Self-Hosted Telegram Alternatives

Telegram 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 Element or Wire. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Telegram 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 Telegram are SimpleX Chat, Zulip, Mirotalk and Snikket.

filter to find the best alternatives

Telegram alternatives are mainly Group Chat Apps, but if you're looking for Video Calling Apps or Instant Messengers you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Online, Mac, Android, Windows, Linux, Self-Hosted and Windows + Free. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Telegram.
Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard
Telegram alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. Element icon
     815 likes

    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.

    325 Element alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • Snapcraft
    • Matrix.org
    • Flathub
    • F-Droid
    • Cloudron
     
    |
    13
  2. Wire icon
     330 likes

    Secure communication platform featuring encrypted chats and calls, file and media sharing, self-deleting messages, device verification, group collaboration, and customizable settings. Supports use across multiple devices with no phone number required for access.

    290 Wire alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • F-Droid
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
     
    |
    5
  3. Matrix icon
     408 likes

    Open standard protocol enabling decentralized, encrypted instant messaging, VoIP signaling, IoT device connectivity, and persistent data management across federated servers without central control or single points of failure, bridging communication platforms.

    180 Matrix alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • WebRTC
    • Python
    • JavaScript
    • Go (Programming Language)
    • Cloudron
    • Java
    • Perl
     
    |
    2
  4. SimpleX Chat icon
     107 likes

    Open-source messaging platform enabling private, identifier-free chats, encrypted group discussions, file and media sharing, plus audio and video calls. Employs double-ratchet protocol, stores user data on-device, protects metadata, and lets users self-host relay servers.

    76 SimpleX Chat alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Self-Hosted
    • Flathub
    • F-Droid
    • Flatpak
    • Android Tablet
     
  5. Zulip icon
     271 likes

    Threaded group conversations combine live and asynchronous messaging, separating topics for organized collaboration, supporting open-source, cloud, and self-hosted deployments, secure communication with encryption, and multi-platform access for diverse teams.

    235 Zulip alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • BSD
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • F-Droid
     
    |
    1
  6. Movim icon
     52 likes

    Decentralized social and blog platform based on XMPP, enabling self-hosting, cross-network chat, video calls, and group collaboration. Users control and migrate their data, communicate across various networks, and access services from any node while preserving privacy and open-source principles.

    101 Movim alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
     
  7. Nerimity icon
     14 likes

    Open-source chat platform providing community-focused group messaging, video calls, profile customization with animated avatars, custom emojis, tags, post creation, discovery of communities, and full source code access on GitHub. Entirely donation-funded.

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    • Self-Hosted
     
  8. Flotilla icon
     9 likes

    Decentralized chat platform built on the nostr protocol with support for multi-group communities, event calendars, threads, private messaging, web of trust, customizable access controls, monetization via zaps, full privacy, and white-label options for branding.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Self-Hosted
     
  9. Tinode icon
     10 likes

    Fully open source instant messaging server and clients. No proprietary components or non-free dependencies. Backend in pure Go (GPL 3.0), with a command-line administration tool in python + gRPC. Clients for Android, iPhone, and Web - ReactJS (all licensed under Apache 2.0).

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Self-Hosted
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
     
  10. Kontalk is a secure instant messenger, allowing you to send and receive text, image and voice messages (other file types coming soon) to and from other Kontalk users completely free of charge.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Android
    • Self-Hosted
     
12 of 28 Telegram alternatives