Life & fun · alternatives · 2026

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. My collection of the most fat programming chats: RoR, JS, iOS etc. launched in 2017; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1
   Total.js Messenger▲181

   A small, open-source alternative to Slack

   2017 · totaljs.com · its alternatives →

2. 2
   JibJab Talkies▲110

   Make messaging GREAT again!

   2017 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →

3. 3
   Talks by UI Patterns▲164

   A library of talks by UX experts

   2015 · talks.ui-patterns.com · its alternatives →

4. 4
   Codecrap▲93

   Where developers go to laugh and cry

   2014 · codecrap.com · its alternatives →

5. 5
   Rocket.Chat▲152

   Your own open source Slack-like chat

   2015 · rocket.chat · its alternatives →

6. 6
   Tung▲96

   A social podcast player

   2016 · its alternatives →

7. 7
   Whir▲89

   Awesome CLI chat for developers.

   2017 · its alternatives →

8. 8
   Talkk▲81

   Great conversations about any topic

   2016 · talkk.com · its alternatives →

9. 9
   Developer Ipsum▲110

   Lorem for nerds

   2021 · developer-ipsum.netlify.app · its alternatives →

10. 10
    Tlk ▲95

    A simple web chat

    2013 · tlk.io · its alternatives →

11. 11
    Stack Overflow Podcast - A Bunch of Bald Yaks▲66

    HyperDev, the fastest way to bang out code and run it online

    2016 · stackoverflow.blog · its alternatives →

12. 12
    Pie▲103

    Chat for work

    2014 · its alternatives →

13. 13
    Talking Insult Generator▲80

    a

    2015 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →

14. 14
    Awkward Chatbot▲83

    machine learning is making like huge strides lol

    2015 · its alternatives →

15. 15
    Breakr▲102

    Location-based anonymous chatrooms

    2014 · getbreakr.com · its alternatives →

16. 16
    Shlack▲75

    Whoa, a bash shell inside Slack!

    2016 · shell.playplay.io · its alternatives →

17. 17
    Hey!▲57

    "The premiere low effort communication app"

    2014 · its alternatives →

18. 18
    Komando▲67

    IRC for people who write code

    2014 · github.com · its alternatives →

19. 19
    Code Mill▲85

    A marketplace for pull requests

    2016 · codemill.io · its alternatives →

20. 20
    Scrollback▲67

    Easy peasy embeddable chat rooms.

    2014 · scrollback.io · its alternatives →

21. 21
    TextCraft▲66

    Slack as old-school MUD client

    2015 · textcraft.co · its alternatives →

22. 22FL
    Full list of ChatGPT Plugins and stats▲6

    2023 · plugin-stats.com · its alternatives →

23. 23
    Hashtags▲5

    Chat about anything (Reddit + Slack)

    2017 · its alternatives →

24. 24
    Discourse▲43

    New open source discussion platform from Jeff Atwood.

    2014 · discourse.org · its alternatives →

Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →