7 self-hosted options
Open-source alternatives to Discord
The best open-source alternatives to Discord are Stoat, Fluxer and Element.
About Discord: A voice, video and text chat platform built around communities and servers.
Every option below is free to self-host and ranked by GitHub stars, so you can move off Discord without giving up the features you rely on.
Top picks
- Rank 1:
Stoat
stoatchat/self-hosted
Stoat is a user-first chat platform built with modern web technologies.
Team ChatJavaScriptDocker - Rank 2:
Fluxer
fluxerapp/fluxer
Instant messaging and VoIP platform built for friends, groups, and communities (alternative to Discord).
Team ChatTypeScriptDocker - Rank 3:
Element
element-hq/element-web
Fully-featured Matrix client for Web, iOS & Android.
Team ChatTypeScript
Why switch
Why teams move off Discord
Self-hosting is not only about saving money. These are the reasons people make the switch.
Own your data
Your data lives on a server you control, not on Discord's infrastructure. No surprise policy changes and no lock-in.
No per-seat pricing
Open-source alternatives to Discord are free to run for as many users as your server can handle. A small VPS often costs less than a single subscription.
Customize and extend
Read the code, add plugins, connect it to your own tools and automate it through open APIs. When you need a feature, you can build it or fund it.
Full ranking
All 7 Discord alternatives
Ranked by GitHub stars. Open any app for live stats, license details and a deploy option.
- 1
Stoat
Stoat is a user-first chat platform built with modern web technologies.
Team ChatDocker - 2
Fluxer
Instant messaging and VoIP platform built for friends, groups, and communities (alternative to Discord).
Team ChatDocker - 3
Element
Fully-featured Matrix client for Web, iOS & Android.
Team Chat - 4
Mumble
Low-latency, high quality voice/text chat software.
Team Chat - 5
Rocket.Chat
Communications platform that puts data protection first (alternative to Gitter.im and Slack).
Team ChatDocker - 6
Zulip
Zulip is a powerful, open source group chat application.
Team Chat - 7
Lemmy
Link aggregator for the fediverse (alternative to Reddit).
Social & ForumsDocker
What is the best open-source alternative to Discord?
Stoat is the most popular open-source alternative to Discord, with 2,665 GitHub stars. Fluxer and Element are also strong choices. Compare features, license and recent activity to find the best fit for your team.
Is there a free alternative to Discord?
Yes. All 7 apps on this page are open source and free to self-host, so you can run a Discord replacement without per-user fees. You only pay for the server, and a small VPS is usually enough for personal use or a small team.
Can I self-host an alternative to Discord?
Yes. Stoat, Fluxer and Rocket.Chat ship a Docker image, so you can run them on a home server or VPS with Docker Compose in a few minutes. Your data then stays on hardware you control.
How do I migrate from Discord?
Start by exporting your data from Discord, then check the import options of the app you pick, since many projects ship importers for popular formats. Run both side by side for a week before you switch so nothing is lost.