this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2026
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How hard is this type of service, as a self hosted docker app, to develop?
Wouldn’t most of the underlying codec and streaming technologies be more or less extendable into a platform?
https://stoat.chat/
These guys have been at it for several years now. Check out their GitHub, look at the components.
I'm trying to modify their dockerfile a bit so it runs in my container manager and uses my reverse proxy, instead of the one they included, and it creates more containers for this one application than I have for all my other projects combined.
All of which is to say: "pretty hard" is the answer. It is pretty damn hard to build this stuff.
I got the self hosted version up and it looks like it's a much older version than their current iteration which was a kick in the teeth. Nothing discouraging quite like "Well you can self host if you don't mind a worse version of the product". Like my dudes I'm trying to take some pressure off of your server...
Yeah, no voice chat is a bummer. I haven't tried, but my first instinct was, that's a VM right there.
Can you link the repo you used, to sate my curiosity?
https://github.com/stoatchat/self-hosted
Stoat doesn't have screen sharing. Teamspeak 6 does though
Teamspeak isn't open source... Use Mumble, MediaMTX or Matrix instead.
Mumble doesn't do screen sharing, matrix screen sharing barely works and flat out doesn't support Wayland and breaks with a number of games if your on windows. Basically making both not an option. No idea about mediamtx.
Go ahead
But TeamSpeak 6 requires a client, and a subscription, that is a nonstarter for my use case.
Please, im already erect. You don't have to keep selling it. Ts6 it is.
I mean, it's a bit weird to get erect for being charged money and not controlling the software you pay for (also, to get erect over communications software at all), and weirder to tell us all about it, but okay.
Stop! Youre gojng too fast! Your gonna have to learn how to make it last longer!
Well just try not to get it in my eye this time, it stings
Ts6 server owners need a sub. Clients are fine. I've used to since ts2. Those guys are good ppl. Not a big team. Just making good software for voice chat groups. I'll never not love ts even though I don't use it anymore.
If I could convince my communities to swap, I'd do it in a heartbeat. The new one is great.
Don't get me wrong, I used teamspeak with my friends back in the day for Counterstrike, Starcraft, Warcraft, DoTA (yeah, the mod), and it was great. TS6 does look awesome, and I like the new interface even. But none of that is relevant, read what I wrote: I didn't say "I have a problem with using clients", or even honestly "I have a problem with all closed-source software". I said "I am done trying to get people to install another app" and because I can't get anyone to install another app, "clients are a nonstarter for my use case". That's it, that's the reason.
Shit man, you just said
So you fucking get it. I'm not going to pay for a license for software that nobody's going to use because of the bullshit excuse that they'd "have to install another app". Instead I spent a few days of my time learning some stuff (which I'd have had to do for TS6 anyway) and got Stoat up and running in my environment, and now I have a web app for voice calls. They don't support video or screensharing yet, but that's not a nonstarter for me because those features are on the roadmap.
All they would have to do is get a web interface and host on there servers with a nitro type deal and they could kill discord right now
Agreed. No joke, if they had a web interface I'd already have a license and I'd be running that instead.
How hard is it to create discord?
A lot of the technical difficulty in that type of app usually centers around scale. If you only ever have 10 users in a channel it's not so hard. When you have 10,000 or 50,000 things start to get more tricky.
Still as per usually for small scale (and slightly larger too) there have been options for a long time. The main difficulty is in getting other people to use your proposed option.
Stoat is an open source Discord alternative. You should check it out.
There's also https://spacebar.chat/, which I've been hearing some buzz about, but not really here; not sure if that's because there are known problems with it or what.
Edit: it looks like voice and video are just experimental right now, so might not be a good replacement for many: https://docs.spacebar.chat/faq/
Don’t think much needs to be developed.
Matrix has been out for a while… but admittedly i have not checked it out myself yet.
I've been trying it out with a group of people. (On Linux and Android)
It's pretty bad still. The concept is solid but each client and server has their own way to go about things. Most are missing desired features like calling and screen sharing. Some even lack group chat...
Reactions and custom emojis are sent through an unencrypted side channel. Rich formatting such as code blocks are inconsistent across clients.
You're pretty much stuck using the mainline client element to get the best discord lite experience. But it's still pretty junk at hq screen sharing and group calls. It's missing audio capture and a decent audio filter essentially.