This product was not featured by Product Hunt yet. It will not be visible on their landing page and won't be ranked (cannot win product of the day regardless of upvotes).
Chatstead is a real-time team chat you run entirely on your own server — no Firebase, no Agora, no third-party services. Messaging, group chats, files, voice messages, WebRTC calls, reactions, search, push notifications and a white-label admin panel. One command installs it on a small Ubuntu VPS; add a domain and it gets a free Let's Encrypt certificate automatically. Docker too. Storage is the SQLite engine built into Node.js — no separate database. One-time licence, no subscription.
Hey Product Hunt,
I'm Yusuf, and I build software for companies through D-Wall IT Solutions, a
small UK shop. Chatstead came out of a request I kept hearing from clients: they
wanted a team chat, but they didn't want their internal conversations sitting on
someone else's servers — sometimes for GDPR reasons, sometimes just because a
policy said so.
The existing options weren't quite it. Slack and Teams are cloud-only. The
self-hosted alternatives are excellent but tend to assume you're comfortable with
Docker, databases and reverse proxies. So I built something a non-specialist can
actually get running: one command on a fresh Ubuntu box, and if you point a
domain at it you get a real Let's Encrypt certificate automatically. Docker is
there too if you prefer it.
What's inside: 1:1 and group messaging, file and image sharing, voice messages,
WebRTC voice and video calls, reactions, replies, full-text search, push
notifications, light and dark themes, and a white-label admin panel so it can
carry your own name and logo. Storage is the SQLite engine built into Node.js, so
there's no separate database server to babysit. Nothing talks to a third-party
service: no Firebase, no Agora, no SMS gateway.
Being upfront: it's a commercial product — a one-time £79 licence, no
subscription, and buyers get the full source. There's a live demo you can poke at
without signing up for anything.
I'd genuinely like to hear where this falls short, especially from people who've
tried to self-host a chat tool before and given up. What made you give up?
No comment highlights available yet. Please check back later!
About Chatstead on Product Hunt
“Team chat that runs entirely on your own server”
Chatstead was submitted on Product Hunt and earned 3 upvotes and 1 comments, placing #159 on the daily leaderboard. Chatstead is a real-time team chat you run entirely on your own server — no Firebase, no Agora, no third-party services. Messaging, group chats, files, voice messages, WebRTC calls, reactions, search, push notifications and a white-label admin panel. One command installs it on a small Ubuntu VPS; add a domain and it gets a free Let's Encrypt certificate automatically. Docker too. Storage is the SQLite engine built into Node.js — no separate database. One-time licence, no subscription.
Chatstead was featured in Messaging (52k followers) and Privacy (11.3k followers) on Product Hunt. Together, these topics include over 22.1k products, making this a competitive space to launch in.
Who hunted Chatstead?
Chatstead was hunted by Yusuf Sarac. A “hunter” on Product Hunt is the community member who submits a product to the platform — uploading the images, the link, and tagging the makers behind it. Hunters typically write the first comment explaining why a product is worth attention, and their followers are notified the moment they post. Around 79% of featured launches on Product Hunt are self-hunted by their makers, but a well-known hunter still acts as a signal of quality to the rest of the community. See the full all-time top hunters leaderboard to discover who is shaping the Product Hunt ecosystem.
Want to see how Chatstead stacked up against nearby launches in real time? Check out the live launch dashboard for upvote speed charts, proximity comparisons, and more analytics.
Yusuf Sarac