Rocket.Chat

Rocket.Chat is a communications platform built around a data-protection-first approach. Its core purpose is to provide a way for people to communicate while making the protection of data its primary focus. It is intended for individuals and organizations comparing communications platforms and seeking an option where data protection is a central requirement. Rocket.Chat can be considered alongside Gitter.im and Slack, offering a different way to communicate for those who do not want to rely on those services. Rocket.Chat can serve as an open source alternative to the paid product Slack, and it is also presented as an alternative to Gitter.im. The key stated difference is its emphasis on data protection rather than a claim that it duplicates Slack in every respect. The available information does not establish feature-for-feature parity with Slack, so users who depend on particular Slack capabilities should not assume that every function or workflow is reproduced. Its suitability therefore depends primarily on whether a data-protection-first communications platform matches the user’s requirements.

**Release Date**: October 5, 2026 **Support Window**: Supported until October 31, 2027 (LTS, 12 months from the release date) > **🟢 Long-Term Support release** > > 8.9.0 is a Long-Term Support (LTS) release, supported until October 31, 2027, 12 months from the release date, compared to 6 months for standard releases. Security fixes and critical updates are backported to the `8.9.x` line for the full window; new featu…

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