Yes. Chat is open source under the GPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at tinode/chat and is written mainly in Go.

Yes. Chat is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Chat?

Yes. Chat can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Chat an alternative to?

Chat is an open-source alternative to Slack. Other open-source alternatives to Slack include Rocket.Chat, Mattermost and Zulip.

Is Chat actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Chat was on 27 September 2026, and the latest release is v0.25.3, published on 4 July 2026. The project has 14k stars on GitHub.

Chat: open-source alternative to Slack

About Chat

Instant messaging platform. Backend in Go. Clients: Swift iOS, Java Android, JS webapp, sc

Built with: Go tools
Tags: chat; chat-application; chatapp; go; golang; instant-messaging; messenger; messaging; messaging-api; chatbots; chatserver; webchat-server; whatsapp; telegram

Chat: questions and answers

What is Chat?: Chat is an instant messaging platform. Backend in Go. Clients: Swift iOS, Java Android, JS webapp, sc.
Is Chat open source?: Yes. Chat is open source under the GPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at tinode/chat and is written mainly in Go.
Is Chat free?: Yes. Chat is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Chat?: Yes. Chat can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Chat an alternative to?: Chat is an open-source alternative to Slack. Other open-source alternatives to Slack include Rocket.Chat, Mattermost and Zulip.
Is Chat actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Chat was on 27 September 2026, and the latest release is v0.25.3, published on 4 July 2026. The project has 14k stars on GitHub.