What is the difference between Rocket.Chat and Chanty?

Rocket.Chat is best for Teams that want self-hosted chat with customer-facing features, while Chanty is best for Small teams wanting simple, affordable team chat. Rocket.Chat starts at Free (self-hosted) and Chanty starts at Free.

Is Rocket.Chat or Chanty cheaper?

Rocket.Chat starts at Free (self-hosted) and is free. Chanty starts at Free with a free tier.

Is there a free alternative to Chanty?

Both Rocket.Chat and Chanty offer free tiers.

Rocket.Chat vs Chanty

Rocket.Chat is open-source communication platform with team chat, video, and omnichannel customer engagement, while Chanty is simple team messaging with tasks, video calls, and unlimited message history on the free plan. Rocket.Chat is open source and can be self-hosted, giving you full control over your data. Rocket.Chat is built for teams that want self-hosted chat with customer-facing features, whereas Chanty targets small teams wanting simple, affordable team chat.

At a glance

	Rocket.Chat	Chanty
Best for	Teams that want self-hosted chat with customer-facing features	Small teams wanting simple, affordable team chat
Starting price	Free (self-hosted)	Free
Free tier	✓	✓
Open source	✓	—
Free tier available	✓	✓
Open source	✓	—
Bots	✓	—
Federation	✓	—
Omnichannel	✓	—
Self-Hosted	✓	—
Tasks	—	✓
Threads	—	✓
Unlimited History	—	✓
Video Calls	✓	✓

Rocket.Chat

Strengths

Self-hosted with full data ownership
Combines internal chat and customer-facing messaging
Active open-source community
Federation support for cross-organization chat

Weaknesses

UI feels dated compared to Slack
Self-hosting requires significant DevOps effort
Fewer integrations than mainstream alternatives
Can be resource-intensive to run

Try Rocket.Chat → Full review

Chanty

Strengths

Unlimited message history on every plan — nothing gets lost or archived
Includes Tasks as a core feature, purpose-built for team communication workflows
Free for up to 5 members — generous enough for most small teams to get real work done
Includes video calls alongside the core feature set — fewer separate tools needed

Weaknesses

Free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Notification overload is a real problem as the number of channels grows
Limited team/admin features if your organization eventually scales up

Try Chanty → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Both Rocket.Chat and Chanty are free. You can try both without spending a dollar.

Feature gaps: Rocket.Chat offers Bots, Federation and Omnichannel that Chanty lacks. Chanty brings Tasks, Threads and Unlimited History that Rocket.Chat does not have. Both share Video Calls.

Team fit: Rocket.Chat is geared toward mid-size teams teams, while Chanty is aimed at small teams teams. Pick the one that matches where your team is today and where it is headed — migrating tools later is always painful.

Open source: Rocket.Chat is open source, meaning you can self-host, audit the code, and avoid vendor lock-in. Chanty is proprietary — you are trusting the vendor with your data and uptime.

Where each tool shines: Rocket.Chat's biggest strengths are: self-hosted with full data ownership. combines internal chat and customer-facing messaging. Chanty's biggest strengths are: unlimited message history on every plan — nothing gets lost or archived. includes tasks as a core feature, purpose-built for team communication workflows.

Watch out for: With Rocket.Chat, users commonly note that ui feels dated compared to slack. With Chanty, the main complaint is that free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade.

Choose Rocket.Chat if...

Your profile matches its sweet spot: teams that want self-hosted chat with customer-facing features
You need self-hosting, data sovereignty, or the ability to audit source code
You specifically need Bots and Federation
You care about combines internal chat and customer-facing messaging
Your team size fits the mid-size teams profile Rocket.Chat is designed for

Choose Chanty if...

You need a tool built for small teams wanting simple, affordable team chat
You specifically need Tasks and Threads
You care about includes tasks as a core feature, purpose-built for team communication workflows
Your team size fits the small teams profile Chanty is designed for
The free tier works for you: free for up to 5 members