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Best / Chat & team messaging

Best open-source Chat & team messaging

The best open-source team chat in the c17.io catalog is Rocket.Chat for Slack-shaped rooms, with SimpleX Chat when you want messengers without user IDs, Chat Tails for a Go terminal server, alook for agent rooms, and Ergo if the job is IRC. Mattermost and Stoat are published as stacks but are not Crew catalog rows, so they are linked via /stacks rather than ranked here.

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Ranked picks

  1. 1

    Rocket.Chat

    Open-source workspace chat, voice, and apps — the c17 Slack replacement.

    When to pick it: Channels, DMs, and files you host.

  2. 2

    SimpleX Chat: private and secure messenger without any user IDs (not even random)

    Private encrypted messenger without user IDs.

    When to pick it: Privacy-first DMs, not a Slack workspace clone.

  3. 3

    Chat Tails

    MIT Go terminal chat server that can run over Tailscale.

    When to pick it: A tiny team server, not a marketplace of apps.

  4. 4

    alook

    Apache-2.0 rooms for people and agents.

    When to pick it: Agent-shaped rooms rather than Slack huddles.

    1,390 stars in the catalog

  5. 5

    ergo

    MIT modern IRC server written in Go.

    When to pick it: IRC, not a Slack or Discord UI.

How they compare

ToolLicenseSelf-hostBest for
Rocket.ChatNot listedEasyChannels, DMs, and files you host.
SimpleX Chat: private and secure messenger without any user IDs (not even random)Not listedMediumPrivacy-first DMs, not a Slack workspace clone.
Chat TailsMITEasyA tiny team server, not a marketplace of apps.
alookApache License 2.0EasyAgent-shaped rooms rather than Slack huddles.
ergoMITEasyIRC, not a Slack or Discord UI.

Related pages

FAQ

Where are Mattermost and Stoat?
On /stacks/mattermost-teams and /stacks/stoat-chat. They are not listed catalog rows, so this ranking cannot include them.
Is this a 1:1 Slack clone?
Rocket.Chat covers channels, DMs, files, and apps. Marketplace bots you rebuild. That is the stack FAQ.
Are these free?
Open-source or fair-code; you pay hosting. Template users never pay c17.
How do I deploy it?
Open /stacks/rocket-chat. Persist Mongo/uploads on a volume and set ROOT_URL to the public domain.

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