Chatstead vs Mattermost
Both run on your own server. They are built for different sizes of team and different budgets, and the honest answer to "which one" depends on which of those you are.
Mattermost facts taken from mattermost.com and docs.mattermost.com, September 2026.
The short answer
Mattermost is the larger, more mature product: threaded conversations, an integrations platform, single sign-on, playbooks, compliance tooling, and a path to tens of thousands of users. It expects a PostgreSQL server, ideally on its own host, and its paid editions are priced on request.
Chatstead is the smaller, simpler one: one command installs it on a fresh Ubuntu server with no separate database, it costs a fixed £79 once for unlimited users, and its Android app delivers messages without any push service — nothing goes through Google, Apple or a relay. It has no threads, no integrations and no SSO.
If you are a small or mid-sized team that wants private chat without running infrastructure or paying per seat, Chatstead is the better fit. If you need integrations, compliance features or scale, Mattermost is.
Side by side
| Chatstead | Mattermost | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on your own server | Yes | Yes |
| Install | One command on Ubuntu; Docker Compose also included | APT package, tarball, Docker or Kubernetes; PostgreSQL set up separately |
| Database | SQLite, built into Node.js 22 — nothing to install or administer | PostgreSQL required; for production, on a separate host |
| Price model | £79 once, unlimited users (£299 for resale rights) | Professional, Enterprise and Enterprise Advanced are priced on request; a limited "Entry" edition is offered for evaluation |
| User limit | None | Professional caps at 250 users; Enterprise scales to 50,000+ |
| Mobile notifications | Android app holds its own connection to your server — no push service, no third party | Mobile apps use a push proxy (Mattermost-hosted or self-hosted) that forwards to Apple and Google push services; ID-only push is an Enterprise feature |
| Native mobile apps | Android (signed APK and Play Store); iPhone via installable web app | Android and iOS |
| Calls | 1:1 voice and video | 1:1 and group calls with screen sharing; transcription on Enterprise |
| Threads | No — reply quoting only | Yes |
| Integrations, bots, webhooks | No | Yes — an integrations platform and AI agents |
| Single sign-on / LDAP | No — local accounts, optional self-registration with admin approval | Yes on Professional and above |
| Two-factor authentication | No | Yes |
| Federation with other servers | No | Enterprise: shared channels and Matrix interoperability |
| End-to-end encryption | No — TLS in transit, stored on your server | No — TLS in transit, stored on your server |
| White-label | Yes — name, logo, icon from the admin panel; rebuild the Android app under your own name | Custom branding and themes on Professional and above |
| Source code | Full source ships with every purchase; commercial licence | Published on GitHub; commercial licence for paid editions |
| Languages | 10 (English, Turkish, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Russian) | 20 languages |
When Mattermost is the better choice
- You need threaded discussions. Chatstead has reply quoting, not threads, and a busy channel gets noisy without them.
- You want chat to be a hub: webhooks from CI, bots, alerts from monitoring, AI agents. Chatstead has none of that and does not plan to become a platform.
- You have a directory. If your users live in Active Directory or an identity provider, Mattermost signs them in through it; Chatstead keeps its own accounts.
- You are subject to compliance requirements — data retention policies, legal hold, eDiscovery exports, FIPS or STIG-hardened deployments. Mattermost sells exactly this.
- You are large. Mattermost is engineered for high availability and tens of thousands of concurrent users. Chatstead is a single Node.js process with a SQLite file; it is comfortable for teams, not for an enterprise.
- You need iOS notifications while the app is closed. Chatstead on iPhone is an installable web app and does not receive background notifications.
When Chatstead is the better choice
- You do not want to run a database. Chatstead uses the SQLite engine built into Node.js; there is no PostgreSQL to install, back up, tune or keep on a second machine.
- You want a fixed price. £79 once, unlimited users, no renewal. Mattermost's production editions are quoted per organisation and its Professional tier stops at 250 users.
- You do not want push notifications to touch a third party. Mattermost's mobile apps deliver notifications through a push proxy and then Apple's and Google's push services — even when you host the proxy yourself. Chatstead's Android app keeps its own connection to your server, so a message never leaves your infrastructure on its way to the phone.
- You want to install it in an afternoon. One command on a fresh Ubuntu server sets up the service, HTTPS and a setup wizard; there is nothing to configure before the first message.
- You are on an isolated network. Chatstead needs the internet only during installation. Mattermost sells air-gapped deployment as an Enterprise Advanced feature.
- You want to ship it under your own name. The admin panel white-labels the web app, and the full Android project is included so the app can be rebuilt with your branding.
What it costs
Chatstead is a one-time purchase: £79 for the Standard licence (one organisation, unlimited users, updates and six months of support) or £299 for the Extended licence, which allows resale and deployment for multiple clients. The full source code comes with either.
Mattermost's pricing page no longer lists a public price. Professional is "contact sales", Enterprise and Enterprise Advanced are quoted. A limited free edition called Entry is offered for technical evaluation. For a team of 50, that means asking for a quote before you know what it costs — with Chatstead, the number is on the page. (September 2026.)
Questions people ask
Can I migrate from Mattermost to Chatstead?
Not automatically. Chatstead has no importer for Mattermost exports, and the two data models differ (Mattermost has teams, threads and channels; Chatstead has direct messages and groups). Moving means starting fresh and keeping the old Mattermost as a read-only archive.
Does Chatstead have Slack or GitHub integrations like Mattermost?
No. Chatstead has no integrations platform, bots or webhooks, and that is a deliberate scope decision rather than a gap to be filled next month. If your team needs chat to receive alerts from other systems, Mattermost is the right product.
Is Chatstead open source like Mattermost?
No. Chatstead is a commercial product; the full source code is included with every purchase so you can read, audit and modify it, but the licence is not open source. Mattermost publishes its code on GitHub, with paid editions under a commercial licence.
Which one is more private?
Both store messages on your own server and neither offers end-to-end encryption. The practical difference is mobile notifications: Mattermost routes them through a push proxy and then Apple and Google, while Chatstead's Android app connects straight to your server, so no notification content passes through a third party.
How many users can Chatstead handle?
The licence has no user limit. Technically it is a single Node.js process with a SQLite database, which is comfortable for teams of tens to a few hundred people. It is not designed for the tens of thousands of concurrent users Mattermost Enterprise targets.
Does Chatstead work without internet access?
Yes, after installation. The installer needs the internet to fetch Node.js and dependencies; afterwards the server, the web client and the Android app all work on an isolated network, and the licence check is local.
See it before you decide
The demo is a full installation with real conversations. Sign in, look around, then check the price — it is on the page.