, video) that puts data protection first. It's the self-hosted alternative to Slack for companies that need control and compliance.
Novu
★ 39,184Notification infrastructure for developers.
Mattermost
★ 38,130Mattermost is a secure team chat, similar to Slack, geared toward development and integrated with Git. Self-hosted, it keeps the company's conversations and files on your own infrastructure.
Chatwoot
★ 33,251Chatwoot is a customer support hub (live chat, email, social media) in one place. It's the self-hosted alternative to Intercom and Zendesk, with no per-agent cost.
ntfy
★ 30,915Push notifications to phone or desktop using HTTP PUT/POST, with Android app, CLI and web app, similar to Pushover and Gotify.
Zulip
★ 25,389Zulip is a powerful, open source group chat application.
Apprise
★ 16,775Apprise allows you to send a notification to almost all of the most popular notification services available to us today such as: Telegram, Discord, Slack, Amazon SNS, Gotify, etc.
Gotify
★ 15,165Notification server with Android and CLI clients (alternative to PushBullet).
Tinode
★ 13,391Instant messaging platform. Backend in Go. Clients: Swift iOS, Java Android, JS webapp, scriptable command line; chatbots.
Element
★ 13,233Fully-featured Matrix client for Web, iOS & Android.
SimpleX Chat
★ 11,315The most private and secure chat and applications platform - now with double ratchet E2E encryption.
Centrifugo
★ 10,427Language-agnostic real-time messaging (Websocket or SockJS) server.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free self-hosted alternative to Facebook Messenger?
Yes. We've gathered 12 self-hosted, open source alternatives to Facebook Messenger — including Rocket.Chat, Novu, Mattermost. You run all of them on your own server.
What is the best open source alternative to Facebook Messenger?
Rocket.Chat is one of the most popular (45,690 GitHub stars). The "best" depends on your case — compare the options below.
Do I need a server to replace Facebook Messenger?
Yes. You can use a home server (homelab) or a cheap VPS (from ~€4/mo). See the hosting suggestions on this page.