# Spacebar: A Self-Hostable, Discord-Compatible Chat and Voice Platform > Spacebar is an open-source platform that implements the Discord API, allowing existing Discord bots and clients to connect with minimal changes. Engineers and communities who want to run their own chat, voice, and video infrastructure without depending on Discord's servers can self-host the Spacebar server under the AGPL-3.0 license. **spacebarchat/spacebarchat** — 📬 Spacebar is a free open source selfhostable discord compatible communication platform - Repository: https://github.com/spacebarchat/spacebarchat - Website: https://spacebar.chat - Stars: 6,708 · Forks: 225 - Language: Unknown - License: AGPL-3.0 - Published: 2026-09-22 · Updated: 2026-09-22 · Language: en - Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/spacebarchat-spacebarchat ## What Spacebar Offers: Discord Compatibility Without Discord's Servers Spacebar positions itself as a drop-in replacement for the Discord backend. The README states that existing Discord bots and custom clients work with minimal changes, because Spacebar implements the same API surface. This is the core appeal for teams that have invested in Discord bots or custom tooling and want to move to self-hosted infrastructure without rewriting that tooling. Beyond compatibility, Spacebar adds configurability that Discord as a hosted service does not expose: every aspect and limit of the server can be adjusted to suit the deployment. The README also describes a decentralized design with no single point of failure, a cross-platform plugin system, and a cross-platform theme system with a design editor. These features go beyond what Discord itself exposes to end users. The project is released under AGPL-3.0, which means any organization that deploys a modified version to users over a network must publish those modifications under the same license. ## Repository Structure: Four Separate Components The spacebarchat/spacebarchat repository is an umbrella project. The actual software lives across four separate repositories listed in the README: The server repository (spacebarchat/server) contains the API, Gateway, CDN server, WebRTC implementation, and admin dashboard. The client repository (spacebarchat/client) contains the web client, which is designed to work with both the Spacebar server and discord.com directly. The docs repository (spacebarchat/docs) holds the project documentation. A separate landing page repository exists for the spacebar.chat homepage. This means deploying Spacebar requires pulling and running the server component separately from the umbrella repository. The setup guides are in the Documentation at docs.spacebar.chat, not in the umbrella README. For a new deployment, the server repository is the relevant starting point. The branding/ and instances/ directories in the umbrella repository suggest that the project tracks known public Spacebar instances, which is useful context for the decentralized deployment model. ## Setting Up a Spacebar Server The README directs setup to the documentation at docs.spacebar.chat. No inline installation commands are present in the umbrella repository README. The server component (spacebarchat/server) is where the actual deployment instructions live. The umbrella repository's README notes that Spacebar is selfhostable and links to the Server repository as the entry point. Anyone deploying Spacebar needs to follow the documentation rather than deriving setup from the umbrella README alone. The project uses its Discord guild (discord.gg/ZrnGQP6p3d) as the primary support channel, in addition to the documentation. ## Discord Compatibility and Its Trade-offs The Discord-compatibility design means Spacebar inherits Discord's API shape, which was not designed for federation or decentralization. Spacebar adds decentralization on top of this, but the underlying protocol was not built with that in mind. The README describes the platform as decentralized with no abuse of power and no single point of failure, but the practical meaning of this in the context of a Discord-API-compatible server is worth investigating in the documentation before relying on it. Bot compatibility also depends on how closely a particular bot or client follows the Discord API. Bots that use undocumented endpoints or rely on Discord-specific behavior may not work correctly against a Spacebar instance. The README says minimal changes are needed, not zero changes. The AGPL-3.0 license is stricter than the MIT or Apache-2.0 licenses used by many self-hosted tools. Any organization running a publicly accessible modified Spacebar instance must publish the modified source. This is relevant for organizations that want to brand or extend the platform privately. ## Current Development Status The last push to the spacebarchat/spacebarchat repository was on 2026-04-09. The repository has no GitHub releases. The umbrella repository does not itself contain running code, so the activity level of the server and client repositories is more relevant to assess the project's current state. The README copyright notice covers 2021 to 2024, which indicates the initial active development window. The project has a Crowdin localization instance (translate.spacebar.chat) and an Open Collective page (opencollective.com/spacebar) for funding, suggesting it had community support structures in place. A SECURITY.md is present in the repository for responsible disclosure. The project marks good first issues in its issue tracker, per the contributing documentation, which helps new contributors find a starting point. ## Spacebar vs. Matrix with Element: Two Different Protocol Choices Matrix is an open standard for decentralized communication, and Element is its most widely used client. Unlike Spacebar, Matrix was designed from the start as a federated, open protocol rather than as an implementation of a proprietary API. This means Matrix servers (called homeservers) can federate with each other natively, forming a network where users on different servers can communicate. Spacebar's Discord-compatibility is both its strength and its constraint. Teams with existing Discord bots and workflows get an easier migration path to a self-hosted environment. Teams building a new communication platform from scratch, or those who want native federation between self-hosted instances, will find Matrix and Element offer a more purpose-built foundation for that use case. Matrix also has a larger ecosystem of server implementations (Synapse, Conduit, Dendrite) and clients. Spacebar's ecosystem, being tied to Discord's API, is narrower in scope. ## License and Hosting Obligations The AGPL-3.0 license applies to the Spacebar software. AGPL-3.0 differs from GPL-3.0 in one significant way: it treats running the software as a web service for users as equivalent to distributing it. This means if you deploy a modified version of Spacebar and users interact with it over a network, you must make your modifications available under AGPL-3.0. For organizations deploying an unmodified version, AGPL-3.0 does not impose additional requirements beyond standard GPL compliance. The practical implication is that private, internal deployments are less constrained than public-facing modifications. The README copyright statement covers the period 2021 to 2024. Any organization evaluating Spacebar for production use should read the full AGPL-3.0 text and, if modifications are planned, understand the network-use provision before deploying. ## Conclusion Spacebar suits communities and organizations that need Discord-compatible infrastructure under their own control, and who have the technical capacity to run and maintain a multi-component server setup. The AGPL-3.0 license requires that any publicly deployed modifications be released as open source. Teams that cannot meet that obligation or need a production-ready managed service should look at hosted alternatives. Before committing, verify the current state of voice and video support and confirm that the specific Discord client or bot you rely on is compatible with the Spacebar server implementation. ## FAQ ### What is Spacebar chat? Spacebar is a free, open-source, self-hostable platform that implements the Discord API. It provides chat, voice, and video functionality and allows existing Discord bots and compatible clients to connect with minimal changes. ### How do you use Spacebar chat? Deploy the server component from the spacebarchat/server repository following the guides at docs.spacebar.chat, then connect using the Spacebar web client or a Discord-compatible client pointing to your server's address. ### What are some good self-hosted alternatives to Discord? Spacebar implements the Discord API and is designed as a self-hosted Discord-compatible option. Matrix with the Element client is a separate self-hosted alternative built on an open, federated protocol rather than the Discord API. ### Is there an open-source Discord clone available? Spacebar is an open-source implementation of the Discord API licensed under AGPL-3.0. It allows Discord-compatible bots and clients to connect and provides chat, voice, and video through a self-hosted server. ## Sources - [Issues](https://github.com/spacebarchat/spacebarchat/issues) - [License: AGPL-3.0](https://github.com/spacebarchat/spacebarchat/blob/master/LICENSE) - [Project website](https://spacebar.chat) - [README](https://github.com/spacebarchat/spacebarchat/blob/master/README.md) - [spacebarchat/spacebarchat on GitHub](https://github.com/spacebarchat/spacebarchat) --- Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/spacebarchat-spacebarchat