What it does
The Desk is a self-hosted team chat application. Its official site lists channels, threads, DMs, reactions, reminders, scheduled messages, search, polls, voice messages, bots, and web push, with Docker Compose deployment.
The Desk focuses on self-hosted workplace messaging. Its page describes channels, DMs, threads, search, scheduled messages, reminders, polls, voice messages, bots, and web push, plus a live demo and installation documentation. The project says it is MIT licensed and free forever, without per-seat pricing. Self-hosting places backups and availability on the operator; no demo or server was tested.
Strengths
- Includes channels, threads, search, reminders, polls, and voice messages.
- Free and MIT licensed, according to its product site.
- Offers a live demo and self-hosting documentation.
Watch out for
- The organization must host and maintain the service.
- No managed hosted plan or service-level commitment was established.
Best for
- Small teams wanting self-hosted chat with workflow features
- Organizations seeking an open-source messenger without per-seat charges
Sources
- Self-hosted team chat on your own server — The Desk (Oct 25, 2026)