chatcoal vs Haven

chatcoal is a community chat platform with servers, channels, voice, forums, and direct messages, built for groups that want a space of their own. Servers & Channels Create servers for your team, friend group, or community. Organize conversations with text channels, forum channels for threaded discussions, and voice channels to talk live. Voice Chat Drop into voice channels for real-time conversations. Mute, deafen, and see who's connected, all with low-latency audio powered by LiveKit. Forums Start threaded discussions with forum channels. Create posts, reply in threads, and keep longer conversations organized. Direct Messages Message anyone directly. Share files, react with emoji, and pick from a built-in GIF library. Rich Messaging Send text, images, files, and GIFs. React to messages with emoji. See typing indicators, link previews, and read receipts across channels and DMs. Presence & Notifications See who's online. Get notified about new messages, or mute individual channels and servers to stay focused. Customization Switch between light, dark, and system themes. Adjust font size to your preference. Edit your profile with a custom display name, username, status, and avatar. Server Management Invite members with shareable links. Manage roles, ban disruptive users, and reorder channels, all from your phone. Federation Connect across instances. chatcoal supports federation, so you can join servers hosted elsewhere and chat with users on other instances without creating a new account. Deep Links & Invites Tap an invite link to preview and join a server instantly. Share invite links with configurable expiry and usage limits.

Haven is private chat for communities that run their own server. Your messages live on a box you control, not on someone else's cloud, and direct messages are end-to-end encrypted so even the server can't read them. END-TO-END ENCRYPTED • Direct messages and group DMs are encrypted on your device (ECDH P-256, HKDF-SHA256, AES-256-GCM) • Pictures and files in encrypted conversations are encrypted too • Group messages are signed, so you can tell who really sent them • Optional encrypted key backup restores your keys with your password CHAT THE WAY YOUR GROUP DOES • Text channels, private channels, DMs and group DMs • Threads, replies, quotes, reactions, custom emoji and stickers • Forums with topics and tags, polls, pinned messages and search • Pictures, video, files and GIFs • Markdown, tables, spoilers and code blocks • Official messages that make staff announcements stand out VOICE AND VIDEO • Drop-in voice channels • Video and screen sharing • Push notifications for mentions and DMs YOUR DATA, YOUR RULES • Delete your own messages, all of them or only those older than a day, a week, a month or a year • Auto-delete your messages after a set time • Export your data as one file • Block people, and see and sign out every device on your account MAKE IT YOURS Dozens of themes, icon packs, adjustable text size and accessibility settings. SELF-HOSTED AND OPEN Haven connects to Haven servers. Run your own on a home PC or a small server, or join a community that already has one. Save several servers and switch between them in a tap. TRY IT FIRST On the connect screen, tap Try the demo for a sample server that runs on your phone. No account needed. Haven is free, with no ads.