# Tinode review (2026): is the free plan enough?

> Open-source instant messaging server you host or rent

Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA.

Tinode is an open-source instant messaging platform with a Go server, web, Android and iOS clients and a documented API. A company can install it on its own servers or have Tinode run it as a cloud service, and developers can attach bots and plugins.

- **Category:** Team Communication
- **Made by:** Tinode LLC
- **Website:** https://tinode.co
- **Runs on:** Web, iOS, Android
- **Who should skip it:** Not for you if you do not want to run a server, as the free edition is self-hosted.
- **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026

## Pricing

As of Nov 13, 2026, Tinode has a free plan, and paid plans start at $1.50 per user / month (Cloud).

- **Pricing model:** Free plan
- **Free plan:** Basic self-hosted edition is free for small teams: no more than 500 push notifications a day, roughly 350 messages a day.
- **Free trial:** None listed.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Basic | $0 | You install and run the server yourself. Includes the push gateway, production monitoring and community support. |
| Cloud | $1.50 per user / month | Tinode runs it for you with 5 GB of file storage per user, custom-branded clients and gRPC access for chatbots. Arranged through the contact form. |
| Professional | $50 per month, one self-hosted installation ($500 billed yearly) | Self-hosted. Adds the TnAdmin tool, auto-configured and custom-branded mobile apps and dedicated support. $25 a month per extra cluster node. |
| Enterprise | $1,500 per year for a standalone installation | Everything in Professional plus assisted installation and email support; $2,500 a year for a 3-node cluster. |

Read from https://tinode.co/products.html on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Tinode before buying.

## Ways to pay less

- **Annual billing for Professional** (Annual discount): The self-hosting page lists $50 a month for a standalone installation, or $500 when billed annually. Source: https://tinode.co/selfhosting.html

## Key features

- **Open-source clients and server:** The server is written in Go and can run as a cluster; the site says client software is under the Apache 2.0 license.
- **Self-hosting tools:** TnAdmin gives a graphical console for looking up and suspending users, a push gateway handles mobile notifications and a Grafana dashboard is available for monitoring.
- **Extensible backend:** Authentication schemes, database backends, file upload, push and credential validation are pluggable adapters, and bots can connect over gRPC.
- **Mobile and web clients:** Android and iOS apps are listed in the stores, and a web client runs at web.tinode.co.
- **Branded apps:** Paid plans can show your own name and logo in the mobile apps and configure the server connection automatically.
- **Support contracts:** Named-contact email support with prioritized bug fixes is sold per installation, with an hourly rate for out-of-scope requests.

## Good for

- Teams with engineers who want to run their own chat server
- Developers adding messaging or bots to their own product
- Small groups using the free self-hosted edition

## Worth knowing

- Self-hosted mobile apps need either your own builds or the push gateway, because the stock apps' notifications will not reach your server otherwise.
- Free self-hosting is for small teams; above roughly 500 push notifications a day a paid plan applies.
- Support contracts exclude third-party integrations, remote administration and support for end users.
- The site's footer reads 2023, and the Cloud plan is arranged through a contact form.

## ToolGPA grades

**GPA: 2.2 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Tinode is an open-source instant messaging server with web and phone clients. The free Basic edition is yours to host, with a small-team cap of about 500 push notifications a day. Notifications for the stock apps will not reach your server, and the site footer reads 2023.

- **Value for money: B.** Cloud is $1.50 a user a month, which would count as cheap, but it is arranged through a contact form. The free edition needs your own server.
- **Free plan and trial: C.** Basic is free to self-host, but capped at about 500 push notifications a day. You run the server.
- **Features: C.** Chat server, web and mobile clients, an extensible backend and chatbots over gRPC. Branding and the admin tool are paid.
- **Ease of use: D.** No rating on record. Self-hosting means installing and running a server yourself.
- **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, iPhone and Android clients, with gRPC for bots. No desktop app.

These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Tinode'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

- Tinode'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 value for money (B, above 47 of 75) and worst on ease of use (D, above 1).
- Its paid plans start at $1.50 a month for each person, against a middle price of $6.90 for the category: 1 of the 51 others that charge start lower.
- On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. 9 tools score higher and cost less.

The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/team-chat

## Keep it, or make your own?

**Keep it.** To replace Tinode 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. It costs $18 a year. Tinode 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: A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page.
- You could not: It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team.
- You could not: An API that other software can build on.

A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it.

**Tags:** Team chat, Open source, Self-hostable, Public API

## Alternatives

- [Matrix](https://toolgpa.com/tools/matrix): Open, decentralized network for chat and calls. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/matrix-vs-tinode)
- [Mattermost](https://toolgpa.com/tools/mattermost): Self-hosted team messaging with playbooks, calls and boards. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/mattermost-vs-tinode)
- [Zulip](https://toolgpa.com/tools/zulip): Open-source team chat that organizes channels by topic. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/tinode-vs-zulip)
- [Rocket.Chat](https://toolgpa.com/tools/rocket-chat): Open-source, self-managed chat for security-focused teams. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/rocket-chat-vs-tinode)
- [OpenIM](https://toolgpa.com/tools/openim): Open-source chat, voice and video infrastructure for apps. [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://tinode.co/products.html
- https://tinode.co/selfhosting.html
- https://tinode.co/support.html
- https://tinode.co/

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/tinode
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).