Slacker Download

Self-hosted · AI built in · Auto-updating Buy me a coffee

The chat your team already knows. Running on your own machine.

Slacker gives small businesses the familiar channels, threads and DMs of Slack, with a built-in AI assistant that can search the web for current answers. Your messages stay on your hardware.

Download Slacker See how it works

macOS · Windows · Linux  |  Free and open source (MIT)

ChannelsThreadsDirect messagesFile sharingSearchDark mode

Familiar by design

Everything your team expects from team chat

No learning curve. If your staff have used Slack, they already know how to use Slacker.

#

Channels & threads

Organise conversations by topic, keep side-discussions tidy in threads, and never lose the thread of a decision.

@

Direct & group messages

Private one-to-ones and small group chats, with mentions and notifications that you control.

📎

Files, drag & drop

Attach files up to 25 MB by dragging, pasting or clicking. Only channel members can open them.

⌘K

Search everything

One shortcut searches every message you have access to. Find that quote from last March in seconds.

🔒

Admin & security

Invites that expire, sign-in lockouts, instant deactivation for leavers and an activity log for admins.

☾

Light & dark

A clean interface that follows your system theme, or pick one yourself.

Built-in AI

An assistant that knows what happened this week

Most AI is stuck in the past. Slacker connects its assistant to Tavily, a web search built for AI, so answers can draw on current information instead of stale training data.

  • DM it any time. A private conversation that always answers.
  • Mention @AI in a channel. It replies in a thread, and follow-ups there need no mention.
  • Live streaming replies, with sources from the web search it ran.
  • You choose the provider. Use Anthropic or OpenAI with your own API key.
  • Key stays server-side. Encrypted at rest and never sent to clients.

Your data, your hardware

Runs locally, built for small teams

One lightweight server and one database. No per-seat pricing, no vendor holding your history.

Desktop apps Mac · Windows · Linux
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Slacker server On your office PC, a Raspberry Pi or any always-on box
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Postgres Messages & files, with nightly backups

Quick to start

Run Postgres and the server with Docker, open the app, and create your workspace. Invite teammates from the settings.

Automatic backups

A production stack with HTTPS and daily backups of the database and uploaded files, kept for 14 days.

Stay private

Keep it on your LAN, or put it on your Tailscale network. Only the AI and search calls you enable leave the building.

Always current

A desktop app that updates itself

Installed apps check for new versions on launch and every few hours. Updates come from your own server, with no third-party service in the middle.

  • Windows & Linux: download in the background, then one click to restart.
  • macOS (signed): fully automatic, the same way.
  • macOS (unsigned): a banner with a one-click download link.

Get Slacker

Download the repository once and you have everything: the server and the desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux. There's no separate installer for each operating system.

Download from Bitbucket

Need a hand getting set up?

Send us a message and we'll get back to you.

Questions

Frequently asked

Is it really Slack?

No. Slacker is an independent, open-source app with a familiar layout. It isn't affiliated with Slack.

Where is my data stored?

On the machine that runs your Slacker server: messages in Postgres and files on its disk. Back them up using the built-in nightly backups.

Does the AI need internet access?

The assistant uses a hosted model (Anthropic or OpenAI) and, optionally, Tavily for live web search, so it needs an internet connection and your own API keys. The chat itself works fine on your local network without them.

How many people can use it?

It's designed for small businesses and teams: one server and one database, with no per-user licence fees.

Is there a mobile app?

A React Native mobile app is in development alongside the desktop app.

What does it cost?

Slacker is free and MIT licensed. You only pay for the hardware you run it on and any AI or search API usage.