ONCE Campfire vs Rocket.Chat
We give ONCE Campfire a 3.0 GPA and Rocket.Chat a 3.2, out of 4.0. ONCE Campfire grades higher on value for money. Rocket.Chat grades higher on features and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Rocket.Chat
Open-source, self-managed chat for security-focused teams
Free plan
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAONCE CampfireVery good | 3.2GPARocket.ChatVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AIt costs nothing. Campfire is free and open source under the MIT License, with free updates and the full source code. The only bill is for the server you put it on, and that goes to your host. | BNo paid prices are published. Commercial, Government and Defense are all quoted by sales, so we can't set them against what team chat usually costs. You'd be buying things like high availability, audit logs and air-gapped deployment. |
| Free plan and trial | AThe whole thing is free, and there's no paid plan sitting above it to hold features back. You can run it on a laptop, an office server or a cloud host. | AStarter is free for up to 50 users on your own server, with SSO, LDAP, multi-factor authentication and end-to-end encryption. A small team could stay on it for good. Support is community only, and there's no option to buy any. |
| Features | BOpen and private rooms, direct messages, @mentions, saved searches, file attachments and chatbots. Those are the basics, and they're all here. But the site describes text chat only, with no voice or video calling, and Slack and Teams data can't be imported. | AChannels, direct messages, threads, file sharing and searchable history, in 64 languages. Then the serious stuff: role-based access, retention policies, data loss prevention and Matrix federation. Video calls go through Jitsi, Pexip, Zoom and the like. |
| Ease of use | DYou host it yourself, as there's no hosted version. To be fair it's about as gentle as self-hosting gets: one command through the ONCE CLI, and updates install themselves daily. Somebody still has to own that server. | DYou host it yourself. Both free options are self-managed, so your team installs and maintains the server. Hosting run by Rocket.Chat only comes with the paid plans, and those start with a sales call. |
| Platforms and integrations | BIt runs in any browser, and on a phone as a web app from your home screen, with icon badges and push notifications. There's a simple HTTP API for building bots. No native iPhone or Android apps, and no ready-made integrations. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android. There's a Marketplace, an Apps Engine and an open API for building your own, and Matrix federation links you to other organizations. |
| Best for | free group chat on a server you own | chat that never leaves your own servers |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: ONCE Campfire and Rocket.Chat. How we grade
Where they differ
- Only Rocket.Chat lists macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android apps.
- Rocket.Chat is end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
In commonFree planWebOpen sourceSelf-hostablePublic APITeam chatFile sharing
At a glance
| ONCE Campfire | Rocket.Chat | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | Not published |
| Free plan | Entirely free and open source under the MIT License, with free updates. You install it on a server you control, so the cost of hosting is yours. | Starter: a free self-managed workspace for up to 50 users with single sign-on, end-to-end encryption and community support. The MIT-licensed Community edition is also free. |
| Free trial | None listed | Qualifying government, defense and critical infrastructure organizations can get a free guided, hosted evaluation. |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | 37signals LLC | Rocket.Chat Technologies Corp. |
| Price read from | once.com | rocket.chat |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
ONCE Campfire
- Teams that want group chat without a recurring subscription
- Organizations that must keep chat data on their own servers
- Air-gapped or high-security networks with no internet access
- A separate private chat for a board, an event or a community
Rocket.Chat
- Organizations that must host chat themselves for data sovereignty
- Small teams of up to 50 that can run their own server
- Government and defense groups that need air-gapped deployment
- Agencies that federate with partners over the Matrix protocol
Worth knowing
ONCE Campfire
- There is no hosted version: someone has to install and maintain it on a server you control.
- There are no native iOS or Android apps; phones use the mobile web or a Progressive Web App.
- Slack and Teams data cannot be imported.
- The site describes text chat only and mentions no voice or video calling.
Rocket.Chat
- Paid plan prices are not published; Commercial, Government and Defense are quoted by sales.
- Starter stops at 50 users, cannot be deployed air-gapped and has community support only, with no option to buy support.
- The Community edition has core messaging only and 100 concurrent users, and the vendor says it is not suited to business-critical production use.
- The free options are self-managed, so the team installs and maintains the server; Rocket.Chat-run hosting comes with paid plans.
Key features
ONCE Campfire
- Rooms and direct messages
- Rooms can be open to everyone in the organization or private to some members, with direct messages alongside. Rooms with unread messages are highlighted.
- @mentions and search
- @mentions call out specific people, and previous searches are saved to the sidebar so they can be run again.
- Mobile web app
- Works in a mobile browser or as a Progressive Web App launched from the home screen, with icon badges and push notifications.
- One-command installation
- Installed through the ONCE CLI with a single command on a laptop, an office server or a cloud host. 2 GB of RAM and 1 CPU are listed for 250 concurrent users.
- Automatic updates
- Each installation checks for updates once a day and installs them automatically; this can be switched off to update by hand.
- Chatbots over an HTTP API
- Bots can be built for an instance with a simple HTTP API for sending and receiving messages and attachments.
Rocket.Chat
- Channels, direct messages and threads
- Channels, groups, direct messages and threaded discussions with multimedia and file sharing, searchable message history, read receipts and an interface in 64 languages.
- Deployment on your own terms
- Workspaces run on-premises, in a private or sovereign cloud, or on Rocket.Chat's dedicated hosting. Air-gapped deployment is available on paid plans only.
- Identity and access controls
- Active Directory and LDAP authentication, single sign-on, multi-factor authentication and role-based access control are included from the free Starter plan.
- Encryption and data policies
- End-to-end encryption can be switched on for messages and files, alongside data retention policies, data loss prevention and content moderation.
- Video through integrations
- Calls connect through Pexip, Jitsi, BigBlueButton, Google Meet or Zoom on Starter. The Community edition supports Jitsi and BigBlueButton only.
- Federation, apps and API
- Matrix protocol federation links separate organizations in shared channels, and the Marketplace, Apps Engine and open API cover custom apps and integrations.
Plans
ONCE Campfire
Campfire$0
Easy installation, free updates and the full source code. Self-hosted only.
Rocket.Chat
Starter$0
Self-managed workspace for up to 50 users with SSO, LDAP, multi-factor authentication, end-to-end encryption and community-only support.
Community$0
Open-source (MIT) edition with core messaging only, up to 100 concurrent users and push notifications capped at 10,000 a month.
CommercialCustom
For commercial enterprises: on-premises, private cloud or dedicated cloud hosting, high availability and regulatory compliance features.
GovernmentCustom
For public sector agencies: on-premises or sovereign cloud deployment, tamper-evident audit logs, retention policies and Matrix federation.
DefenseCustom
For defense and intelligence: air-gapped deployment, DoD ATO up to IL6, FIPS 140-3 validated cryptography and clearance-based access control.
