A chat server you run yourself.
Haven is a free, open source alternative to Discord. It runs on your own computer, your friends join with a link, and there's no company in the middle.
$ Start Haven.bat ⬡ HAVEN is running ------------------------------------ Name: Haven Local: https://localhost:3000 Network: https://192.168.1.20:3000 Admin: you ------------------------------------ Send your friends the link.
What you see when you start it up.
About
Haven works like a Discord server, but you host it yourself. Download the zip, run it, and it gives you a link your friends can use from a browser, the desktop app or the Android app.
There's no company in the middle. No account with us, no email or phone number, and nothing to pay for. Your messages, files and voice calls stay on your own server.
Haven has been in development since February 2026. It's a spare-time project and it'll always be free.
Many helpful people with a shared passion for free, unfiltered and private chat have come together to improve it. Every change is public, with a changelog updated every release.
Features
The short version. The guide covers everything.
Chat
- Text channels, threads and forums
- Voice chat
- Screen sharing, with more than one stream at a time
- Watch videos and listen to music together
- Encrypted direct messages
- Reactions, stickers, polls and GIFs
Coming from Discord
- Import your whole server, including threads, pins and attachments
- Ferry bridges a Haven channel to a Discord channel, so friends who stay behind can still talk to you
- Roles and permissions that work the way you're used to
Customization
- 26 themes with customizable effects, or write your own CSS
- Bots and webhooks
- Sign in with your own identity provider
- Guest access, invite links and channel codes
- Available in 8 languages
Extras
- Rich Presence: show what you're playing or listening to
- Built-in games with leaderboards
- Flash games, through Ruffle
- Backups and updates from the settings page
Compared to the others
How Haven stacks up against the usual suspects.
| Haven | Discord | Matrix (Element) | Fluxer | Signal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted, you own the data | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| No account with a company | ✓ | ✗ | If self-hosted | ✓ | ✗ |
| No email or phone number needed | ✓ | ✗ | Depends on server | ✗ | ✗ |
| End-to-end encrypted DMs | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Voice chat | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Screen sharing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Desktop only |
| Open source | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Themes and custom CSS | 26 themes + CSS | Limited | Depends on client | CSS | ✗ |
| Group channels | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Groups only |
| Free, no paid tier | ✓ | Freemium | ✓ | Freemium | ✓ |
| Join from a browser, nothing to install | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Works in a phone's browser | ✓ | Pushes you to the app | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Import your history from Discord | ✓ | n/a | Via a bridge | ✗ | ✗ |
Free tiers and default hosted setups, as of September 2026.
Setup
No terminal, no config files. There's a Docker image too.
- Download the zip and unzip it anywhere.
- Double-click
Start Haven.bat(start.shon Mac and Linux). It sets everything up and prints your link. If Node.js isn't installed yet, it offers to install it for you. - Send the link to your friends. They can use a browser, the desktop app or the Android app.
To reach friends outside your home network you'll need to open a port or use a tunnel. The guide covers both, and there's a one-click tunnel in the admin settings.
Security and privacy
How it actually works.
- Your data lives on the computer running the server, in one folder. Back it up, move it or delete it whenever you want.
- Direct messages are end-to-end encrypted. The server stores them but can't read them, and neither can the admin.
- Channel messages aren't end-to-end encrypted. Whoever runs the server can read them, just like a Discord admin can. Join servers run by people you trust, or run your own.
- Connections use HTTPS. Haven creates its own certificate the first time it starts, and you can swap in a real one.
- No telemetry. The server doesn't send usage data or crash reports anywhere.
- There's no central Haven server and no Haven account. Nothing to leak.
What the server connects to
Every outside service a Haven server contacts, and when.
| Who | When | Why | Off switch |
|---|---|---|---|
| api.github.com | When an admin clicks Check for updates | To see the latest version | Don't click it |
| Google Firebase, through the Haven push relay | When someone uses the Android app with push notifications on | To deliver the notification. The message title and text pass through it | Settings, Security |
| tenor.googleapis.com, api.giphy.com, api.klipy.com | When someone searches for a GIF | The search goes through your server, not the person's browser | Only when used |
| The site behind a posted link | When a message contains a link | Your server fetches the preview and the image, so your friends' browsers never touch that site | Per link |
| discord.com | Only if you set up Import or Ferry | To copy or bridge your Discord server | Off until you set it up |
| Spotify, Last.fm, Steam | Only for people who link an account | To show what they're playing or listening to | Per person |
| unicode.org | Monthly, only if you turn on emoji updates | New emoji | Off by default |
| ipify.org, portchecker.io | When you run the connectivity test or use dynamic DNS | To find your public address | Only when used |
By the numbers
As of 9 September 2026.
- Started
- Feb 2026
- Releases
- 156
- Commits
- 1,228
- Contributors
- 20
- GitHub stars
- 542
- License
- AGPL-3.0
Download
Most people only need the app. The server download is just for whoever hosts one.
Haven Desktop 1.4.32
The app for joining a server. Adds per-app audio sharing, mid-call device switching and a system tray. It can run a server too.
Haven for Android
A native app with chat, voice and push notifications.
Haven Server 4.8.0
Only for hosting your own server. Windows, macOS and Linux. Needs Node.js. About 5 MB.
Want to try it first? Drop in to the community server to say hi, or just to explore Haven in your browser. Throwaway accounts welcome! The channel code is da0b9be7 if you need it.
Support
Haven is free and always will be. Donations are always appreciated, but never needed. If you'd like to chip in, you can buy me a coffee on Ko-fi.
Gallery
