Matrix, I recommend tuwunel
this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2026
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We changed to element (matrix-protocol) a while ago. Until now it worked fine for us - without any real problems. It already got a native voice/video-call implementation. But i heard that selfhosting isnt that smooth
I feel like Matrix has gotten a lot of hate the last year or so. Don't really know why. Perhaps people see it as being misguided.
Yeah, self-hosting it can be a bear, especially since you need to deal with the whole “bots trying to kill it will regularly post CSAM in random channels, and if any of your users are in that channel it will federate to your own server and now you have CSAM saved on your server’s cache” stuff. It’s the same problem that Lemmy was dealing with during Reddit’s APIcolypse. You can always choose not to federate, but that largely defeats the point of the protocol existing in the first place.
You also need to set up TURN servers to get functional voice/video calls. WebRTC (like voice/video calling) tends to throw a fit without some sort of TURN functionality. That’s something the average Joe won’t know how to do, and is typically going to require a paid tier from some external host like Cloudflare.
Edit: I looked it up. Cloudflare offers TURN servers, with the first 1000GB for free each month, but then it charges for use after that. But that does mean a server that gets used for video calls more than a few hours per month could end up incurring costs. Because that TURN server would be handling all of the video streaming data, so it will quickly eat that 1000GB limit. It also means true self-hosting is prohibitively difficult, as you’d be tying yourself to an external provider unless you go out of your way to host your own TURN server.
https://github.com/spacebarchat/spacebarchat
Literally reverse engineered discord, made open source.
Surprised no one has said it yet, but matrix.
I‘ve been looking into this a bit and whilst i haven’t really tried any of the alternatives, i did collect some notes:
possible contenders
- zulip
- apache-2.0 self hosted more work focussed
- stoatchat (formerly revolt)
- AGPL-3 self hosted
- teamspeak
- proprietary ... self hosted older ts3 with ts6 announced
- mumble
- license seems foss - self hosted
- spacebar
- AGPL-3 self hosted
- return to irc or xmpp
probably no
- matrix - could not decryptinator
- a hassle regarding voice
- peersuite
- very very young and not really ready
- https://lemmy.dbzer0/post/45470657
DO NOT
- mattermost
- play stupid games, win stupid prices
- guilded
- owned by roblox
- slack
- discord
- ventrilo
- proprietary - not selfhosted - no linux
please let me know what y’all think
Most of the possible contenders lack video calls and some also other needs mentioned by the OP. Nextcloud Talk has them all
oooh, true, i forgot to included them on the list. thanks for the reminder!
Excellent summary
Something that wasn't posted here yet but I just got told about: https://fluxer.app/
A chat platform that answers to you, not investors. It's ad-free, open source, community-funded, and never sells your data or nags you with upgrade pop-ups.
Over time, we'd love to explore optional monetisation tools that help creators and communities earn, with a small, transparent fee that keeps the app sustainable.
I replaced Discord(and Whatsapp) with Matrix/Element as voice chat (and general chat) with my wife. I remember running it with Docker was bit annoying to set up (I was selfhosting beginner when first doing it now it could be easier), but with Yunohost it is one click install (if you are willing with swap operating server).
Nextcloud Talk could work for your needs, but I have not personally used it so hard to recommend it.
I think you can hlst your own teamspeak server
My guess is that it would be difficult to find a piece of software that does all the stuff discord does. But I also think it's a non-issue. You could split these needs onto multiple solutions. My group uses mumble for gaming voicechat, Signal for group conversations, and a simple rtmp server for streaming. We don't need nor use discord and never did.
I like the idea of a single piece of software that does one job well instead of a giant powerhouse that does everything.
i also have a mumble server but every once in a while we need streaming. what is your rtmp setup? i am thinking of mediamtx, but am annoyed by having to post the link to the stream every time and everyone needs to resize windows manually to fit all on ome screen.
matrix is unreasonably hard to set-up, why doesnt the docker container or the compose include voice chat? i cant even sign up for stoat to try it out.. is this the best we have against discord in the big 26 😭
I couldn't figure out how to sign up for matrix server. Maybe there are peer tube videos.
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Rocket.chat would be my first recommendation, tho it looks more corporate aimed. It also claims to support Matrix federation.
You could also give Jami a try, it's p2p so it doesn't need servers.
RocketChat is pretty easy to setup with docker. I couldn't get it to work in podman after many, many hours of trying despite the documentation saying it does. They have a dedicated podman doc page but I just hit problem after problem after problem. I was trying to do it with the containerized mongo as a PoC though - a lot of problems came from that (mongo connection). Maybe I'll try again with a "real" db server. Root cause seemed to be networking differences between docker and podman.
I found it really odd that your server has to get a registration key from their server... That part weirds me out.
I found it really odd that your server has to get a registration key from their server
Huh, I didn't know that, maybe that's only with the docker image? If not, that's bad news waiting to happen, I'm afraid :/
Looks like you called it. Seems the container image(s) default to a subscription plan ("Starter", free for <50 users) but apparently you can revert to the "Community Edition" which gets rid of it.
Found this post over at the place we no longer speak of :
Hello, I'm Gabriel Engel, the founder of Rocket.Chat. I want to clarify that there is no new limitation for community use. We've recently introduced a plan offering all enterprise features for free to groups with fewer than 25 users. For those with more users, you have the opportunity to try the enterprise features. After the trial period, the system will automatically revert to the community version. However, you have the option to bypass the trial in the admin settings. I emphasize that we are not imposing any restrictions; instead, we're providing the enterprise version free to small teams and inviting larger teams to experience it. Let's view this as the positive initiative it is. For more details, please visit our forum: https://forums.rocket.chat/t/introducing-the-starter-plan-free-access-to-premium-features-for-limited-scale-use/18736
In the admin settings for your instance you can go to the "Subscription" panel and down at the veeeery bottom is a "Cancel Subscription" button (I'm on the free "starter" subscription, apparently). I'm assuming that's how you back out of it.
Once I have a chance to warn users that I'm about to do something potentially dramatic, I'll test it out and see what happens.
EDIT: Also found this in the RC forums (from 2 years ago) :
Note, if you upgrade or install new version of RC, it will automatically put you at a Starter or Pro plan, to go to the community, go to Admin settings, remove the key and it will put you back to the Community version… It took me a while to figure this out :slight_smile:
O, and the immediate next post is what I described above :
I believe community is still available within v6.6.0, but new instllation will put you automatically to the Starter Plan. You need to cancel subscription going to Setting → Subscription → Cancel Subscription
The main issue is you'll never get the cretins that use it off it. Communities.. they're just sitting there burning the library of alexandria.. all the esoteric knowledge they're "putting on discord" is just gonna vanish.
over a billion in vc funding and discord is as shit as it is.
It's funny you mention the VC funding. As far as I can tell, it's only made it worse. Discord would have done great if they just kept expectations low. Instead, they're now expected to create massive returns. That must come at the cost of consumers. I hope consumers get tired of it and leave, or someone else comes offering the simple service Discord used to provide.
Yes, enshittification of Discord has started a while ago, and it’s becoming worse.
Call them cretins all you want, Discord in a great piece of software and very powerful. The usability is better than most others.
As an archivist and data hoarder I hate discord with a burning, visceral passion.
Are there any groups we can join as archivist / hoarders?
Sure, a good place to start is ArchiveTeam
https://tracker.archiveteam.org/ https://wiki.archiveteam.org/
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