Dirextalk vs Relay by TSS
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Dirextalk
This self-hosted instant messaging platform offers private communities and teams full control over their data and communication. It features one-to-one and group messaging, file sharing, voice/video calls, and a personal AI assistant for managing conversations and content.
- Self-hosted backend deployment
- One-to-one and group messaging
- File, voice, and video sharing
- Voice and video calling
- Personal AI Agent
- Channel-based communication
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Dirextalk is a self-hosted instant messaging platform designed for individuals, teams, and private communities. By deploying your own Dirextalk backend and connecting through a dedicated Portal domain, you can run messaging, groups, channels, personal data, and AI assistant capabilities on infrastructure that you fully control. Unlike traditional centralized communication platforms, Dirextalk does not rely on a single global service provider. Every user or organization can operate its own node, host communication relationships and product data on its own servers, and maintain greater ownership, privacy, and operational control. Dirextalk also includes a built-in personal AI Agent. The Agent can help summarize conversations, organize unread messages, identify relevant channels and discussions, and recommend content that may be of interest. This allows information to be not only received, but also understood and managed more efficiently. Key Features: * Self-hosted backend deployment with support for custom Portal domains * One-to-one messaging, group chats, and channel-based communication * Support for text, images, files, voice messages, and video content * Voice calling and video calling * Contact requests, group administration, and channel management * Channel posts, comments, reactions, and bookmarking * Personal AI Agent for conversation summaries, channel discovery, and content recommendations * Built on Matrix messaging capabilities and enhanced with Dirextalk product-layer services Requirements: Dirextalk requires a compatible backend deployment. Users and organizations are responsible for deploying and maintaining their own server infrastructure. Certain AI assistant capabilities depend on backend version, Agent configuration, and access permissions.
Relay by TSS
Share photos privately with your closest friends, free from likes and algorithms. This app offers a film camera aesthetic, disappearing messages, and customizable profiles for an intimate social experience.
- Film camera aesthetic with vintage look
- Private feed and Journal for friends
- Disappearing 'Instants' photos
- Emoji 'Boosts' instead of likes
- Streaks and Best Friends list
- Customizable profiles with song
- Invite-only and capped user base
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Relay is a film camera for your friends. The group chat kind, not the ones who follow you. No followers, no ranking. Your feed is your friends and your DMs are friends only, so no randoms. That's it. Nobody's grading you here. Post the blurry ones. Take a photo and it develops with a warm film look, like a disposable. Post it, or send it to one person as an Instant: one look and it's gone, and if they screenshot it, you'll know. Friends boost a snap with an emoji or comment on it. Keep streaks with the people you talk to every day, and put the ones who'd notice if you stopped posting on Best Friends. Stuff it does: - Film camera that develops your photos warm and a little vintage - A Journal for your snaps and a feed for your friends' - Instants that vanish after one look - Emoji boosts, comments, streaks, and a Best Friends list - Group chats with polls and games, and shared albums for up to seven people - Runs and rides from Apple Health, with your route on a map and a flyover video - A visibility setting on every post, down to exact names If your friends aren't on Relay yet, bring them. Export a snap as a black and white card with a clock stamp and drop it in your Instagram story, or let Relay find people you know from your contacts. Got an invite code from a friend? It goes in Friends. Posted, not performed.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Relay by TSS at every 3 days against Dirextalk's every 10 days. Relay by TSS also leads on ratings volume (4 vs 1). Dirextalk's advantage is iOS requirement (15.6 vs 26.0). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Dirextalk against 5.0 for Relay by TSS. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 4 respectively.
Dirextalk ships an update every 10 days, Relay by TSS every 3 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.
| Parameter | Dirextalk | Relay by TSS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 4 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 154 MB | 35 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Shanghai Yingsui Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. | Nicole Hamming |
Customer experience
Dirextalk
Relay by TSS
In-app purchases
Dirextalk
No in-app purchases
Relay by TSS
No in-app purchases









