Etherpad
Chat & CommunicationReal-time collaborative document editor
Replaces Google Docs
Best Plugins Chat & Communication for self-hosting
The 12 best Plugins chat & communication you can self-host, ranked by community traction.
FreeSWITCH
Chat & CommunicationScalable software telephony platform
Replaces Twilio, Asterisk
Ferdium
Chat & CommunicationAll-in-one messenger that combines chat services
Replaces Rambox, Station
FreeScout
Chat & CommunicationFree self-hosted help desk and shared inbox
Replaces Help Scout, Zendesk
Asterisk
Chat & CommunicationOpen-source framework for building telephony systems
Replaces Avaya, Cisco Unified Communications
WeeChat
Chat & CommunicationExtensible terminal-based chat client
Replaces Slack
irssi
Chat & CommunicationModular terminal IRC client with scripting
Replaces Slack
Kamailio
Chat & CommunicationHigh-performance SIP server for VoIP infrastructure
Replaces Twilio
InspIRCd
Chat & CommunicationModular C++ Internet Relay Chat daemon
Replaces Slack, Discord
Bonfire
Chat & CommunicationFederated social networking toolkit for communities
Replaces Facebook Groups, Discord
UnrealIRCd
Chat & CommunicationHighly configurable open-source IRC server
Replaces Slack, Discord
Atheme IRC Services
Chat & CommunicationModular IRC services framework for large networks
Replaces Slack
No apps match these filters.
At a glance
| App | Deploy effort | Difficulty | Min. RAM | License | ★ Stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Etherpad | Under-an-hour setup | Medium | 512 MB | Apache-2.0 | 18,587 |
| FreeSWITCH | Under-an-hour setup | Hard | 512 MB | MPL-2.0 | 5,227 |
| Ferdium | Under-an-hour setup | Easy | 512 MB | Apache-2.0 | 4,691 |
| FreeScout | Under-an-hour setup | Medium | 1,024 MB | AGPL-3.0 | 4,596 |
| Asterisk | Under-an-hour setup | Hard | 256 MB | GPL-2.0 | 3,618 |
| WeeChat | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 64 MB | GPL-3.0 | 3,405 |
| irssi | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 32 MB | GPL-2.0 | 3,156 |
| Kamailio | Under-an-hour setup | Hard | 256 MB | GPL-2.0 | 2,976 |
| InspIRCd | Under-an-hour setup | Medium | 64 MB | GPL-2.0 | 1,354 |
| Bonfire | Under-an-hour setup | Hard | 1,024 MB | AGPL-3.0 | 942 |
Quick picks
- Most adopted: Etherpad (18,587 GitHub stars).
- Lightest footprint: irssi (from 32 MB RAM, against 1,024 MB for the heaviest here).
- Licensing: 5 of 12 use GPL-2.0; check the rest individually if you plan to modify and redistribute.
Every option here is open-source and self-hostable, tagged Plugins within the chat & communication category. Deploy effort is graded from published container recipes, not vendor claims — see the methodology.