Chatto is now open source • Hacker News Board

Re: Chatto is now open source

#11

Post by monroewalker » Wed, Jul 08, 2026, 4:09 PM UTC

moeffju wrote: post #5

theturtletalks wrote: post #2

Looks really nice, thank you for open-sourcing. I keep a directory of opensource alternatives. Would you say this is a Discord or Slack alternative?

I've been testing/using chatto since early on and I'd say it's both and neither. It feels much nicer to use than Slack, but as of now it's missing some of the more "Enterprise" features. I would probably say it's a Slack-like Discord? But from the architecture it would be capable of playing as a full Slack replacement. I also maintain a Chatto bot framework and a Tauri client, need to update those now :)

What makes it nicer to use than Slack?

Re: Chatto is now open source

#12

Post by moeffju » Wed, Jul 08, 2026, 4:10 PM UTC

npodbielski wrote: post #8

Ah mobile app is not ready yet. I am looking for some alternative to matrix because running it with bots is a bit convoluted, i.e. you have to have limit of edits of message for model streaming or you will kill entire room. Or I never seen robots in matrix sending encrypted messages. Why bother than? Anyway if mobile will be a thing this seems like perfect thing to have for your family and friends.

I created a Tauri based app but IMO it's not ready for prime time on mobile. On desktop, it's my daily driver for Chatto. If anybody wants to contribute, the foundation (desktop & mobile) is at https://github.com/teal-bauer/chatto-tauri

Re: Chatto is now open source

#13

Post by acomagu » Wed, Jul 08, 2026, 4:10 PM UTC

Would English speakers pronounce this as "Chat-to"? To a Japanese person, this clearly sounds like "Cha-tto," which simply means "chat."

Re: Chatto is now open source

#14

Post by latexr » Wed, Jul 08, 2026, 4:12 PM UTC

> And you can just self-host it. For free, too! (A weird thing to write, but the OSS chat app space has become very weird in many ways!)

Wait, what? There are open-source chat apps that you have to pay to host yourself? How does that work? Or did I misunderstand?

Re: Chatto is now open source

#15

Post by bigfishrunning » Wed, Jul 08, 2026, 4:20 PM UTC

acomagu wrote: post #13

Would English speakers pronounce this as "Chat-to"? To a Japanese person, this clearly sounds like "Cha-tto," which simply means "chat."

as an english speaker, i would pronounce it "chat-oh", but i'm open to correction

Re: Chatto is now open source

#16

Post by johntash » Wed, Jul 08, 2026, 4:21 PM UTC

acomagu wrote: post #13

Would English speakers pronounce this as "Chat-to"? To a Japanese person, this clearly sounds like "Cha-tto," which simply means "chat."

I don't know what the "official" pronunciation is, but I would say "Chat-o" is probably right.

Re: Chatto is now open source

#17

Post by Gualdrapo » Wed, Jul 08, 2026, 4:21 PM UTC

acomagu wrote: post #13

Would English speakers pronounce this as "Chat-to"? To a Japanese person, this clearly sounds like "Cha-tto," which simply means "chat."

At least here in colloquial "rolo" spanish people use to call "chato" (which would sound the same as "chatto") someone with a pug, snub nose

Re: Chatto is now open source

#18

Post by francislavoie » Wed, Jul 08, 2026, 4:23 PM UTC

latexr wrote: post #14

> And you can just self-host it. For free, too! (A weird thing to write, but the OSS chat app space has become very weird in many ways!) Wait, what? There are open-source chat apps that you have to pay to host yourself? How does that work? Or did I misunderstand?

Yeah a lot of them like Mattermost become surprisingly limited unless you pay. It's very annoying.

Re: Chatto is now open source

#19

Post by bityard » Wed, Jul 08, 2026, 4:24 PM UTC

latexr wrote: post #14

> And you can just self-host it. For free, too! (A weird thing to write, but the OSS chat app space has become very weird in many ways!) Wait, what? There are open-source chat apps that you have to pay to host yourself? How does that work? Or did I misunderstand?

Many otherwise open-source chat apps are "open-core," they tie certain features to a subscription. Can be things like chat history, voice calls, video calls, but a very popular one is SSO and AD/LDAP integration.

Re: Chatto is now open source

#20

Post by npodbielski » Wed, Jul 08, 2026, 4:24 PM UTC

moeffju wrote: post #12

npodbielski wrote: post #8

Ah mobile app is not ready yet. I am looking for some alternative to matrix because running it with bots is a bit convoluted, i.e. you have to have limit of edits of message for model streaming or you will kill entire room. Or I never seen robots in matrix sending encrypted messages. Why bother than? Anyway if mobile will be a thing this seems like perfect thing to have for your family and friends.

I created a Tauri based app but IMO it's not ready for prime time on mobile. On desktop, it's my daily driver for Chatto. If anybody wants to contribute, the foundation (desktop & mobile) is at https://github.com/teal-bauer/chatto-tauri

Interesting but could you put few screenshots there? Of both desktop and mobile? It is really hard to invest time into installing something that you cant see anywhere prior, and it will be really easy to do for someone that is using it daily. Sorry for complaining. Seems like nice project.