Book a demo
Book a demo
Login

Chatto Hosting Live In 5 Minutes

Chatto hosting on xCloud gives your team a self-hosted team chat server that runs as one process, with a built-in web client. Deploy Chatto 0.4.24 and xCloud runs the pinned official image with embedded NATS, generates the secrets, mounts a persistent volume for messages and publishes it over HTTPS in minutes. This install is messaging only: voice and video calls are not included.

Deploy your Chatto
  • No terminal
  • No technical skills needed
  • No lock-in, cancel anytime

What is Chatto?

Self-hosted Chatto is a chat application for teams and communities that upstream calls free and easy to self-host. The template README describes a single Go process with embedded NATS and a built-in web client, with channels, an owner role and optional invite- or SSO-only sign-up. It is a self-hosted alternative to Slack and Discord, licensed AGPL-3.0-or-later by default, with Apache-2.0 exceptions for some surfaces.

On xCloud the template runs ghcr.io/chattocorp/chatto 0.4.24, pinned by digest, as one container, with the embedded NATS JetStream data in one chatto_data volume. There is no separate database. LiveKit voice and video are not included, uploads that are not video are capped at 25 MB, and email sign-up needs working SMTP before it can send a one-time code.

From Sign-Up to a Live Chatto Workspace In 3 Easy Steps

Running a chat server normally means a binary or container, a database or broker, a certificate, SMTP and a domain before anyone can sign in. This is the same result without assembling those parts.

  1. Step 01

    Sign Up

    Create your xCloud account, pick Chatto from the OneClick catalog, select a domain and enter the Owner email.

  2. Step 02

    Deploy And Add Email

    Save the URL and owner email from the credentials panel, then add a full CHATTO_SMTP_* set in Environment and redeploy.

  3. Step 03

    Register And Invite Your Team

    Open the HTTPS URL and register with the owner email to get owner access. Then create a channel and invite your team.

Everything Chatto Gives Your Team, On Your Own Server

Chatto runs as one service here, with its web client, API and message store on infrastructure you control.

  • Team Chat You Host

    Run private team messaging on your own domain. The web client and API are served by the same container on port 4000.

  • Single-Process Install

    Chatto embeds NATS, so there is no separate broker or database to run. The whole install is one container and one volume.

  • Generated Secrets

    Session, core and asset-URL secrets are generated as 256-bit values and re-read on every restart. You do not write them by hand.

  • Verified Owner Access

    Owner access goes to the account whose verified email matches the Owner email entered at install, including the /admin area.

  • Persistent Message Storage

    Messages and uploads live on the chatto_data volume and survived an xCloud restart during verification. Uploads are capped at 25 MB.

  • Messaging Only, No Calls

    Voice and video calls, video processing and web push are not included. Calls would need a separate LiveKit server.

Everything You Need To Run Your Private Team Chat

Chatto on xCloud is a dedicated Cloud VPS with the Chatto container deployed for you. Messaging, storage and secrets are set up at install.

  • Chatto 0.4.24 deployed in one click
  • Single container, no broker to run
  • Generated 256-bit secrets
  • Free SSL certificate
  • Persistent chatto_data volume to back up

What You Can Do With Chatto

  • Team chat for communities and companies

    A team or community sets up channels on a server it owns, with the web client served from the same single process, so conversation history stays on its own volume.

  • Run chat from a single process

    An admin who does not want to operate a database, a key-value store and a broker deploys one container with embedded NATS, then backs up one volume instead of several services.

  • Name an owner and control sign-up

    A founder lists their email as the server owner, registers with that address once SMTP works, then turns direct registration off later to move to invite-only or SSO sign-up.

  • Share files within limits

    A group shares documents and images in chat within the 25 MB cap for non-video uploads, knowing video processing is switched off in this template.

Chatto vs Alternatives

Slack
Choose Chatto as a Slack alternative when you want the workspace on your own Cloud VPS. It is a category comparison rather than feature parity, and voice and video are not part of this install.
Discord
Chatto is a Discord alternative for communities that want to host their own server. You create channels and invite members; this template is messaging only, with no LiveKit calls.
Zulip
In a Chatto vs Zulip comparison, Zulip is a self-hosted team chat with its own OneClick page. Chatto runs here as a single binary with embedded NATS and a built-in web client.
Rocket.Chat
Rocket.Chat is another self-hosted team chat, with its own OneClick page. Chatto needs no external database and keeps its data in one volume.

Simple Pricing. Everything Included.

Dedicated Cloud VPS sizes, pre-configured for Chatto hosting. Pick the one that fits, and resize any time.

Cloud VPS 6 GB

Most popular

A private team chat server for a small group.

$24.99per month

  • 6 GB RAM
  • 4 vCPU cores
  • 100 GB NVMe SSD
  • 30 TB
  • Unlimited
Get started

Cloud VPS 16 GB

Chatto alongside other services on the same box.

$59.99per month

  • 16 GB RAM
  • 6 vCPU cores
  • 200 GB NVMe SSD
  • 30 TB
  • Unlimited
Get started

Cloud VPS 24 GB

Chatto alongside a whole self-hosted stack.

$84.99per month

  • 24 GB RAM
  • 8 vCPU cores
  • 300 GB NVMe SSD
  • 30 TB
  • Unlimited
Get started

Every size is a dedicated Cloud VPS we provision and keep online. Billed monthly with no lock-in. Chatto itself is free and open source under AGPL-3.0-or-later.

Docker hosting

Already Have a Server? Bring Your Own

Connect any VPS — DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, Hetzner or bare metal — and deploy Chatto on it through the same panel, for a per-server management fee instead of a Cloud VPS rental.

Free

Start your journey without cost.

$0forever

  • 1 server
  • 10 sites
Start free

Starter

Most popular

Your rate with 2–5 servers connected.

$5per server / month

  • 2–5 servers
  • Unlimited sites
  • All features included
  • Bring any VPS provider
Get started

Professional

The same platform, discounted at 6–10 servers.

$4per server / month

  • 6–10 servers
  • Unlimited sites
  • All features included
  • Bring any VPS provider
Get started

Agency

The same platform, discounted at 11+ servers.

$3per server / month

  • 11+ servers
  • Unlimited sites
  • All features included
  • Bring any VPS provider
Get started

Priced per connected server, so your rate adjusts automatically as you add or remove servers. You pay your own provider for the server itself.

Self-managed hosting

Ready For Private Team Chat?

Chatto on xCloud runs on a dedicated Cloud VPS we provision and keep online. Set up SMTP before first sign-in, then invite your team.

Hear what people are saying about us

See why agencies, developers, startups, and growing businesses choose xCloud to power their projects.

xCloud works really well, I am surprised by its performance being this the release version, I have tried many paid platforms such as runcloud, cloudpages or serveravatar, as well as free platforms such as CyberPanel, CloudPanel or Hestia Control Panel and direct competitors such as SpinupWP and FlyWP. Of all those that I have tried, the platform that works best for WordPress is SpinupWP and I believe that xCloud can reach and surpass that development, its roadmap is promising. Congratulations to the xCloud team, I hope they become the leading platform in the segment, it has all the potential to achieve it!
Brian Geovanny
I've been with runcloud for the last 3 years. However, after trying xcloud for the last month, I'm switching over. They are on a roll with their setup.
Kevin Pineda
I'm moving my servers to xCloud, a cloud control panel by M Asif Rahman and the WPDeveloper team. Their roadmap looks interesting and no, there are no team mates nor API limits with xCloud! #xCloud #wordpress #hosting
Leo Koo
How Cloud Nine Web Elevated Client Experience While Streamlining Hosting Operations using xCloud
Ed Ellingham
xCloud is like having an expert server team on call — without the big agency costs. It's given me back my time and given my clients peace of mind. Highly recommended for freelancers and small teams who want reliable performance and security.
Dumitru Butucel
xCloud isn't just a solution. It's like one of that friend who got your back when you screw things up pretty bad.
Waqar Ahmed
Trust me when I say, once people explore the potential of xCloud they gonna switch from other panels, just keep delivering the best tech, lots of love for the team 😍😍
Rahul Singh
So far my experience has been smooth like silk. I didn't imagine that configuring and managing a VPS would be so easy. As of today, I have deployed 8 sites. The support is good, and they treat users with respect, even if they ask stupid questions (myself included). For the future, I hope for greater flexibility in scheduled backups and more comprehensive and consistent documentation. I'm sure that within a few months, xCloud will become the leader in its segment. This community is amazing, and the Staff here is super helpful.
Massimo Villa
Came from cloudways then to runcloud then to xcloud. Looks like I'm staying here.
Gerson El
I've recently taken all of my Vultr-hosted sites and gotten rid of cPanel for them to substitute it with xCloud. I have to say, I'm really impressed with xCloud so far! The interface is definitely the standout feature for me.
Tony Lewis
I came from Cloudways and won't go back. Highly impressed with xCloud. Glad I gave them a chance.
Jared McDowell
I like xCloud better than RunCloud, but one thing I'll point out is that some years ago RunCloud was hungry for business, the support was outstanding, and the community was active and helped each other. Maybe it was sold, there was a change in management, or they stopped being hungry, but the quality of the RunCloud offering declined and it hasn't been moving forward quickly. My point is that currently the xCloud team has the edge and it is theirs to keep or lose
David McCan
How Kevin Heinrichs Cut Hosting Costs by 84% While Running WooCommerce & Node.js Sites Efficiently
Kevin Heinrichs
I had 150 sites on cloudways and am in the process of moving them to xcloud. Much faster and better priced.
Dan Spinoza
Dear xCloud Team, I have been using xCloud for some time now and am genuinely impressed with its capabilities and the flexibility it offers by allowing users to bring their own VPS for management. It's a fantastic service, and my experience so far has been very positive. Successful migrated 5 sites on a single server. Xcloud migration tool worked great. There were few hiccups with security plugin like MalCare but disabling the plugin prior to migration worked just fine.
Rahil Maknojia
Came from runcloud. Tried xcloud and never came back.
Karl Fanega
How Advanced Web Strategies Saved Over $2,000 & Recovered 56 Hours per Month Managing 70+ Client Websites
Gary Moody
xCloud gave me what no other hosting platform could: the flexibility of a VPS with the convenience of managed WordPress. As a solo founder running an entire business on one server, that combination is an important unfair advantage.
Jorge de los Reyes Martínez
I use Server Avatar and xCloud and I'll sooner use xCloud than Server Avatar personally.
Jay Pagano
How Newman Web Solutions Ensured Perfect Uptime and Seamless Scaling For 120+ WordPress Sites with xCloud
Lori Newman
I too have moved over to xCloud. It's pretty sweet. One click n8n and uptime Kuma apps
John Aperture
I went from Cloudways to xCloud. No intention on switching in the foreseeable future.
Blaine Moore

Frequently Asked Questions

Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have.

Is Chatto free and open source?

Chatto is licensed AGPL-3.0-or-later by default, with Apache-2.0 exceptions for the standalone frontend, integration surfaces, documentation and examples, so the server has no licence charge. Network use may require offering corresponding source to users. xCloud bills for the Cloud VPS.

Can I run Chatto with Docker?

Yes, and this template does it for you: the official ghcr.io/chattocorp/chatto 0.4.24 image, pinned by digest, as a single process on port 4000 with a persistent volume behind HTTPS. It is Chatto Docker hosting without writing a compose file.

Docker hosting on xCloud

How much RAM does a Chatto cloud server need?

Allow 1024 MB of RAM, 1 CPU core and 10 GB of disk at least; upstream gives no RAM figure, so that floor covers the Go process plus embedded JetStream. A Chatto cloud workspace is sold on the 6 GB Cloud VPS for headroom.

Does Chatto support voice and video calls?

Not in this install. Voice and video calling uses LiveKit, which the template does not run, so in-app calls are unavailable, and video processing and web push are off. This is a messaging-only deployment of the single process.

Who becomes the owner of a Chatto server?

The user whose verified email matches the owner email you gave at install. The first visitor is not the owner unless they use that address. Registering with it, once SMTP delivers the one-time code, gives access including the admin area.

Does Chatto need a database?

No. Chatto runs as one process with embedded NATS JetStream, which stores messages and assets in the chatto_data volume. There is no database container to set up, which is why backups are a single volume copy.

Why does Chatto sign-up need SMTP?

Email and password registration sends a one-time code, so it needs working SMTP. Add a complete set of CHATTO_SMTP values in the Environment editor, never leaving those keys empty, then redeploy. Direct registration stays enabled until you switch it off.

How do I back up Chatto?

Take a backup of the whole chatto_data volume, which holds the embedded NATS store with messages and assets. Stop writes or stop the container before a filesystem-level copy, and keep the core secret key stable if you want sessions to survive a restore.

Backups in xCloud

How do I update Chatto?

Moving versions is up to you. Chatto 0.4.24 is pinned by digest, and catalogue changes skip live sites. Copy chatto_data first, skim upstream's release notes, then adopt a newer template version once one is published, and confirm login and a message.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. There is no lock-in — cancel any time. Hosting is billed monthly and charged for what you actually use, so when you delete the server the unused balance is refunded to your account, less up to 10% in payment-processing fees.

Related resources

The backup and HTTPS guides that matter most once Chatto is live.

More Communication apps in one click

Browse all Communication apps →Browse all one-click apps →

Ready For Private Team Chat?

Set up your Chatto server in minutes. Configure SMTP first, then register and invite your team.

Deploy Chatto now