Team chat & community

11 SaaS · open-source self-host alternatives in this vertical

Every SaaS in this category, paired with its primary open-source self-host alternative. Each link drills into the full comparison page (license, setup time, monthly cost, migration sketch). Managed-hosting picks for self-hosters: managed Mattermost, Rocket.Chat, Discourse, Chatwoot, or Jitsi.

Discord Community / voice chat

Primary self-host alt: Revolt · revoltchat/self-hosted · AGPL-3.0 · 20min docker-compose
Discourse Hosting (Discourse.org) Community / forum hosting

Primary self-host alt: Discourse (self-host) · discourse/discourse · GPL-2.0 · 30min — `discourse_docker` standalone install on a fresh Ubuntu
Help Scout Customer support helpdesk / shared inbox

Primary self-host alt: FreeScout · freescout-help-desk/freescout · AGPL-3.0 · 20min docker-compose (PHP + MariaDB)
Intercom In-app messenger + customer support

Primary self-host alt: Chatwoot · chatwoot/chatwoot · MIT (Community) · 20min docker-compose
Loom Async video messaging

Primary self-host alt: Cap · CapSoftware/Cap · AGPL-3.0 · 30min (Cap Web — Next.js app + Postgres + S3-compatible store)
Microsoft Teams Team chat + video meetings

Primary self-host alt: Mattermost · mattermost/mattermost · AGPL-3.0 · 20min docker-compose (Go server + Postgres)
Reddit Threaded community / forum

Primary self-host alt: Lemmy · LemmyNet/lemmy · AGPL-3.0 · 30min docker-compose (Rust backend + Postgres + UI + pict-rs for images)
Slack Team chat

Primary self-host alt: Mattermost · mattermost/mattermost · AGPL-3.0 (Team Edition) / Source Available (Enterprise) · 15min docker-compose
Twitter / X Microblogging social network

Primary self-host alt: Mastodon · mastodon/mastodon · AGPL-3.0 · 1h docker-compose (Rails app + Postgres + Redis + Sidekiq + ElasticSearch)
Zendesk Customer support / helpdesk

Primary self-host alt: Chatwoot · chatwoot/chatwoot · MIT (Community Edition) / Enterprise license for some features · 20min docker-compose
Zoom Video conferencing

Primary self-host alt: Jitsi Meet · jitsi/jitsi-meet · Apache-2.0 · 15-30min (Debian package + nginx)

FAQ

How many open-source self-host alternatives does os-alt list for team chat & community?

11 SaaS in the team chat & community vertical, each paired with its primary open-source self-host alternative on os-alt.

Are these team chat & community alternatives free?

Yes — every listed alternative is open source and free to self-host. Your only cost is the VPS or hardware that runs it.

What managed-hosting options does os-alt suggest for team chat & community?

Managed-hosting picks for self-hosters: managed Mattermost, Rocket.Chat, Discourse, Chatwoot, or Jitsi.