# OpenIM review (2026): is the free plan enough? > Open-source chat, voice and video infrastructure for apps Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. OpenIM is open-source communication infrastructure for building chat, messaging, voice calls and video meetings into an app or an existing system. It supplies a server, client SDKs, server APIs and webhooks, and you can deploy it on your own infrastructure. It is not a finished chat app on its own, though Business and Enterprise editions add production-ready client apps. - **Category:** Team Communication - **Made by:** OpenIM - **Website:** https://openim.io - **Runs on:** Web, iOS, Android - **Who should skip it:** Not for you if you want a ready chat app, as the open-source part is for building one. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, OpenIM has a free plan. - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** The Open Source edition (server, IM SDK and demo apps) is listed as free. - **Free trial:** Trials of the commercial editions are available by request. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Open Source | $0 | OpenIM Server and IM SDK for development and custom client integration; you host it yourself. | | Business | Custom | Production-ready client UI on multiple platforms under a commercial license. No price is published. | | Enterprise | Custom | Everything in Business plus advanced messaging, Kubernetes deployment and high availability. No price is published. | Read from https://openim.io/enterprise/ on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with OpenIM before buying. ## Key features - **Chat and messaging:** One-to-one chat, groups, large groups, message history, offline messages, receipts, search and multi-device sync. - **Voice and video:** Voice calls, video calls, group calls, video meetings and screen sharing, sold as separate modules for the commercial editions. - **Client SDKs:** SDKs for iOS, Android, web (JavaScript), Flutter and React Native, and the site says it covers 10+ client platforms. - **Server API and webhooks:** Server APIs and webhook callbacks connect accounts, permissions and events to your own backend. - **Self-hosted deployment:** OpenIM Server runs in your own cloud or private network, and Enterprise adds Kubernetes and a high-availability cluster. ## Good for - Developers adding chat to their own product - Companies that must host messaging in their own environment - Teams that want an open-source base and an optional commercial edition ## Worth knowing - OpenIM is not a single chat app. Open Source is meant for development and custom clients, and the site says Enterprise is for production. - Business and Enterprise have no published prices; they are bought through a request-a-trial and contract process. - Voice and video and video meetings are separate modules purchased as needed on the commercial editions. - The open-source GitHub page lists an Electron demo app for Windows, Mac and Linux, but the site presents these as demos. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.2 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. OpenIM is open-source chat, voice and video infrastructure for apps, not a chat app you install and use. The open-source edition is free to host yourself and meant for development. Production-ready clients sit on Business and Enterprise plans with no published price. - **Value for money: C.** The open-source edition is free but you host it. Business and Enterprise have no published price. - **Free plan and trial: B.** Open source is free to download, with no cap, for developers who host it. - **Features: C.** Chat, voice and video, SDKs and webhooks. Voice, video and meetings are separate paid modules. - **Ease of use: D.** No rating on record. It is an SDK and server that developers build on and host. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, iPhone and Android SDKs and a server API. Desktop is shown only as a demo app. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from OpenIM's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among team communication apps - OpenIM's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 9 of the 75 other team communication apps we grade, and level with 19. - It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 41 of 75) and worst on ease of use (D, above 1). The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/team-chat ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace OpenIM you would be making chat that a whole team counts on staying up. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 47 of the 75 other team communication apps grade higher. OpenIM is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself. - You could not: Chat that a whole team counts on staying up. - You could not: Video calls. - You could not: A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page. - You could not: An API that other software can build on. - You could not: What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: roles and permissions. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. **Tags:** Open source, Self-hostable, Team chat, Video calls, Public API ## Alternatives - [ejabberd](https://toolgpa.com/tools/ejabberd): Erlang messaging server for XMPP, MQTT, SIP and Matrix. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/ejabberd-vs-openim) - [Matrix](https://toolgpa.com/tools/matrix): Open, decentralized network for chat and calls. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/matrix-vs-openim) - [Mattermost](https://toolgpa.com/tools/mattermost): Self-hosted team messaging with playbooks, calls and boards. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/mattermost-vs-openim) - [Rocket.Chat](https://toolgpa.com/tools/rocket-chat): Open-source, self-managed chat for security-focused teams. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/openim-vs-rocket-chat) - [Tinode](https://toolgpa.com/tools/tinode): Open-source instant messaging server you host or rent. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/openim-vs-tinode) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://openim.io - https://openim.io/enterprise/ - https://openim.io/sdk/ - https://openim.io/open-source/ Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/openim Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).