Alternatives to Slack
4 self-hosted alternatives — 3 medium, 1 hard
Why people look for alternatives
- Expensive per-user pricing for small and medium teams
- Message history limited on free plan
- Data stored on Slack servers with no self-hosting option
- Frequent UI changes and feature bloat
| App | Difficulty | Min RAM | Docker | Mobile | Active | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Element Decentralized encrypted messaging client built on the Matrix protocol. | hard | 2 GB | iOS & Android | Yes | ||
| Mattermost Secure team messaging platform designed as a Slack alternative for organizations. | medium | 2 GB | iOS & Android | Yes | ||
| Rocket.Chat Team communication platform with channels, direct messaging, and video calls. | medium | 2 GB | iOS & Android | Yes | ||
| Zulip Threaded team chat that combines real-time messaging with email-like topic threading. | medium | 2 GB | iOS & Android | Yes |
Element
Decentralized encrypted messaging client built on the Matrix protocol.
Pros
- + End-to-end encryption by default
- + Federated - no single point of control
- + Bridges to other platforms like Slack and Discord
- + Active development by Element HQ
Cons
- - Complex server setup with Synapse
- - Federation can be slow
- - Resource hungry for small deployments
- - UI can feel cluttered
Mattermost
Secure team messaging platform designed as a Slack alternative for organizations.
Pros
- + Clean Slack-like interface
- + Good DevOps integrations
- + Strong security and compliance features
- + Excellent mobile apps
Cons
- - Many features require Enterprise license
- - Plugin ecosystem smaller than Slack
- - Can feel bloated for small teams
- - Frequent breaking changes in plugins
Rocket.Chat
Team communication platform with channels, direct messaging, and video calls.
Pros
- + Rich feature set out of the box
- + Good mobile apps
- + Extensive integration options
- + Active community
Cons
- - Can be resource heavy
- - Free tier limitations increasing
- - MongoDB dependency
- - Some features moved to paid tiers
Zulip
Threaded team chat that combines real-time messaging with email-like topic threading.
Pros
- + Unique topic-based threading model
- + Great for async communication
- + Fully open source with no paid tiers for self-hosted
- + Excellent search
Cons
- - Threading model has a learning curve
- - Fewer integrations than Slack
- - Smaller community
- - UI feels dated compared to alternatives