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Home/Categories/Communication & Collaboration/Rocket.Chat
icon of Rocket.Chat

Rocket.Chat

Open source alternative to Microsoft Teams, Slack and Zoom Workplace

Rocket.Chat is a self-hosted team messaging platform with real-time chat, voice, video, and omnichannel customer support in one open source deployment. MIT licensed Community Edition; supports air-gapped networks.

45.3K starsTypeScriptMITActive this month
Visit websiteGitHub repo
image of Rocket.Chat
Contents
  1. 01Who Rocket.Chat is for
  2. 02The problem it solves
  3. 03How it solves it
  4. 04Strengths and trade-offs
  5. 05Rocket.Chat vs alternatives
  6. 06Tech stack
  7. 07FAQ
  8. 08Similar open-source tools
TL;DR

Rocket.Chat is a self-hosted communications platform for organizations that need more control over chat, customer conversations, and operational messaging than Slack or Microsoft Teams provide. It is strongest when message ownership, security posture, and deployment control matter.MIT · TypeScript · 45.3K stars · Active this month

who it's for

Who Rocket.Chat is for#

Regulated teams owning chat history

Run team messaging in infrastructure that can match internal retention, security, and access policies.

Skip if:

Your company already accepts Slack or Teams as the system of record.

Support teams unifying customer conversations

Use Rocket.Chat when customer support, internal escalation, and operational chat need to live closer together.

Skip if:

You need a dedicated help desk more than a communications platform.

the problem
tech stack · detected from GitHub

What it's built on#

Languages
JavaScriptTypeScript
Frameworks
ExpressReact
Databases
MongoDB
Infrastructure
AWS
Messaging
NATS
Tooling
Webpack
frequently asked

FAQ#

Can Rocket.Chat replace Slack?
Can Rocket.Chat replace Microsoft Teams?
Is Rocket.Chat self-hosted?
also worth a look

Similar open-source tools#

Matrix

Matrix

Open protocol for secure, decentralized messaging and VoIP

12.1KPythonApache-2.0

Repository

Stars
45.3K
Forks
13.6K
License
MIT
Latest
8.4.1
Last commit
18 days ago
Last verified
May 13, 2026
Repo
RocketChat/Rocket.Chat ↗

Additional details

Language
TypeScript
Open issues
3,699
Contributors
1,093
First release
2015

Categories

Communication & CollaborationCustomer SupportIT Management

Tags

ChatSelf HostedCustomer SupportWorkflow AutomationDeveloper ToolsSecurityOpen CoreVideo

The problem it solves#

how Rocket.Chat solves it

How it solves it#

Self-hosted team chat

Rocket.Chat gives organizations a chat workspace they can run themselves instead of putting all conversation history into Slack or Teams.

Operational and customer communication fit

The product is commonly used for internal messaging, support conversations, and workflow-connected communication.

Security-centered positioning

Rocket.Chat positions itself around secure communications for mission-critical operations, making control and compliance central to the product frame.

strengths · trade-offs

Strengths and trade-offs#

Strengths

  • More ownership over conversation dataRocket.Chat is useful when retention, deployment, and data access need to match internal policy rather than a shared SaaS default.
  • Broader communications scope than simple chatThe support and omnichannel positioning makes it relevant for teams that need internal and customer-facing messaging in one stack.

Trade-offs

  • -Slack and Teams have stronger ecosystemsSlack and Microsoft Teams offer deeper app directories, enterprise defaults, and user familiarity.
  • -Self-hosted chat needs real operationsSearch, notifications, mobile behavior, upgrades, storage, and uptime all need ownership when the team runs the platform itself.
versus alternatives

Rocket.Chat vs alternatives#

Prose

Prose

Decentralized open source workplace with chat and docs

36RustMPL-2.0
Adapt

Adapt

Lightweight self-hosted messaging platform for teams

1AGPL-3.0
SpacebarChat

SpacebarChat

Free open source Discord reimplementation with full API parity

2.1KTypeScriptAGPL-3.0
Converse.js

Converse.js

Self-hosted web-based XMPP chat client for any server

3.3KJavaScriptMPL-2.0
Revolt

Revolt

Self-hosted open source Discord alternative with servers

2.3K

Rocket.Chat can replace Slack for organizations that value self-hosting, data control, and security-centered messaging. Slack is easier for teams that want the largest app ecosystem.

Rocket.Chat can replace Teams for chat-centric collaboration, especially when self-hosting matters. Teams remains stronger for companies standardized on Microsoft 365 meetings, files, and identity.

Team chat becomes part of the company memory, but hosted chat platforms put retention, exports, compliance, and integration boundaries under the vendor account. Regulated teams, support teams, and operational groups need messaging infrastructure they can govern more directly.

Rocket.Chat vs Slack and Microsoft Teams

Rocket.Chat is better when message history, deployment, and security posture need to stay under organizational control. Slack and Teams remain easier for companies already standardized on their ecosystems and app directories. Rocket.Chat fits regulated, support-heavy, or operations-heavy teams that can own their communications stack.

Yes. Rocket.Chat supports self-hosted deployment, but production setup should follow current official deployment documentation.