Self-Hosted Slack Alternatives

Slack is not available as a self-hosted solution but there are plenty of alternatives for power users and business that want to host a solution on-premise. The best Self-Hosted alternative is Element. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try Mattermost or Rocket.Chat. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Slack and many of them are available as a self-hosted solution so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Self-Hosted alternatives to Slack are Zulip, Matrix, Wire and Nextcloud Talk.

filter to find the best alternatives

Slack alternatives are mainly Group Chat Apps, but if you're looking for Team Collaboration Tools or Instant Messengers you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Self-Hosted + Open Source. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Slack.
Slack iconSlack
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Facilitates teams' real-time collaboration with versatile chat interface and advanced search in configurable channels across multiple platforms.

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Slack alternatives page was last updated Mar 21, 2025
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  1. Element icon

    Element

     720 likes
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    Provides secure collaboration with end-to-end encryption, supporting chat, voice, and video calls. Available on all major platforms, it enables digital sovereignty with a decentralized design and interoperability through bridges to systems like Slack and Teams. Includes enterprise-grade SaaS.

    301 Element alternatives

    License model

    • Free Personal • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • GB flagUnited Kingdom

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • Matrix.org
    • Flathub
    • F-Droid
    • Cloudron
    Video calls for desktop and mobile

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused
    2.  Clean design

    Features

    1.  End-to-End Encryption
    2.  Decentralized
    3.  Federated
    4.  Team Collaboration
    5.  Encrypted Chat
    6.  Video Calling
    7.  Matrix Protocol
    8.  Voice Chat
    9.  Direct Messaging
    10.  Federation
    11.  Cross-Platform
    12.  Dark Mode

    Element VS Slack

     
    Comments about Element as an Alternative to Slack
    Comment summary: Element is praised for being free, open-source, and decentralized, with strong privacy due to its encryption and adherence to the Matrix protocol. It offers federated communication, interoperability, and allows end-to-end encrypted messaging, enhancing user security and flexibility. Users appreciate its ability to bridge into other networks and its performance in team communication.
    Top Positive Comment
    brinerustle
    Mar 3, 2018
    6

    because its open source, decentralised, and end-to-end secure. Plus the folks at matrix.org are working to get us out of our communication silos by creating standards for communication interoperability!

    Most Recent Comment
    Dserver Hosting
    Positive Dec 20, 2022
    1

    this is a open source and free software that is very useful for me

    kaspian
    Positive Sep 28, 2022
    0

    Encrypted, free, open-source, decentralized

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    3 of 12 comments
    Slack Icon
    Element icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Element is a great Slack alternative.

    • Element is the most popular Web-based, Windows, Android & Mac alternative to Slack.

    • Element is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Slack.

    • Element is Free Personal and Open SourceSlack is Freemium and Proprietary
    • Element is Decentralized and Privacy focusedSlack is not according to our users
  2. Zulip icon

    Zulip

     207 likes
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    Zulip is the only modern team chat app that is designed for both live and asynchronous conversations. Zulip topics create a separate space for each discussion, so different conversations will never get in each other's way.

    226 Zulip alternatives

    License model

    • Free Personal • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • BSD
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • F-Droid
    Zulip screenshot 1

    Top Zulip Features

    1.  Threaded Conversations
    2.  Team Collaboration
    3.  Support for Hotkeys
    4.  Community-based
    5.  Support for MarkDown
    6.  Syntax Highlighting
    7.  Chat Bot
    8.  Secure Chat
    9.  Third party integrations
    10.  Integrated File Sharing
    11. GitHub icon  GitHub Integration
    12.  Integrated Search

    Zulip VS Slack

     
    Comments about Zulip as an Alternative to Slack
    Comment summary: Zulip is praised for its open-source nature and unique threading model, which many users find superior to Slack's, especially for organizing and categorizing conversations through Streams and Topics. It's particularly beneficial in professional settings with diverse team discussions. Users appreciate its vibrant community and flexibility, offering both self-hosted options and better value plans compared to Slack. Despite not being fully open-source, Zulip provides a robust alternative.
    Top Positive Comment
    Paulo Coghi
    Feb 6, 2020
    5

    More than feature parity with Slack, it's better because of Streams and Topics. It offer the same free tier with 10.000 max messages and better paid plans to the hosted version, and also provide the open source self-hosted option to install it on your own server and also remove the max messages limits. 5 stars

    Most Recent Comment
    Guest
    Positive Mar 21, 2025
    0

    Selfhosted, easy and the best ui compared to all the alternatives.

    Alex Hoyau
    Positive Sep 11, 2024
    0

    Beware this is not free/libre software, not even fully open source, zulip is open core (like freemium is not fully free/gratis)

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    3 of 18 comments
    Slack Icon
    Zulip icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Zulip is a great Slack alternative.

    • Zulip is Free Personal and Open SourceSlack is Freemium and Proprietary
  4. Mattermost icon

    Mattermost

     249 likes
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    Mattermost is a secure, open source platform for communication, collaboration, and workflow orchestration across tools and teams.

    128 Mattermost alternatives

    License model

    • Freemium • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • JavaScript
    • Go (Programming Language)
    • Cloudron
    Mattermost screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Team Collaboration
    2.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    3.  Chat Bot
    4.  On-premises software
    5.  Multi Channel
    6.  Full-Text Search
    7.  Built-in viewer
    8.  Dark Mode
    9.  Real time collaboration
    10.  Support for @mentions
    11.  Support for MarkDown
    12.  End-to-End Encryption

    Mattermost VS Slack

     
    Comments about Mattermost as an Alternative to Slack
    Comment summary: Mattermost offers similar functionality and interface to Slack while providing increased control over data, enhanced privacy, and greater customization options. Users appreciate its open-source nature and the ability to self-host, contributing to reduced cost and more flexibility. While it matches Slack's features, some users expressed a preference for Slack's design.
    Top Positive Comment
    shelehovchanin
    Apr 4, 2019
    7

    Same functionality. Same interface. At the same time, there are much fewer restrictions. IN my experience, the free version is great enough for a team of 100 people

    Top Negative Comment
    Alex Hoyau
    Sep 11, 2024
    5

    Beware this is not free/libre software, not even fully open source, mattermost is open core (like freemium is not fully free/gratis)

    Most Recent Comment
    Indiana Lake
    Positive Feb 27, 2023
    0

    Same with more emphasis on privacy.

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    3 of 22 comments
    Slack Icon
    Mattermost icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Mattermost is a great Slack alternative.

    • Mattermost is Freemium and Open SourceSlack is Freemium and Proprietary
    • Mattermost is LightweightSlack is not according to our users
  5. Rocket.Chat icon

    Rocket.Chat

     155 likes
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    Rocket.Chat is a Web Chat Server, developed in JavaScript, using the Meteor fullstack framework.

    137 Rocket.Chat alternatives

    License model

    • Freemium • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • Cloudron
    Rocket.Chat screenshot 1

    Top Rocket.Chat Features

    1.  Omnichannel messaging
    2.  Ad-free
    3.  Channels
    4.  Self-Serve Capability
    5. Telegram icon  Telegram integration
    6. WhatsApp icon  Whatsapp integration
    7.  End-to-End Encryption
    8.  Screen Sharing
    9.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    10.  Bots
    11.  Integrated File Sharing
    12.  Video Conferencing

    Rocket.Chat VS Slack

     
    Comments about Rocket.Chat as an Alternative to Slack
    Most Recent Comment
    John Fastman
    Positive Dec 26, 2016
    10

    Does everything Slack does AND it's open source. However, it's also self-hosted. This means you have to put in the effort to set it up, but you control your own data, which is a huge advantage to your privacy - your chats and files don't sit on someone else's servers, ready for them or hackers to look at.

    Guest
    Positive Jun 17, 2018
    7

    Rocket.Chat comes very close to slack regarding it's core features and handling.

    Guest
    Positive Nov 29, 2018
    2

    open source, locally hosted so you own your data.

    Slack Icon
    Rocket.Chat icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Rocket.Chat is a great Slack alternative.

    • Rocket.Chat is Freemium and Open SourceSlack is Freemium and Proprietary
  6. Matrix icon

    Matrix

     363 likes
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    Matrix defines a set of open APIs for decentralised communication, suitable for securely publishing, persisting and subscribing to data over a global open federation of servers with no single point of control.

    162 Matrix alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • GB flagUnited Kingdom

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • WebRTC
    • Python
    • JavaScript
    • Go (Programming Language)
    • Cloudron
    • Java
    • Perl
    Main Page

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused
    2.  Security-focused
    3.  Lightweight
    4.  Support for Themes

    Features

    1.  Decentralized
    2.  End-to-End Encryption
    3.  Federation
    4.  Team Collaboration
    5.  Random Video Chat
    6.  Encrypted Chat
    7.  Voice Chat
    8.  No Tracking
    9.  Spaces
    10.  Ad-free
    11.  Dark Mode
    12.  Support for @mentions

    Matrix VS Slack

     
    Comments about Matrix as an Alternative to Slack
    Top Positive Comment
    Guest
    Nov 3, 2017
    3

    Respects your Freedom. Increasingly popular

    Top Negative Comment
    somegirlfromit
    Sep 15, 2019
    19

    Matrix is a protocol, not a client.

    Most Recent Comment
    Vladimir Studinsky
    Positive Oct 28, 2017
    1

    Open source, fecentralized, federation, chat-voice-video function.

    Show more comments
    3 of 7 comments
    Slack Icon
    Matrix icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Matrix is a great Slack alternative.

    • Matrix is Free and Open SourceSlack is Freemium and Proprietary
    • Matrix is Decentralized, Privacy focused and LightweightSlack is not according to our users
  7. Wire icon

    Wire

     309 likes
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    Wire is the most secure collaboration platform featuring messenger, voice, video, conference calls, file-sharing, and external collaboration –all protected by the most secure end-to-end-encryption.

    280 Wire alternatives

    License model

    • Free Personal • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • CH flagSwitzerland

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • F-Droid
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
    Wire screenshot 1
    Wire screenshot 2
    Wire screenshot 3

    Properties

    1.  Security-focused
    2.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  End-to-End Encryption
    2.  Video Calling
    3.  Encrypted Chat
    4.  VoiP Calls
    5.  Encrypted calls
    6.  Screen Sharing
    7.  Ad-free
    8.  Secure File Sharing
    9.  Multiple Account support
    10.  WebRTC
    11.  Private Chat
    12.  File Sending

    Wire VS Slack

     

    • Most users think Wire is a great Slack alternative.

    • Wire is the most popular SaaS alternative to Slack.

    • Wire is Free Personal and Open SourceSlack is Freemium and Proprietary
    • Wire is Security-focused and Privacy focusedSlack is not according to our users
  9. Nextcloud Talk icon

    Nextcloud Talk

     33 likes
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    Nextcloud Talk is a fully self-hosted audio/video and chat communication service. It features web and mobile apps and is designed to offer the highest degree of security while being easy to use.

    102 Nextcloud Talk alternatives

    License model

    • Free Personal • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • Nextcloud
    • F-Droid
    • Chocolatey
    • Flatpak
    Nextcloud Talk screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Screen Sharing
    2.  End-to-End Encryption
    3.  Ad-free
    4.  Real time collaboration
    5.  No registration required
    6.  No Tracking
    7.  Dark Mode
    8. Nextcloud icon  Nextcloud integration

    Nextcloud Talk VS Slack

     
    Comments about Nextcloud Talk as an Alternative to Slack
    Guest
    Negative Mar 1, 2025
    0

    Nextcloud Talk, like most of Nextcloud, is very heavyweight. So if you don't have a very good server, it's going to be very slow (for me it was around 10 seconds to send a single message)

    Slack Icon
    Nextcloud Talk icon
    • Nextcloud Talk is Free Personal and Open SourceSlack is Freemium and Proprietary
    • Nextcloud Talk is Privacy focusedSlack is not according to our users
7 of 47 Slack alternatives