The open-source notification infrastructure for developers
Mattermost is an open-source Slack alternative built for technical and security-conscious organizations. It provides 1:1 and group messaging, threaded discussions, audio calls, integrations, and compliance exports.
Recommended VPS & Hardware Sizing
Estimated Hosting: $10 - $15/mo (e.g. Hetzner CPX21 or Linode)Mattermost vs Slack Comparison Matrix
| Evaluation Criteria | Mattermost (Open Source) | Slack (Proprietary) |
|---|---|---|
| Message History | Unlimited (Your Database) | Limited to 90 Days on Free |
| Compliance & Security | Air-gapped / HIPAA ready | Shared Public Cloud |
| Cost per 100 Users | $0 / Server Cost Only | $875 - $1,500 / month |
Financial Impact: Migrating from Slack to Self-Hosted Mattermost
* Excludes enterprise SSO add-ons & usage overages
* Commodity Hetzner / DigitalOcean compute instance
Compare Mattermost Head-to-Head
Comprehensive benchmark comparing Mattermost against proprietary Slack licensing and features.
Slack-Style Channels vs Threaded Stream Topic Discussions
Self-Hosted High-Speed Newsletter Server vs $350+/Mo Mailchimp Tier
Unified Notification Infrastructure (In-App, Push, Email, SMS) vs High Platform Fees
Core Capabilities & Features
Self-Host Mattermost with Docker Compose
Tweak configuration ports, secrets, and volumes live. Download or copy your ready-to-run container file:
1-Click Docker Compose Generator
Generate production-ready container definitions with customizable ports and volumes.
Open-source, self-hosted collaboration platform for high-security teams
version: "3.8"
services:
mattermost:
image: mattermost/mattermost-team-edition:latest
container_name: mattermost-app
restart: unless-stopped
ports:
- "${PORT:-8065}:8065"
environment:
MM_SQLSETTINGS_DRIVERNAME: postgres
MM_SQLSETTINGS_DATASOURCE: postgres://mmuser:${DB_PASSWORD:-mm_pwd}@postgres:5432/mattermost?sslmode=disable&connect_timeout=10
depends_on:
- postgres
postgres:
image: postgres:14-alpine
container_name: mattermost-postgres
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
POSTGRES_USER: mmuser
POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD:-mm_pwd}
POSTGRES_DB: mattermost
volumes:
- mm_pg_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
volumes:
mm_pg_data:Frequently Asked Questions: Self-Hosting Mattermost
How do I self-host Mattermost using Docker Compose?
You can deploy Mattermost (mattermost/mattermost) on any Linux server by copying the docker-compose.yml template on this page, configuring your desired host port and persistent volume directory, and running 'docker compose up -d'.
How does Mattermost compare to Slack?
Mattermost is an open-source, self-hosted alternative to Slack built with Go, React, Redux. Unlike Slack ($8.75 - $15 / user / month), Mattermost has zero per-user licensing fees and keeps 100% of your data on your own infrastructure.
What are the minimum VPS RAM and CPU requirements for Mattermost?
For production self-hosting (Medium difficulty tier), we recommend at least 4 GB RAM (minimum 2 GB), 2 vCPU, and 25 GB SSD storage, which typically costs $10 - $15/mo (e.g. Hetzner CPX21 or Linode).
Is Mattermost free for commercial business use under the AGPL-3.0 license?
Yes. Distributed under the AGPL-3.0 license, Mattermost can be self-hosted internally by businesses and engineering teams of any size without per-seat royalties.
Embed Official Mattermost Badge in GitHub README
Served locally from OSSMatrix with Cloudflare global edge caching. Real-time verified alternative status, zero third-party dependencies, sub-5ms load time.
[](https://ossmatrix.com/project/mattermost)<a href="https://ossmatrix.com/project/mattermost" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://ossmatrix.com/api/badge/mattermost" alt="Mattermost on OSSMatrix" /></a>Compare Mattermost with Other Self-Hosted Alternatives
Open-source customer engagement suite and live chat alternative to Intercom
Organized team chat that combines the best of email and real-time chat
High-performance, self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager
Complete open-source mail delivery server replacing SendGrid and Mailchimp
Open-source live customer chat widget and multi-channel inbox