Fluxer

What Fluxer does

Fluxer is an instant messaging and voice chat app for friends, groups and communities. People talk one to one, in group chats or in community channels organized under roles with precise permissions. Moderators can time out, kick or ban members, and an activity log records which moderator changed what. Messages support Markdown and code blocks, file uploads, link previews and each community’s own emoji and stickers. Voice channels add screen sharing and camera video, with noise suppression and echo cancellation, and a user can be connected from more than one device at a time.

Apps are available for Windows, macOS and Linux (Flatpak, deb, rpm, AppImage and an Arch repository), Android in beta and iOS through TestFlight, and Fluxer also runs in the browser.

Licensing and funding

The source is AGPL-3.0-or-later. Artwork such as the logo, icons and default avatars is CC BY-SA 4.0, and the Fluxer name and logo are covered by separate trademark terms. The company, Fluxer Platform AB in Sweden, says it is funded by subscribers and donors rather than outside investors.

The optional Plutonium subscription on the hosted service adds perks: custom four-digit tags, per-community profiles, custom emoji and stickers in any community, animated avatars and banners, early access, screen sharing up to 4K at 60 fps (free accounts get 720p at 30 fps) and uploads above the free 25 MB limit. For self-hosters, an Operator Pass offers a support channel with the team; the documentation states that it unlocks nothing in the software and that self-hosting stays free.

Self-hosting Fluxer

The operator guide installs a full instance on one machine with Docker Engine 24+ or Podman 5+ and Compose: web app, HTTP API, Erlang-based gateway, admin dashboard, uploads, search and voice signaling, with bundled Caddy for TLS. It also documents a Kubernetes route. An installer script, published with a SHA-256 checksum, generates every secret into a .env file. Requirements are at least 2 vCPUs (4 for a small active community) and 8 GB of RAM with the default settings, 16 GB recommended, or 4 GB with low-memory overrides. Ports 80/tcp, 443/tcp and 443/udp serve the web tier, and 7881/tcp and 7882/udp carry voice. The stack stores data in PostgreSQL and SeaweedFS and uses LiveKit for media.

On a new instance, the first registration that presents the setup token becomes the admin; after that, registration is open by default unless you change the mode.

Hosted version

Fluxer runs a free hosted service with voice regions in North America, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa and Australia, funded by Plutonium subscriptions and donations.

Limitations

Fluxer is a young project. Instances cannot talk to each other yet; the roadmap promises an experimental federation draft in 2026 and a stable release in 2027. The mobile apps are still in beta. Self-hosting needs more memory than most chat servers in this category. Messages are not described as end-to-end encrypted. Bug reports have moved from GitHub to Fluxer’s own feedback site, which requires a Fluxer account.

Who it suits

Fluxer suits communities that want a Discord-style space with good voice and video and the option to move to their own server later. Compare Stoat, which needs less memory to self-host, and see alternatives to Discord.