Self-hosted alternatives to Discord
Want community voice and text chat without handing your data to Discord? These 30 self-hosted apps run on your own server (most are open source; licenses are listed below). Cheapest estimated hosting starts at about $3.5/month.
About Discord: Voice, video and text chat platform for communities.
| App | Health | Stars | License | Docker | RAM (est.) | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fluxer direct | Active | 10.8k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Rocket.Chat | Active | 46.5k | MIT | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Chatwoot | Active | 39.9k | ⊘ Proprietary | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Zulip | Active | 26.2k | Apache-2.0 | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| SimpleX Chat | Active | 19.7k | AGPL-3.0 | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Apprise | Active | 17.7k | MIT | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Gotify | Active | 16.2k | MIT | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Element | Active | 13.6k | Apache-2.0 | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Tinode | Active | 13.6k | GPL-3.0 | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Centrifugo | Active | 11k | MIT | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Mumble | Active | 8.4k | BSD-3-Clause | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Synapse | Active | 4.8k | Apache-2.0 | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Asterisk | Active | 3.7k | GPL-2.0 | – | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Kamailio | Active | 3k | GPL-2.0 | – | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Tuwunel | Active | 2.8k | Apache-2.0 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Tox | Active | 2.7k | GPL-3.0 | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Stoat | Active | 2.7k | AGPL-3.0, MIT | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| AnyCable | Active | 2.4k | MIT | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Chitchatter | Active | 2.3k | GPL-2.0 | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Live Helper Chat | Active | 2.3k | Apache-2.0 | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| RetroShare | Active | 2k | GPL-2.0 | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Routr | Active | 1.7k | MIT | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| openSIPS | Active | 1.5k | GPL-2.0 | – | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Hyphanet | Active | 1.2k | GPL-2.0 | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| FusionPBX | Active | 1.1k | MPL-1.1 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Conduit | Active | 962 | Apache-2.0 | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Notifo | Active | 885 | MIT | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Spectrum 2 | Active | 421 | GPL-3.0 | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Shhh | Active | 420 | MIT | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Tiledesk | Active | 328 | MIT | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
The options in detail
1. Fluxer
Instant messaging and VoIP platform built for friends, groups, and communities (alternative to Discord).
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release [email protected] (2026-11-09). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
2. Rocket.Chat
Communications platform that puts data protection first (alternative to Gitter.im and Slack).
Active Last commit 2026-11-10. Latest release 9.0.0-rc.8 (2026-11-07). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
3. Chatwoot
Customer communication platform (alternative to Intercom and Zendesk).
Active Last commit 2026-11-10. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v4.19.1 (2026-10-24). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
4. Zulip
Powerful group chat application.
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. Latest release 13.0-rc2 (2026-11-06). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
5. SimpleX Chat
Most private and secure chat and applications platform - now with double ratchet E2E encryption.
Active Last commit 2026-10-21. Latest release v7.1.2 (2026-11-07). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
6. Apprise
Apprise 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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-10. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v2.2.0 (2026-11-08). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
7. Gotify
Notification server with Android and CLI clients (alternative to PushBullet).
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. 6 releases in the past year. Latest release v3.1.1 (2026-09-15). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
8. Element
Fully-featured Matrix client for Web, iOS & Android.
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v1.12.34-rc.1 (2026-11-06). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
9. Tinode
Instant messaging platform. Backend in Go. Clients: Swift iOS, Java Android, JS webapp, scriptable command line; chatbots.
Active Last commit 2026-09-27. Latest release v0.25.3 (2026-07-04). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
10. Centrifugo
Language-agnostic real-time messaging (Websocket or SockJS) server.
Active Last commit 2026-11-08. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v6.10.3 (2026-11-08). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
11. Mumble
Low-latency, high quality voice/text chat software.
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. 5 releases in the past year. Latest release v1.6.0-alpha2 (2026-10-25). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
12. Synapse
Server for Matrix, an open standard for decentralized persistent communication.
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v1.165.0rc1 (2026-11-04). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
13. Asterisk
Easy to use but advanced IP PBX system, VoIP gateway and conference server.
Active Last commit 2026-11-05. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release 24.0.0 (2026-11-05). Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
14. Kamailio
Modular SIP server (registrar/proxy/router/etc).
Active Last commit 2026-11-10. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release 6.1.5 (2026-10-15). Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
15. Tuwunel
High-performance and feature-rich chat server for Matrix, and the successor to conduwuit (fork of Conduit).
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v1.9.4 (2026-10-10). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
16. Tox
Distributed, secure messenger with audio and video chat capabilities.
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. Latest release nightly (2025-01-27). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
17. Stoat
User-first chat platform built with modern web technologies.
Active Last commit 2026-11-07. Latest release v1.1.4 (2025-11-24). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
18. AnyCable
Realtime server for reliable two-way communication over WebSockets, Server-sent events, etc.
Active Last commit 2026-11-05. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v1.6.20 (2026-10-21). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
19. Chitchatter
Peer-to-peer chat app that is serverless, decentralized, and ephemeral.
Active Last commit 2026-11-05. Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
20. Live Helper Chat
Live Support chat for your website.
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release 4.99v (2026-11-05). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
22. Routr
Lightweight SIP proxy, location server, and registrar for a reliable and scalable SIP infrastructure.
Active Last commit 2026-11-06. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v2.32.3 (2026-11-06). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
23. openSIPS
SIP proxy/server for voice, video, IM, presence and any other SIP extensions.
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release 4.0.3 (2026-10-28). Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
24. Hyphanet
Anonymously share files, browse and publish freesites (web sites accessible only through Hyphanet) and chat on forums.
Active Last commit 2026-09-19. 5 releases in the past year. Latest release build01507 (2026-09-04). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
25. FusionPBX
Web interface for multi-platform voice switch called FreeSWITCH.
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. 2 releases in the past year. Latest release 5.6.5 (2026-09-21). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
26. Conduit
Simple, fast, and reliable chat server powered by Matrix.
Active Last commit 2026-11-02. 7 releases in the past year. Latest release v0.10.15 (2026-09-30). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
27. Notifo
Multichannel notification server with support for Email, Mobile Push, Web Push, SMS, messaging and a javascript plugin.
Active Last commit 2026-09-20. Latest release 1.3.0 (2022-11-30). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
28. Spectrum 2
Instant messaging transport. It allows users to chat together even when they are using different IM networks.
Active Last commit 2026-10-24. Latest release 2.2.1 (2023-06-12). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
29. Shhh
Keep secrets out of emails or chat logs, share them using secure links with passphrase and expiration dates.
Active Last commit 2026-09-17. Latest release 3.2.4 (2026-01-22). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
30. Tiledesk
All-in-one customer engagement platform from lead-gen to post-sales, from WhatsApp to your website. With omni-channel live agents and AI-powered chatbots (alternative to Intercom, Zendesk, Tawk.to).
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. Latest release 1.2 (2021-11-29). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
Why self-host instead of Discord?
- Own your data — it lives on a server you control, with backups you decide on.
- Predictable cost — a small VPS often replaces per-seat pricing for a whole team or family.
- No lock-in — open-source licenses let you keep running the software even if a vendor disappears.
The trade-off: you are responsible for updates, backups and security. Pick an app marked Active (a commit in the last 90 days) and with Docker support for the easiest ride.
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Other alternatives guides
Discord is a trademark of its owner; this site is not affiliated with it. Listings come from the community-maintained awesome-selfhosted list.