Self-Hosted WhatsApp Alternatives
WhatsApp 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 Matrix or Jitsi Meet. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to WhatsApp and 18 are available as a self-hosted solution so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Self-Hosted alternatives to WhatsApp are Wire, SimpleX Chat, Zulip and XMPP.
filter to find the best alternatives
WhatsApp alternatives are mainly Instant Messengers, but if you're looking for Encrypted Chat Apps or Group Chat Apps you can filter on that. 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 WhatsApp.- Instant Messenger
- Free • Proprietary
301 Element alternativesProvides 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.
License model
- Free Personal • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
United Kingdom
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Self-Hosted
- Matrix.org
- Flathub
- F-Droid
- Cloudron
Element VS WhatsApp
Comments about Element as an Alternative to WhatsApp
Top Positive CommentMost Recent CommentIt is floss (free/libre and open source) and the developers are friendly and open to the community.
resuFederated, strong focus on privacy and security.
280 Wire alternativesWire 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.
License model
- Free Personal • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
Switzerland
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Self-Hosted
- F-Droid
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
Wire VS WhatsApp
Comments about Wire as an Alternative to WhatsApp
Top Positive CommentBasically Signal on steroids. Also, open source and doesn't ask for your phone number, allows creation of throwaway accounts as well as basic group conversation functionality. Perfect.
Most Recent CommentMore Privacy oriented, more secure, but best of all OpenSource. Unfortunately it ain't free (as in money but free as in freedom).
Elegant UI, encrypted communication, on all relevant operating systems, has great VoIP and video call quality and so on.
162 Matrix alternativesMatrix 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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
- United Kingdom
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Self-Hosted
- WebRTC
- Python
- JavaScript
- Go (Programming Language)
- Cloudron
- Java
- Perl
Matrix VS WhatsApp
Comments about Matrix as an Alternative to WhatsApp
You can choose, which client you like the most and use it
146 Jitsi Meet alternativesGo ahead, video chat with the whole team. In fact, invite everyone you know. Jitsi Meet is a fully encrypted, 100% open source video conferencing solution that you can use all day, every day, for free.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Self-Hosted
- Apple Watch
- F-Droid
Jitsi Meet VS WhatsApp
Comments about Jitsi Meet as an Alternative to WhatsApp
EchtWahrJitsi is a conferencing platform not a messenger
vadim_the_braveIts videoconferencing platform, not a messenger
59 SimpleX Chat alternativesSimpleX - the most private and secure chat and applications platform - now with double ratchet E2E encryption! Built on Haskell with Love and Coffee.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
- United Kingdom
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Self-Hosted
- Flathub
- F-Droid
- Flatpak
SimpleX Chat VS WhatsApp
226 Zulip alternativesZulip 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.
License model
- Free Personal • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
- United States
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- BSD
- iPad
- Self-Hosted
- F-Droid
Top Zulip Features
Zulip VS WhatsApp
Comments about Zulip as an Alternative to WhatsApp
hrishikeshpatilMessages seperated by streams and topics
39 XMPP alternativesXMPP, or Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol, is an open standard for instant messaging and real-time communication, allowing for message exchanges between any two entities on the Internet. It's known for its decentralized and extensible nature.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application type
Country of Origin
- United States
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Windows Phone
- Self-Hosted
XMPP Features
XMPP VS WhatsApp
Decentral (federation), sure. Open source - client, protocol and server