Chatto is now Open Source

Chatto just flung open its doors, and the comment section wasted zero time turning it into a referendum on every chat app people love to hate. The pitch is simple enough for non-nerds: this is a new group chat app you can run yourself, it’s free to use, privacy-focused, and it wants to be a sleeker, less annoying alternative to giants like Slack and Discord. It even includes voice and video calls, and the creator says it’s light, fast, and easy to set up. That alone was enough to get the crowd buzzing.

But the real sparkle came from the reactions. One commenter immediately asked the big identity question: is this a Discord replacement or a Slack replacement? That’s not a small detail — it’s basically asking whether Chatto is for online communities, workplaces, or both. Another person was downright thrilled that sign-on tools weren’t locked behind some dreaded paywall, taking a swipe at companies that love to say, “That feature is enterprise only.” Ouch.

Then came the reality check. One hopeful fan loved the idea but groaned that the mobile app isn’t ready yet, saying it could be perfect for family and friends once that happens. There was also some delicious side-eye toward Matrix, another self-run chat option, with complaints that it can be too messy and awkward for bots and private messages. And in perhaps the most hype-man moment of all, one longtime acquaintance of the creator declared the developer a genius and marveled that much of the app was built solo with AI help. So yes: praise, pressure, and platform-war energy are already flying.