Stoat is a free and open-source group chat app for friends and communities, formerly known as Revolt before its February 2025 rebrand. It offers the familiar community-server model with text channels, voice chat, file sharing, roles, moderation tools, and bots, available as hosted servers or as an optionally self-hosted Docker deployment.[1][2]
Quick verdict
Free open-source group chat with servers, voice, and optional self-hosting. Stoat is a free and open-source group chat app for friends and communities with servers, channels, voice chat, file sharing, moderation bots, and clients across web and desktop and mobile. Formerly Revolt, its backend is published under the AGPL-3.0 and it can be used on hosted servers or self-hosted with Docker.[1][2]
One independent hands-on self-hosting guide covering Stoat registration on the official instance and a Docker Compose self-hosted deployment. · 1 cited community sources. Single-author guide, not a broad user sample; reflects the author's own Docker setup and official-instance account at publication time.
What Stoat can do
Servers organize communities into text channels with markdown support, file sharing, and voice chat, covering the everyday communication needs of friend groups and gaming communities.[1]
Role-based permissions pair with moderation tools and support bots, so community admins can delegate moderation without handing over full server control.[1]
Developers can build apps and bots against documented REST and WebSocket APIs, and bots also work inside group direct messages of up to 50 members.[1][2]
Custom emojis, 20MB uploads, animated avatars, profile banners, and themes come with no subscription, removing the tier of paid perks familiar from proprietary chat apps.[1]
The backend source is published under the GNU AGPL version 3, giving technically minded communities code they can inspect.[1][2]
Who Stoat fits
Friend and gaming communities that want a Discord-style home without subscription-gated basics such as custom emojis and larger uploads are the natural audience.[1][2]
Groups that value an exit path fit well: a community can start on hosted Stoat servers and later move to its own self-hosted Docker instance.[1][2]
Limitations to weigh
End-to-end encryption is planned but not yet implemented, so private conversations currently rely on transport security and the server operator rather than message-level encryption.[1]
Self-hosting means running several backend services with Docker Compose and environment configuration, which suits operators comfortable with Docker rather than beginners.[1][2]
Single sign-on, hosting-region choices, and enterprise support plans are not documented, so regulated or large organizations should treat those as unconfirmed before committing.[1]
Questions worth asking
Is Stoat really free, including emojis and uploads?
Yes. The official Stoat site states the software is free and open source now and forever, and that custom emojis, a 20MB file upload limit, server-specific profile pictures, animated avatars, and profile banners are available with no subscription required.[1]
Do I have to self-host Stoat to use it?
Which platforms does Stoat support?
How hard is self-hosting Stoat?
An independent self-hosting guide walks through deploying Stoat with Docker Compose and registering on the official hosted instance first. Expect a multi-service Docker setup with environment configuration rather than a one-click install.[1]
Sources and editorial review
Source research. Reviewed on October 13, 2026. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.
We have not run or tested this product.
One independent hands-on self-hosting guide covering Stoat registration on the official instance and a Docker Compose self-hosted deployment. Single-author guide, not a broad user sample; reflects the author's own Docker setup and official-instance account at publication time.
- Stoat homepage
official · Observed October 13, 2026
Official Stoat homepage describing features, platforms, moderation, bots, free and open-source positioning, and optional self-hosting.
- stoatchat/stoatchat repository
official · Observed October 13, 2026
Backend repository showing Rust crates for REST and WebSocket APIs, 67 releases, MSRV, and Docker images, plus links to client repositories.
- stoatchat LICENSE file
official · Observed October 13, 2026
Repository LICENSE file containing the GNU AGPL version 3 license text applied to the project source.
- stoatchat repository metadata
official · Observed October 13, 2026
Repository metadata recording language Rust, mongodb and redis topics, 2021 creation, and active non-archived status.
- Stoat developer documentation
official · Observed October 13, 2026
Developer documentation covering contributions and building apps or bots with an API reference.
- Self-host guide for Stoat (ex-Revolt)
community · Observed October 13, 2026
Independent guide documenting the Revolt-to-Stoat rebrand, Discord-replacement positioning, and Docker Compose self-hosting walkthrough.
- Stoat (software) overview
community · Observed October 13, 2026
Encyclopedia overview covering the open-source chat platform, Discord and Slack alternative positioning, features, license, and 2025 rename.