ancsemi

ancsemi / Haven

Public

Self-hosted private chat — No cloud, no telemetry, no Big Tech. Discord alternative that runs on your own machine.

android-application browser chat discord discord-alternative
245
15
100% credibility
Found Feb 17, 2026 at 79 stars 3x -- GitGems finds repos before they trend. Get early access to the next one.
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AI Analysis
JavaScript
AI Summary

Haven is a self-hosted chat application mimicking Discord features like real-time messaging, voice chat, screen sharing, and in-app games, designed to run locally without cloud services or external accounts.

How It Works

1
👋 Discover Haven

You hear about Haven, a private chat app that runs on your own computer so no one else can see your messages.

2
💾 Download and Launch

You grab the files from the website and double-click the easy start button to fire it up on your machine.

3
⭐ Set Up Your Space

A web page opens in your browser where you pick a username and password to become the group leader.

4
📱 Make Your First Room

You name your chat room and get a special code to share with friends so they can join right away.

5
👥 Invite Friends

Send your computer's address and room code to pals—they connect and start chatting with voice and pictures.

🎉 Private Party Time

Everyone's together in your secure chat with games, themes, and calls, all staying safe on your computer.

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Star Growth

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AI-Generated Review

What is Haven?

Haven is a self-hosted Discord alternative built in JavaScript with Node.js, letting you run a full private chat server on your own machine—no cloud, telemetry, or Big Tech accounts required. Users connect via IP and channel codes for real-time text, peer-to-peer voice chat, screen sharing in tiled grids, file uploads up to 25MB, GIF search, DMs, slash commands like /roll or /me, and even browser games. It supports hierarchical channels, roles, moderation tools, 20+ themes with effects like Matrix rain or CRT scanlines, and Docker for easy deployment.

Why is it gaining traction?

It packs Discord-level features like voice indicators, persistent unreads, link previews, and multi-server support into a lightweight, privacy-first package that runs locally or over port-forwarded internet—perfect as a safe haven github for teams ditching SaaS. Extras like custom notification sounds, E2E-encrypted DMs, and in-app Flash emulators or .io game browsers add fun without bloat. Developers dig the zero-setup scripts for Windows/Linux/macOS and self-signed HTTPS for secure remote access.

Who should use this?

Small gaming groups needing voice/screen share without Discord tracking, remote teams seeking a private dns server self hosted chat over VPN, or privacy-focused devs tired of Slack telemetry. Ideal for LAN parties, family servers, or anyone evaluating self hosted github action runners alongside comms—frontend folks will appreciate the themeable UI and slash commands for quick workflows.

Verdict

Grab it if you need a mature-feeling self-hosted chat now—docs are thorough, setup is dead simple, but with 75 stars and 1.0% credibility score, treat it as alpha for production. Solid for personal use; contribute to push it toward stability.

(198 words)

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