Rocket.Chat: Self-Hosted Team Communication

Rocket.Chat is a fully customizable open-source communications platform that provides team messaging, video conferencing, file sharing, and omnichannel customer communication in one unified system. With over 44,000 GitHub stars, it is one of the most widely deployed self-hosted Slack alternatives, used by organizations that need to keep their communications on their own infrastructure.

Self-hosting Rocket.Chat means every message, file, and call stays on your server — essential for organizations with strict compliance, data sovereignty, or security requirements.

Key Features

• Real-time messaging with channels, direct messages, threads, and message reactions
• Video and audio conferencing with screen sharing built directly into the platform
• Omnichannel support for routing customer conversations from WhatsApp, Facebook, email, and live chat
• End-to-end encryption for private messages and confidential channels
• Federation support for communicating with other Rocket.Chat instances and Matrix networks
• Marketplace with apps and integrations for Jira, GitHub, GitLab, Trello, and more
• Custom roles and permissions with granular access control per channel and team
• Bot framework and webhook support for automated workflows and notifications

Why Self-Host Rocket.Chat?

Communication privacy. Corporate messages contain sensitive business information — strategy discussions, customer data, financial details, and credentials shared between team members. Self-hosting ensures none of this flows through third-party servers. Your communications stay in your infrastructure.

Regulatory compliance. Industries like healthcare, finance, and government require communication platforms that meet specific data residency and retention requirements. Self-hosted Rocket.Chat lets you control where data is stored, how long it's retained, and who can access audit logs.

Unlimited users and history. Slack's free tier limits message history and integrations. Self-hosted Rocket.Chat has no message limits, no user caps, and no artificial restrictions on integrations. Your entire communication history is searchable forever.

Full platform customization. Modify the UI, add custom integrations, build chatbots, and configure the platform to match your organization's specific workflows. Self-hosting gives you API access and the ability to extend Rocket.Chat beyond what any hosted service allows.

System Requirements

Resource	Minimum	Recommended
CPU	2 vCPUs	4+ vCPUs
RAM	2 GB	4 GB
Storage	20 GB SSD	40 GB SSD
OS	Ubuntu 22.04+	Ubuntu 24.04

Rocket.Chat uses MongoDB as its database and Node.js for the server. Resource needs scale with active users and message volume. For teams of 50-200 users, 4 vCPUs and 4 GB RAM provides responsive messaging and file sharing.

Getting Started

The fastest way to deploy Rocket.Chat on your VPS is with Docker Compose through Dokploy. Our step-by-step deployment guide walks you through the full setup, including persistent storage, environment configuration, and SSL.

Deploy Rocket.Chat with Dokploy →

Alternatives

• Mattermost — Open-source Slack alternative focused on developer collaboration and DevOps workflows
• Element — Matrix-based encrypted messaging client with federation and end-to-end encryption
• Zulip — Threaded team chat with topic-based conversations for organized, asynchronous communication
• Revolt — Open-source Discord alternative with voice channels and community features

FAQ

How does Rocket.Chat compare to Slack? Rocket.Chat covers the same core features — channels, threads, DMs, file sharing, and integrations. The key differences are data ownership (your server vs. Slack's cloud), unlimited message history and users on the free tier, and the ability to customize and extend the platform. Slack has a larger third-party app ecosystem.

Does Rocket.Chat support video calls? Yes. Rocket.Chat has built-in video and audio conferencing with screen sharing. It also integrates with Jitsi, BigBlueButton, and other video conferencing tools if you prefer an external solution for larger meetings.

Can Rocket.Chat replace Slack and customer support chat? Yes. Rocket.Chat's omnichannel feature routes customer messages from WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, email, and website live chat into the same platform your team uses for internal communication. This unifies agent workflows without needing separate tools.

How do I migrate from Slack to Rocket.Chat? Rocket.Chat provides a Slack import tool that brings over channels, messages, and user accounts from a Slack export. Direct messages and files are included. The migration preserves your conversation history so your team can switch without losing context.

---

App data sourced from selfh.st open-source directory.