Question: What do people in this community recommend for self-hosted instant messanger projects? I host a VOIP service for my nerd herd and due to recent events i’m attempting to migrate out groups chats off of the major platforms (Discord, Google chats, Slack, Etc.) as well.

There are a few notes that were requested/requirements.

  • Self-hosted
  • Supports images
  • Has a decent mobile app
  • Encrypted communication
  • Expected load ~25 users.

I am doing my own digging but wanted to hear the communites opinions on some of the projects that came up in searches.

  • IRC/XMPP - dosent really work for the request but is a classic, so I feel had to mention it.
  • Rocket.Chat - seems like the best option so far, but I was having trouble finding current reviews, and its licensing is a bit much.
  • Matrix also is close to checking all the boxes, but it wasnt clear how it works on mobile (Element seemed like the mobile app that was recommended).
  • Revolt was high on the SEO results but most of the discussion around it was about drama with the maintainers (that is what prompted this post, i’m fishing for more current opinions).
  • Zulip seemed similar to Rocket.Chat, but more expensive if we had to get a license.

I appreciate peoples opinions and recomendations on this topic.

  • dingdongitsabearEnglish
    51·
    12 days ago

    I deployed RocketChat on two different client installations (didn’t check the licensing you’re mentioning, I’ll have to look into that) and I run a Prosody instance (XMPP) on my own; tried Matrix for a short while and ran away from that mess as fast as I could. anyhow, although the messengers work without any significant issues or downtime, the amount of flak I get from non-tech normies about the client apps is staggering.

    the apps just aren’t up to current UX standards. they’re used to Twitter and iMessage and Telegram quality UX, and getting used to these PoC-quality apps - both on mobile and desktop - makes them “feel icky”. I’ve had to intervene on a number of occasions when some of them transferred their business-related comms to other platforms because they just can’t/won’t get used to these apps.