A faster, lighter Teams alternative for private work.
Your team doesn't want another loading spinner. Native desktop. Low RAM. Encrypted end-to-end. No Microsoft ecosystem required. Half the price of M365.
Teams works best when an organisation is already committed to Microsoft 365. TheChatApp is built for teams that want a dedicated communication workspace with native performance, clearer data ownership, and no Microsoft tenant dependency.
Feature-by-feature
Don't take our word for it — self-host it free and see for yourself.
Pricing at common team sizes
Annual billing. Cloud is per billed user; self-hosted is a server licence with optional maintenance.
The bill, over time
5 years, 50 users. Cumulative list-price spend. Both lines plotted in €; competitor converted at $1 ≈ €0.92.
List prices, annual billing. Discounts, negotiated terms, and FX drift may vary.
Why teams choose TheChatApp
- →Native desktop app, not a web app wrapped as a desktop client. The app opens quickly and stays responsive across conversations.
- →Low RAM. Low CPU. Runs on laptops Teams would bring to its knees. Your battery will notice.
- →Encrypted end-to-end by default. Every channel. Every DM. Every call. Teams never encrypts channels or DMs end-to-end — and meetings require a Premium add-on.
- →GDPR-native. Built in the EU, hosted in the EU. Not bolted on after the fines.
- →No Microsoft ecosystem required. No Entra. No SharePoint. No Azure tenant. No 'to use this feature, just add four more Microsoft products.'
- →Cheaper. 50 users: €2,500/year vs $3,600 for M365 Business Basic. Office apps in the mix? €2,500 plus Google Workspace Starter vs $7,500 for M365 Business Standard.
- →Find common communication actions where you expect them, without navigating through a broad productivity suite.
- →Your data leaves when you do. Self-host export and GDPR export on cloud reduce Microsoft tenant lock-in.
- →Self-host it on your hardware. Or let us run it. Either way, your chat isn't someone else's leverage.
Frequently asked questions
Is TheChatApp really a Teams alternative?
Yes — especially if your team wants communication without committing the whole organisation to Microsoft 365. Channels, threads, DMs, voice, video, meetings, and search are all covered, with self-hosted ownership or managed cloud deployment.
Why would a team move off Teams?
The usual reasons: the app is heavy and slow (the #1 Teams complaint), features are buried three menus deep, notifications arrive out of order across devices, Mac performance lags, and you can't self-host. Oh, and you're probably paying for an Office suite you didn't really want.
Does Teams support end-to-end encryption?
Only partially. Teams supports E2EE for 1:1 calls (opt-in) and for scheduled meetings — but meetings E2EE requires a Teams Premium licence ($10/user/month add-on). Channel messages, group calls, and DMs are never end-to-end encrypted — they're encrypted in transit and at rest, but Microsoft holds the keys. Enabling E2EE in Teams also disables recording, transcription, and compliance features. TheChatApp encrypts every channel, every DM, and every call by default. No add-on, no trade-off.
Can I self-host TheChatApp the way I can't self-host Teams?
Yes. First-class self-hosted server, one-time licence, optional annual maintenance. Messages, files, audit logs — all on your infrastructure. Teams is cloud-only. Their cloud. Their rules.
Can I get my data out if I want to leave?
Yes. Self-host means your data is already on your infrastructure — export it anytime. On cloud, GDPR export gives you a full machine-readable archive of your messages, files, and metadata at any time. No paywall. No sales call. Teams locks you into a Microsoft tenant with no self-host escape hatch.
Is TheChatApp actually cheaper than Teams?
Materially. We compare against M365 Business Basic ($6/user/month) because it's the cheapest Microsoft plan that actually matches our feature set — Teams Essentials ($4/user/month) is missing advanced audit and SCIM. At 50 users, that's $3,600/year vs our €2,500/year. Most Teams users end up on M365 Business Standard ($12.50/user/month = $7,500/year for 50 users) once they want Office apps — that's about 3× our cloud Business price.
See how TheChatApp fits your team
Try the Free tier on your own server, or start a managed Cloud workspace in minutes.
Comparison drawn from publicly available pricing and documentation as of April 2026. Microsoft pricing fetched from microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/compare-microsoft-teams-options and microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business/compare-all-plans. We compare against M365 Business Basic ($6/user/month) as the cheapest Microsoft plan matching our feature set — Teams Essentials ($4/user/month) lacks advanced audit and SCIM. Re-verify vendor pricing before quoting in procurement.
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