FoloRSSNext/Folo
AI-powered RSS readerPersonalCommunicationWebDesktopMobile★ 39kAGPL-3.0commit 21 hours ago81worth
Open-source alternatives to Element
24 projects in the catalog are in the same category as Element: Communication. They are ranked by how closely their categories, platforms and GitHub topics match, then by worth score. Of these, 12 run with Docker, 10 have a permissive license and 24 had a commit in the last 90 days.
Compare at a glance
| Project | Runs on | Self-host with Docker | License | Stars | Last commit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Element (this project) | Web, Desktop | Not listed | AGPL-3.0 | 14k | |
| Folo | Web, Desktop, Mobile | Not listed | AGPL-3.0 | 39k | |
| Mattermost | Web, Docker / self-host, Desktop | Yes | Custom (read before use) | 39k | |
| Rocket.Chat | Web, Docker / self-host, Desktop, Mobile | Yes | Custom (read before use) | 46k | |
| Mastodon | Web, Docker / self-host | Yes | AGPL-3.0 | 50k | |
| Nextcloud | Web, Docker / self-host | Yes | AGPL-3.0 | 37k | |
| Buzz (Block) | Desktop | Not listed | Apache-2.0 | 35k | |
| SimpleX Chat | Desktop, Mobile | Not listed | AGPL-3.0 | 20k | |
| Telegram Desktop | Desktop | Not listed | GPL-3.0 | 33k | |
| Mailspring | Desktop | Not listed | GPL-3.0 | 18k | |
| Meetily | Desktop | Not listed | MIT | 31k | |
| Discourse | Web, Docker / self-host | Yes | GPL-2.0 | 48k | |
| daily.dev | Web, Extension / plugin | Not listed | AGPL-3.0 | 20k | |
| ntfy | Docker / self-host, Mobile | Yes | Apache-2.0 | 35k | |
| Socket.IO | Library / SDK | Not listed | MIT | 63k | |
| Zulip | Docker / self-host | Yes | Apache-2.0 | 26k | |
| Postiz | Docker / self-host | Yes | AGPL-3.0 | 37k | |
| LiveKit | Docker / self-host | Yes | Apache-2.0 | 21k | |
| Huly | Docker / self-host | Yes | EPL-2.0 | 28k | |
| Pipecat | Library / SDK | Not listed | BSD-2-Clause | 16k | |
| Thunderbird for Android | Mobile | Not listed | Apache-2.0 | 14k | |
| Signal for Android | Mobile | Not listed | AGPL-3.0 | 29k | |
| React Email | Library / SDK | Not listed | MIT | 20k | |
| LangBot | Docker / self-host | Yes | Apache-2.0 | 18k | |
| Lemmy | Docker / self-host | Yes | AGPL-3.0 | 15k |
Web apps (7)
Mattermostmattermost/mattermost
Secure collaboration for technical teamsEnterpriseCommunicationWebDocker / self-hostDesktop★ 39kcommit 15 hours ago79worth
Rocket.ChatRocketChat/Rocket.Chat
Communications platform with full data controlEnterpriseCommunicationWebDocker / self-hostDesktopMobile★ 46kcommit 12 hours ago79worth
Mastodonmastodon/mastodon
Self-hosted social network in the fediversePersonalEnterpriseSelf-hosted appsCommunicationWebDocker / self-host★ 50kAGPL-3.0commit 23 hours ago89worth
Nextcloudnextcloud/server
Self-hosted file sync, sharing and collaborationPersonalEnterpriseSelf-hosted appsCommunicationWebDocker / self-host★ 37kAGPL-3.0commit 14 hours ago83worth
Discoursediscourse/discourse
Platform for community discussionPersonalEnterpriseSelf-hosted appsCommunicationWebDocker / self-host★ 48kGPL-2.0commit yesterday71worth
daily.devdailydotdev/daily
Personalized developer news feedPersonalDeveloper toolsCommunicationWebExtension / plugin★ 20kAGPL-3.0commit 3 weeks ago64worth
Desktop apps (5)
Buzz (Block)block/buzz
Hive mind communication platformPersonalEnterpriseCommunicationDesktop★ 35kApache-2.0commit 15 hours ago82worth
SimpleX Chatsimplex-chat/simplex-chat
Private messenger without user IDsPersonalSecurity & identityCommunicationDesktopMobile★ 20kAGPL-3.0commit 23 hours ago80worth
Telegram Desktoptelegramdesktop/tdesktop
Official Telegram desktop appPersonalCommunicationDesktop★ 33kGPL-3.0commit yesterday79worth
MailspringFoundry376/Mailspring
Fast, open-source mail clientPersonalCommunicationDesktop★ 18kGPL-3.0commit 15 hours ago79worth
MeetilyZackriya-Solutions/meetily
Private AI meeting assistantPersonalAI & LLM toolingCommunicationDesktop★ 31kMITcommit 3 weeks ago76worth
Self-hosted Docker apps (7)
ntfybinwiederhier/ntfy
Push notifications to phone or desktop with a simple POSTPersonalSelf-hosted appsCommunicationDocker / self-hostMobile★ 35kApache-2.0commit 5 days ago85worth
Zulipzulip/zulip
Open-source team chat with topicsPersonalEnterpriseCommunicationDocker / self-host★ 26kApache-2.0commit 14 hours ago83worth
Postizgitroomhq/postiz-app
Agentic social media schedulingPersonalEnterpriseAutomationCommunicationDocker / self-host★ 37kAGPL-3.0commit 18 hours ago81worth
LiveKitlivekit/livekit
Realtime stack for humans and AIPersonalEnterpriseAI & LLM toolingCommunicationDocker / self-host★ 21kApache-2.0commit 2 days ago81worth
Hulyhcengineering/platform
All-in-one project management platformPersonalEnterpriseSelf-hosted appsCommunicationDocker / self-host★ 28kEPL-2.0commit yesterday80worth
LangBotlangbot-app/LangBot
Platform for agentic chat botsPersonalEnterpriseAgents & frameworksCommunicationDocker / self-host★ 18kApache-2.0commit 22 hours ago79worth
LemmyLemmyNet/lemmy
Decentralized link aggregatorPersonalSelf-hosted appsCommunicationDocker / self-host★ 15kAGPL-3.0commit 2 days ago79worth
Mobile apps (2)
Thunderbird for Androidthunderbird/thunderbird-android
Open-source email app for AndroidPersonalCommunicationMobile★ 14kApache-2.0commit 21 hours ago80worth
Signal for Androidsignalapp/Signal-Android
Private messenger for AndroidPersonalCommunicationMobile★ 29kAGPL-3.0commit yesterday79worth
Libraries & SDKs (3)
Socket.IOsocketio/socket.io
Realtime bidirectional communicationPersonalEnterpriseWeb frameworksCommunicationLibrary / SDK★ 63kMITcommit 4 days ago84worth
Pipecatpipecat-ai/pipecat
Framework for voice agentsPersonalEnterpriseAgents & frameworksCommunicationLibrary / SDK★ 16kBSD-2-Clausecommit 23 hours ago80worth
React Emailresend/react-email
Build emails with ReactPersonalEnterpriseWeb frameworksCommunicationLibrary / SDK★ 20kMITcommit yesterday79worth