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Alternatives to Tox

Tox is a distributed, secure messenger with audio and video chat capabilities, providing peer-to-peer encrypted communication without central servers. Find open source and proprietary alternatives that serve similar purposes.

License:GPL-3.0
Stars:2,473
Difficulty:Easy
Pricing:Free
Hosting:Self-Hosted

Self-hosted alternatives to Tox

Open source projects that can replace Tox:

RetroShare logo

RetroShare

1,850
NOASSERTION

RetroShare is a fully decentralized, open-source communication platform that establishes encrypted connections between you and your friends to create a network of computers. It provides various distributed services including forums, channels, chat, and mail, all while ensuring maximum security and anonymity.

Key Features

  • True Decentralization:

    • No central servers or dependencies
    • Friend-to-friend (F2F) network topology
    • Works offline between connected friends
    • Censorship-resistant by design
    • No single point of failure
    • Complete data ownership

  • Comprehensive Communication:

    • Encrypted instant messaging
    • Decentralized forums and channels
    • Secure mail system with offline delivery
    • Voice and video calls (experimental)
    • Multi-user chat rooms
    • File sharing with BitTorrent-like swarming

  • Strong Security & Privacy:

    • PGP authentication between nodes
    • TLS encryption with Perfect Forward Secrecy
    • Optional Tor/I2P integration
    • Anonymous tunnels for friend-of-friend connections
    • IP address hidden from non-direct friends
    • No tracking or data collection

  • Cross-Platform Support:

    • Available on Windows, Linux, macOS
    • Android version available
    • Extensible through plugins
    • JSON API for developers
    • Active development since 2006
    • Completely free and open-source

More communication projects

Discover other open source projects in the communication category:

Rocket.Chat
Rocket.Chat
Rocket.Chat is an open-source, fully customizable communications platform for organizations with high standards of data protection, offering team collaboration, omnichannel customer service, and a complete messaging solution.
chatteam-collaboration
Stars
43,361
Relative Popularity
202
License
NOASSERTION
Novu
Novu
Novu is an open-source notification infrastructure that provides a unified API for sending notifications across multiple channels including Email, SMS, Push, and Chat. It offers an embeddable notification center, workflow engine, and no-code email editor.
communicationnotifications
Stars
37,749
Relative Popularity
160
License
NOASSERTION
Mattermost
Mattermost
Mattermost is an open source platform for secure collaboration across the entire software development lifecycle. It provides team messaging, file sharing, project management and integrations in a self-hosted environment.
communicationcollaboration
Stars
33,590
Relative Popularity
152
License
NOASSERTION
Zulip
Zulip
Zulip is a powerful open-source team chat application that combines the immediacy of real-time chat with the organization of email-style threading, designed for productive team collaboration.
chatteam-collaboration
Stars
23,394
Relative Popularity
114
License
Apache-2.0
Apprise
Apprise
Apprise allows you to send notifications to almost all of the most popular notification services available today such as: Telegram, Discord, Slack, Amazon SNS, Gotify, etc. through a single unified interface.
communicationnotifications
Stars
14,434
Relative Popularity
59
License
BSD-2-Clause
Gotify
Gotify
Gotify is a simple server for sending and receiving messages in real-time via WebSocket. It provides a sleek web UI, REST API, and supports plugins for extending functionality. Perfect for self-hosted push notifications.
communicationnotifications
Stars
13,690
Relative Popularity
57
License
NOASSERTION
Element
Element
Element is a secure and decentralized communication client for the Matrix network. It provides end-to-end encrypted messaging, voice/video calls, file sharing, and collaboration features with a focus on privacy and security.
communicationchat
Stars
12,050
Relative Popularity
56
License
AGPL-3.0
Tinode
Tinode
Tinode is an instant messaging platform with a Go backend and clients for iOS, Android, web, and command line, designed for building chat applications with modern features.
messagingchat
Stars
12,764
Relative Popularity
56
License
GPL-3.0
Screego
Screego
Screego is a simple, secure tool to quickly share your screen with one or multiple people via web browser, requiring no installation or registration.
screen-sharingwebrtc
Stars
9,691
Relative Popularity
40
License
GPL-3.0

Showing 1-9 of 25 projects in communication

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