Haven is a chat server you run on your own computer. Voice chat, screen sharing, themes, GIFs, and more — no cloud, no accounts with Big Tech, no one reading your messages.
Only the host downloads Haven. Friends join from their web browser — no install for them.
Haven isn't just for desktop. Friends can join from their phone's browser — no app download required. The interface adapts automatically to any screen size.
Full chat, channels, direct messages, voice chat, and the sidebar — all fully functional on mobile. Just open the link and go.
No terminal commands, no config files, no Docker. Just double-click.
Download the .zip from GitHub and unzip it anywhere. Desktop is fine.
Run Start Haven.bat (Windows) or start.sh (Mac/Linux). It handles everything.
Send your friends your IP address. They open it in their browser — that's it. No download for them.
It means the chat runs on YOUR computer, not a company's server. Your messages never leave your machine — you're the cloud.
Nope. They open a link in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari — any modern browser. Zero installs on their end. Works on phones too.
HTTPS encryption, bcrypt passwords, JWT auth, rate limiting, CSP headers, and more. Check the source code yourself.
Windows, Mac, or Linux. Node.js (free, 2-click install). About 50 MB disk space. That's everything.
A Discord-like experience that's completely private, completely free, and yours to control.
One person runs Haven on their computer. Everyone else just opens a link. No apps to install, no accounts to create with some company, no app stores. Your non-tech friends can join in 30 seconds — from their laptop or phone.
Peer-to-peer voice that goes directly between users — not through a middleman server. Per-user volume sliders, mute, deafen, talking indicators, join/leave sounds.
Share your screen with anyone in the voice channel. Multiple people can stream at once in a tiled grid. Perfect for watch parties, co-working, or showing gameplay.
No cloud. No telemetry. No analytics. No data collection. Messages live on YOUR computer and nowhere else. Haven doesn't phone home — ever.
Fully responsive design that works on any phone or tablet. Channels, DMs, voice chat, and file sharing — all from your mobile browser. No app store needed.
Haven running with different themes. Every pixel is customizable.
Haven isn't a toy — it's a full-featured chat platform.
Real-time messaging, image uploads, typing indicators, message editing, replies, emoji reactions, @mentions.
Peer-to-peer audio. Per-user volume sliders. Mute, deafen, noise suppression. Talking indicators.
Multi-stream support. Tiled grid layout. Resizable viewer. Share screens simultaneously.
Private 1-on-1 conversations. Click any user's name to open a DM.
Haven, Discord, Matrix, Tron, HALO, LoTR, Cyberpunk, Dark Souls, Elden Ring, Minecraft, and more. Plus custom & RGB.
Search and send GIFs inline, powered by GIPHY. One-click setup for the admin.
Share PDFs, docs, audio, video, archives up to 25 MB. Inline audio/video players.
Automatic OpenGraph previews for shared URLs with title, description, and thumbnail.
/shrug, /tableflip, /roll, /flip, /me, /tts — with autocomplete and descriptions.
Ctrl+F to search any channel. Results with highlighted matches and jump-to-message.
Admins can pin important messages. Dedicated panel to browse all pins in a channel.
Kick, mute (timed), ban, delete users, manage channels, auto-cleanup old messages.
Add friends' Haven servers to your sidebar. Live online/offline status indicators.
5 distinct tones. Per-channel volume. Enable/disable per channel. Unread badges persist.
Shippy Container minigame with a server-wide leaderboard. High-score announcements.
| Haven | Discord | Slack | Signal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted (you own the data) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| No account with a company | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Voice chat | ✓ | ✓ | Paid | ✓ |
| Screen sharing | ✓ | ✓ | Paid | ✗ |
| Open source | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Themes / customization | 17+ | Limited | Limited | ✗ |
| Group channels | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| No email/phone required | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Free forever (no paid tier) | ✓ | Freemium | Freemium | ✓ |
| Friends join with zero install | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Works on mobile browsers | ✓ | App only | App only | App only |
One zip file. Unzip, double-click, done.
Latest stable release · Windows, macOS & Linux · ~5 MB
Download from nodejs.org (click the big green LTS button). Restart your PC after installing.
Extract the zip anywhere. Desktop, Documents, wherever you like. It creates one folder.
A terminal opens, does its thing, and your browser opens automatically. First boot takes ~30 seconds.
Register as admin, create channels, and share your IP + channel code. Friends open the link in their browser.
Haven is built by one person in their spare time and will always be free. If it's useful to you, a small donation helps keep development going.
☕ Buy me a coffee on Ko-fiKo-fi takes zero fees — 100% goes to the developer. No account required to donate.