The Public Community
The Public Community is an open source alternative to Slack and Microsoft Teams. It is a team communication and collaboration platform focused on privacy and security, allowing teams to have conversations, share files, and collaborate on projects.
open-source
privacy
security
messaging
file-sharing
team-collaboration
ThePublicCommunity: Open Source Team Communication
A private team collaboration platform compared to Slack & Microsoft Teams, with a focus on privacy & security for conversing and sharing files.
What is The Public Community?
The Public Community is an open-source, self-hosted team chat and collaboration platform, positioned as an alternative to proprietary tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams. It focuses heavily on privacy and security.
Some key features of The Public Community include:
- Encrypted chat rooms and direct messages to protect sensitive conversations
- File sharing with granular permissions and access controls
- Integrations with common business apps like Google Workspace, Jira, GitHub etc.
- Polls, reminders, to-do lists and other productivity features
- Video calling built right into the platform
- Custom theming options and lightweight interface
- Local install for maximum data ownership and control
As an open-source platform, The Public Community places priority on transparency, configurability, and putting users in control of their data. It allows businesses, non-profits and other groups to set up a private space to chat, share files, manage projects, and work together securely.
Self-hosting the platform also avoids reliance on external cloud providers. Overall, The Public Community aims to balance productivity, flexibility and ethical data handling for modern teams looking to communicate and collaborate.
The Public Community Features
Features
- Open source code
- Encrypted messaging
- File sharing
- Searchable message history
- Polls and surveys
- Audio/video calls
- Screen sharing
- Third-party app integrations
- Custom theming
- Access controls and permissions
- Guest accounts
- Mobile apps
- Bots and automation
Pricing
- Open Source
Pros
Free and open source
Strong encryption and privacy
Active development community
Self-hostable
Customizable and extensible
Open API for integrations
Lightweight and fast
Available on multiple platforms
Cons
Limited native integrations
Less user-friendly than Slack
Smaller user community
Fewer support options
Video calling can be buggy
Mobile apps lack some features
Official Links
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