Guide · 2026

Best Private & Federated Messaging (2026)

The 10 most complete private & federated messaging listings on Decentral Now, ranked by how much verified public information each publishes: description, services, pricing, and a live website. 37 are listed in this category. Order is not a quality rating, and no listing pays for its rank.

Updated 2026-09-18 · See all 37 in Private & Federated Messaging

1. 1

   Disroot

   Private & Federated Messaging

   Volunteer-run platform of online services built on free software and the principles of privacy, federation and decentralization, including XMPP, email, cloud and forums.

   • ✓4 services listed, including email, xmpp, cloud storage
   • ✓Serves the whole US

   Details disroot.org
2. 2

   Matrix

   Private & Federated Messaging

   Open protocol and reference implementations for secure decentralized communication, where independent homeservers federate and users keep accounts on the server they choose.

   • ✓3 services listed, including federated chat protocol, bridges, specification
   • ✓Serves the whole US

   Details matrix.org
3. 3

   XMPP

   Private & Federated Messaging

   The Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol: an open standard for instant messaging, presence, group chat, calls and routing, maintained by the XMPP Standards Foundation.

   • ✓3 services listed, including protocol standards, extension specifications, software directory
   • ✓Serves the whole US

   Details xmpp.org
4. 4

   SimpleX Chat

   Private & Federated Messaging

   Private messenger with no user identifiers at all: connections are made by link or QR code and messages are routed through relay servers that cannot link contacts.

   • ✓3 services listed, including private messaging, voice and video calls, self-hosted servers
   • ✓Serves the whole US

   Details simplex.chat
5. 5

   Stoat

   Private & Federated Messaging

   Open-source chat platform for friends and communities, formerly known as Revolt, offering a self-hostable alternative to proprietary community chat apps.

   • ✓3 services listed, including community chat, voice channels, self-hosting
   • ✓Serves the whole US

   Details stoat.chat
6. 6

   Delta Chat

   Private & Federated Messaging

   Decentralized messenger that sends chats over email infrastructure and interoperable chatmail relays, with multi-profile and multi-device support.

   • ✓3 services listed, including email-based chat, multi-device, chatmail relays
   • ✓Serves the whole US

   Details delta.chat
7. 7

   Rocket.Chat

   Private & Federated Messaging

   Open-source communications platform for messaging, voice and video that organizations self-host, with federation and interoperability features.

   • ✓3 services listed, including team chat, self-hosting, omnichannel
   • ✓Serves the whole US

   Details rocket.chat
8. 8

   BigBlueButton

   Private & Federated Messaging

   Open-source virtual classroom platform for online teaching, with whiteboards, breakout rooms and recordings, run on institutions' own servers.

   • ✓3 services listed, including virtual classrooms, recording, self-hosting
   • ✓Serves the whole US

   Details bigbluebutton.org
9. 9

   Jami

   Private & Federated Messaging

   Distributed, open-source communication platform for calls, video and messaging that connects peers directly without a central account server.

   • ✓3 services listed, including p2p calls, video conferencing, messaging
   • ✓Serves the whole US

   Details jami.net
10. 10

    Keet

    Private & Federated Messaging

    Peer-to-peer chat and video app from Holepunch where data travels directly between participants and is never stored on a server.

    • ✓3 services listed, including p2p chat, video calls, file sharing
    • ✓Serves the whole US

    Details keet.io