Huh? Zulip, Rocket Chat, Mattermost, Element just off the top of my head.
this post was submitted on 03 May 2026
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Good list!
Pretty much any XMPP setup will work.
I think some people here recommended Snikket. It's supposed to be easy to install and modern. I don't know what components it's made up of. It's a dockerized XMPP server + Apps.
Thanks, Snikket seems like what I'm looking for, but it seems to focus on getting domain hosting so you can access it from anywhere. I don't need that, accessing a port on my desktop would be enough. Do you know if Snikket can run that way?
Sorry, I just saw the recommendations. I'm using a Matrix server myself. And it's connected to the internet, since I use it 24/7 and on my phone, etc.
I guess technically, most protocols can be used in an internal network. But maybe you'll need to put in some extra effort, for example if a platform requires SSL certificates or something like that.
I mean you could try... If it asks for a hostname, just put a local hostname in. Or the IP address. Or set up a DNS entry on the router. And see if it works.
Or try something like RocketChat, or depending how your team's workflow is, maybe you don't want a messenger. But some (online) collaboration platform more focused on documents, like Nextcloud.
You should really spend the time to understand networking and hosting and set up an internal domain.
I think that's where I am at, yes. I have programming experience but very little in terms of networking. Ultimately what I want is a custom team management tool but I need to understand how these messengers work first. Thanks
Nah you probably need to understand DNS and reverse proxies first. I recommend something like nginx, traefik or Caddy with ACME certificates from Letsencrypt with the DNS-01 challenge on a supported hosting provider which allows DNS changes via API.
If I were you I'd probably even get a super cheap VPS and run the chat software there, just be aware you need to constantly patch everything.
I will look into those, thanks!
Depending on what else you are running and need, NextCloud Talk would work. I definitely wouldn't spin up NC just for Talk though.
Matrix Tuwunel + Element, you will never look back
For Zulip there are some public instances to look around if you don't know it, like https://rust-lang.zulipchat.com/
There are some specialized tools if you only need video chat (like good old Jitsi but I think there are some more modern options now based on LiveKit) and there is one centered around a shared whiteboard / slide-sharing area (forgot the name). Or if you're looking to just quickly do some collaborative editing there is CryptPad.
Also, check out the !selfhosted@lemmy.world community here if you still have questions.
Or apparently Onyx which looks good, but very new.
I just learned about this: https://github.com/wardcore-dev/onyx
Seems very interesting and they just added voice and some other features.
If you’re worried about AI use the author has a good write up and some comments in their posts in !selfhosted@lemmy.world
@Hirundinidae How about humhub.com ? It’s a German product, open source, self-hosted or available as a managed service. It’s designed for teams and collaboration.