Mattermost vs Stoat (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Mattermost if

• Fits if your chat has to stay on your own servers or on an air-gapped network
• Works for technical teams who can run and maintain their own server

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if nobody on the team wants to run a server, as it's self-hosted by design
• Not for you if you want to see a price before talking to anyone, because every paid license is quoted by sales
• Tight if you rely on the free Entry mode, which only shows the latest 10,000 channel messages and has community support
• Watch out: Team Edition has no single sign-on, and the vendor doesn't recommend it for sensitive work
• Pricey if you need workflow automation or boards, as both start on Enterprise, sold as prepaid annual seats

Pick Stoat if

• Fits if you run a hobby or gaming community and want it free
• Works for people who want an open-source alternative to Discord-style servers

Look elsewhere if

• Not for you if you need workplace controls, as there is no admin console, SSO or compliance features
• Tight if you share big files, as uploads stop at 20MB and group DMs at 50 members
• Watch out: the Android app is Early Access, and iPhone and iPad use is through the web app
• Watch out: the legal entity is Revolt Platforms Ltd, and the product appears to have been called Revolt before

Mattermost

• No prices are published: Professional, Enterprise and Enterprise Advanced are quoted by sales and sold as prepaid annual seat subscriptions.
• Entry shows only the latest 10,000 channel messages and has community support only; the vendor suggests it for teams of fewer than 50 users.
• It is self-hosted by design; the only vendor-hosted option described is single-tenant Mattermost Cloud Enterprise, arranged through sales.
• Team Edition has no single sign-on, and the vendor does not recommend it for government or sensitive commercial workloads.

Stoat

• The Android app is labeled Early Access, and iPhone and iPad use is through installing the web app to the home screen.
• Built for communities rather than workplaces: the site lists no admin console, SSO or compliance features.
• Uploads are capped at 20MB per file, and group DMs at 50 members.
• The site and legal entity (Revolt Platforms Ltd) suggest this product was formerly called Revolt.

Mattermost

Channel-based messaging

1-1 and group messages, public and private channels, threaded discussions, file sharing and search across web, desktop and mobile, in 20 languages.

Playbooks

Repeatable playbooks for incident response, change management and compliance, with conditional checklists and escalation. The pricing page lists workflow automation from Enterprise.

Calls and screen sharing

1:1 audio calls with screen sharing are in every paid package, and group calls support about 50 concurrent users per self-hosted server. A 40-minute call limit is planned for Entry.

Boards

Kanban, table, calendar and gallery boards for assigning and tracking tasks next to the conversation. The pricing page lists work management from Enterprise.

AI agents

Agents summarize conversations and take actions using an LLM provider the customer chooses, or a self-hosted model in air-gapped environments.

Integrations and API

A REST API with an OpenAPI 3.0 spec, webhooks, slash commands and a plugin platform, with prebuilt integrations for tools such as Jira, GitHub and GitLab.

Stoat

Servers and channels

Communities are organized into servers with text channels and voice chat, plus file sharing and markdown formatting in messages.

Roles and moderation

A role-based permissions system and moderation tools manage who can do what, and moderation bots work with it.

Group DMs

Group direct messages hold up to 50 members, and bots work inside them as well.

Themes and profile options

Built-in themes can be swapped for ones from the Discover section or your own, and profile banners and animated avatars need no subscription.

Public API for bots and clients

The company says its official apps use the same public API that developers get, for building bots or custom clients.

Self-hosting

You can run your own server if you prefer; the site describes this as free and open.

Mattermost

• Entry$0

  Free mode of the Enterprise Edition: Enterprise Advanced features with 10,000 viewable messages, community support, and no compliance or high availability.

• Team Edition$0

  Open-source, MIT-licensed edition for small teams and personal use under 250 activated users, without single sign-on.

• ProfessionalCustom

  For teams of up to 250 users: single sign-on, AD/LDAP sync, guest accounts and next-business-day support. Sold as prepaid annual seats.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Adds workflow automation, work management boards, compliance and data retention tools, federated communications and high availability.

• Enterprise AdvancedCustom

  Adds zero-trust attribute-based access controls, classification banners, burn-on-read messages and support for air-gapped environments.

Stoat

• Free$0

  Everything is free: servers, channels, voice chat, custom emojis, 20MB uploads and group DMs of up to 50 members.

Mattermost

• Nonprofit

  3-year Professional license for $250

  Eligible nonprofit and open-source organizations can apply for a 3-year self-hosted Mattermost Professional subscription for up to 1,000 users for a $250 fee.

Stoat

No public discounts listed.