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OpenChime

Team chat you can host yourself.

OpenChime is a chat system built around a single idea: the server holds the data, and you choose who runs the server. Run it on your own hardware and no one else is involved. Buy a hosted workspace from us and we run the machine for you, on terms written down rather than implied.

What it is

The server is a single native binary with no runtime, no interpreter, and no container required. It installs from apt or dnf, runs under systemd, and keeps its data in one place you can back up. It is open source, so an operator who wants zero dependency on us can build it from source and never contact us again.

The clients are native applications, not a web page in a wrapper. Each platform gets a real client built for it, over one shared core, so the thing you run is an application your operating system recognises as one.

Some functions are impractical to self-run. Push notification delivery needs Apple and Google credentials that only a publisher can hold. Those are offered as opt-in services, each independently declinable. Declining all of them leaves a deployment that talks to nobody but itself.

Three ways to run it

Self-hosted, standalone
You run the server, you hold the data, and nothing reaches us. Free, and it stays free.
Self-hosted, federated
You still run the server and own every message. You opt in to the services you want, and nothing else.
Hosted
We provision and operate the machine. You get the product without the operations. This is the paid tier.

The Privacy Notice says exactly what the hosted tier means.

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