SimpleX Chat
Chat & CommunicationPrivate messenger without any user identifiers
Replaces Signal, WhatsApp
Best Encrypted Chat & Communication for self-hosting
The 20 best Encrypted chat & communication you can self-host, ranked by community traction.
Berty
Chat & CommunicationPeer-to-peer messaging app that works offline
Replaces WhatsApp, Signal
Mumble
Chat & CommunicationLow-latency, high-quality voice chat application
Replaces Discord, TeamSpeak
Conversations
Chat & CommunicationOpen-source XMPP chat client for Android with OMEMO encryption
Replaces WhatsApp, Signal
Tox
Chat & CommunicationPeer-to-peer encrypted messaging protocol and core
Replaces Skype, Discord
Nextcloud Talk
Chat & CommunicationChat, video calls and webinars integrated into Nextcloud
Replaces Slack, Zoom
mautrix-telegram
Chat & CommunicationMatrix-Telegram puppeting bridge
Replaces Telegram official client
mautrix
Chat & CommunicationCollection of Matrix bridges for popular chat networks
Replaces Beeper
Toxic
Chat & CommunicationTerminal-based client for the Tox messaging network
Replaces Skype, WhatsApp
Delta Chat
Chat & CommunicationDecentralized messenger built on top of email
Replaces WhatsApp, Signal
Briar
Chat & CommunicationPeer-to-peer encrypted messaging that works offline
Replaces Signal, WhatsApp
matrix-commander
Chat & CommunicationCommand-line tool for sending and receiving Matrix messages
Replaces Slack CLI
Session
Chat & CommunicationOnion-routed private messenger with no phone number
Replaces Signal, WhatsApp
Linphone
Chat & CommunicationOpen-source SIP voice, video, and messaging client
Replaces Skype, Zoom
Chatmail Relay
Chat & CommunicationMinimal email server tuned for Delta Chat messaging
Replaces WhatsApp, Signal
Jami Server Bridge
Chat & CommunicationSelf-hosted name registry and bridge for the Jami network
Replaces Skype, Zoom
Comm
Chat & CommunicationE2E-encrypted personal-server messaging app
Replaces Discord, Slack
Wesh Network
Chat & CommunicationP2P encrypted messaging protocol toolkit
Replaces Signal, WhatsApp
Libervia
Chat & CommunicationMulti-frontend XMPP communication ecosystem
Replaces Slack, Facebook
Jami
Chat & CommunicationFully distributed, peer-to-peer encrypted communication
Replaces Skype, Zoom
No apps match these filters.
At a glance
| App | Deploy effort | Difficulty | Min. RAM | License | ★ Stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SimpleX Chat | Under-an-hour setup | Medium | 256 MB | AGPL-3.0 | 19,560 |
| Berty | Read-the-docs project | Hard | 256 MB | Apache-2.0 | 9,325 |
| Mumble | Under-an-hour setup | Easy | 128 MB | BSD-3-Clause | 8,340 |
| Conversations | Under-an-hour setup | Hard | 512 MB | GPL-3.0 | 3,000 |
| Tox | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 64 MB | GPL-3.0 | 2,693 |
| Nextcloud Talk | Under-an-hour setup | Medium | 512 MB | AGPL-3.0 | 2,214 |
| mautrix-telegram | Under-an-hour setup | Medium | 256 MB | AGPL-3.0 | 1,751 |
| mautrix | Under-an-hour setup | Hard | 256 MB | AGPL-3.0 | 1,500 |
| Toxic | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 64 MB | GPL-3.0 | 1,307 |
| Delta Chat | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 256 MB | MPL-2.0 | 937 |
Quick picks
- Most adopted: SimpleX Chat (19,560 GitHub stars).
- Lightest footprint: Tox (from 64 MB RAM, against 1,024 MB for the heaviest here).
- Licensing: 9 of 20 use GPL-3.0; check the rest individually if you plan to modify and redistribute.
Every option here is open-source and self-hostable, tagged Encrypted within the chat & communication category. Deploy effort is graded from published container recipes, not vendor claims — see the methodology.