Overview

Rocket.Chat is an open-source communication platform that combines internal team messaging with omnichannel customer engagement. Self-host it or use their cloud offering.

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

Quick info

Starting price
Free (self-hosted)
Free tier
Fully free
Open source
Yes
Best for
Mid-size teams
Founded
2015

Last updated 2026-04-12

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