Monocles chat icon

Monocles chat

Monocles Chat is an open-source, self-hosted team chat and collaboration platform. It offers features like private and public channels, direct messaging, file sharing, search, integrations with other tools, and customizable notifications.

What is Monocles chat?

Monocles Chat is an open-source, self-hosted team chat and collaboration platform. It is designed to provide a robust alternative to proprietary SaaS tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams for teams that want more control, security, privacy, and customizability.

Some key features of Monocles Chat include:

  • Public and private channels for topic-based conversations
  • Direct messaging between team members
  • File and image sharing
  • Powerful search for finding past conversations
  • Customizable notifications so you never miss important messages
  • Bots and integrations to connect with other tools like Trello, GitHub, Google Drive and more
  • Role-based permission system for managing access
  • Themes and custom branding options to match company style

As Monocles is self-hosted, teams have complete ownership over their data. The admin has full control over the server location, security, backups, uptime and scaling. Updates are handled seamlessly in the background.

With robust community support and a transparent roadmap, Monocles Chat offers teams an adaptable platform to make their own. It balances capability with ease-of-use, making it popular for agile teams that want advanced functionality without the administrative hurdles.

The Best Monocles chat Alternatives

Top Apps like Monocles chat

WhatsApp, Slack, Telegram, Signal, Pidgin, Viber, Matrix.org, Threema, Tox, Zulip are some alternatives to Monocles chat.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp is a freeware, cross-platform centralized instant messaging (IM) and voice over IP (VoIP) service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to send text messages, voice messages, video calls, images, documents, and user location for free over an internet data connection.Originally launched in 2009, WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook...

Slack

Slack revolutionizes team communication by providing a centralized and real-time messaging platform. Designed to replace email as the primary mode of workplace communication, Slack offers a dynamic and organized space where teams can collaborate, share information, and stay connected. At the heart of Slack's functionality are channels, which allow users...

Telegram

Telegram is a popular cloud-based instant messaging and voice over IP service launched in 2013 by Pavel Durov and Nikolai Durov. It emphasizes security and speed over other messaging applications. Some key features of Telegram include:End-to-end encrypted messaging, video calls, group chats, file sharing etc.Sync across multiple devices like...

Signal

Signal is a free, open source software application for iOS, Android, and Desktop that employs end-to-end encryption, allowing users to send end-to-end encrypted group, text, picture, and audio & video messages, and have encrypted phone conversations between Signal users.First released in July 2014, Signal is developed by the Signal Foundation...

Pidgin

Pidgin is a popular open source chat application used primarily for instant messaging. It supports multiple mainstream chat protocols and accounts including AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, XMPP/Jabber, IRC, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, Novell GroupWise, Lotus Sametime, Zephyr, and more. This allows users to manage all of their instant messaging accounts and...

Viber

Viber is a popular cross-platform voice over IP and instant messaging app. It allows users to send free text messages, photos, videos and make free calls to other Viber users on various platforms including Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Mac OS, Linux and Microsoft Windows.Some key features of Viber include...

Matrix.org

Matrix.org is an open standard, open source, decentralized communication protocol for secure and private communication over IP. It allows different communication platforms and apps to interconnect via APIs and SDKs, facilitating messaging, voice/video calling, IoT communication, and more.Matrix aims to create a unified global namespace for communication...

Threema

Threema is a secure messaging and voice calling app that emphasizes privacy and security.It offers:End-to-end encryption for all messages, voice calls, group chats, and filesAnonymous user IDs not tied to phone numbers or emailsNo ads or user data collectionCertified open-source cryptographyOptional anonymous payments for any services within the...

Tox

Tox is an open-source, peer-to-peer instant messaging and video calling platform that focuses on privacy and security. It provides end-to-end encryption for chats and calls to ensure user data remains private.Unlike many other messaging apps, Tox does not rely on central servers - it uses a distributed network where...

Zulip

Zulip is an open-source team chat application developed by Zulip, Inc. It brings conversations from different channels into one easy-to-follow flow, allowing you to keep up with multiple ongoing discussions simultaneously via threads.Some key features of Zulip include:Public and private streams for organizing conversationsThreaded messaging to trace conversations...