ConnectWell

A private messenger you host yourself.

Features

A complete messenger, running on your own server.

Chat

One-to-one and group conversations with typing indicators, presence, unread counts, read receipts and link detection.

File Sharing

Images, video, audio and documents up to 200 MB, with drag-and-drop, captions, a lightbox for images, and filtering by type or date.

Voice & Video Messages

Recorded right in the browser and sent like any other message, using the front or rear camera.

Audio & Video Calls

One-to-one and group calls over WebRTC. Media flows peer-to-peer; the server only passes the signaling along.

Reactions & Forwarding

React with ten emoji, and forward messages with a tag naming the original author.

Activity Center

A bell that collects missed calls and reactions to your messages, with a live badge and a jump straight to the message.

Efficiency Mode

Sends photos, voice and video messages at a much lower bitrate. In a call it is shared: if one person turns it on, everyone's send profile drops with them.

Careful Editing & Deletion

Edit or delete a message freely until the other side has read it. After that, deleting needs their consent.

Approval-Based Access

Anyone who can reach the address may register, but new accounts stay pending until an admin approves them. There is no public directory.

English & Farsi

Full right-to-left layout, the Jalali calendar and Persian digits.

Works in the Browser

No install required on any device, with light, dark and system themes — and an install button where the browser offers one.

Your Server, Your Data

One Node process and one SQLite file, with no build step and no third-party services. Messages are stored on your server so history and multi-device access work, which also means anyone with server access can read them.

Self-hosting

Run your own instance.

ConnectWell is meant to be read end to end and to run on a cheap VPS or a machine at home. It needs Node and a reverse proxy that terminates TLS — no database server, no build pipeline, no accounts with anyone. The repository has the deployment notes, and the first account you create becomes the admin.

Read the setup guide on GitHub