Team chat you
actually own.
The open-source Slack alternative on the Internet Computer. End-to-end encrypted and a fraction of the cost — because you're paying for cycles, not rent.
No credit card for free tier · 30-day message history · Sign in with Internet Identity
Just pushed the draft for the launch post — would love eyes on sections 3 and 4 before Friday 🙏
Refreshed mocks are ready for review — added the empty states @alex asked about.
Just pushed the draft for the launch post…
Reading now. Section 3 could use one more concrete example IMO.
Agree. Also happy to drop a hero illustration if that would help.
Left a comment in section 4 — small wording fix. Otherwise it's 🔥
Love it — will incorporate and re-share tomorrow AM.
Built on the Internet Computer · Backed by the DFINITY Foundation
Slack's features, without Slack's lock-in.
Three things make Nib fundamentally different from every Slack alternative out there.
You own your workspace
Every workspace — Free or Unlimited — is its own canister on the Internet Computer. You are the controller. Upgrade it, export it, migrate it, or shut it down. No vendor lock-in, ever.
End-to-end encrypted DMs by default
Every 1:1 DM is encrypted in your browser with vetKeys before it leaves the page. Only you and the recipient can decrypt — not the admin, not the infrastructure, not us. No backdoor.
One flat price, any team size
Slack charges $8.75 per user per month. Nib is $19 flat for the whole team — 5 people or 500. A 20-person team saves $3,400 a year.
Plus everything you'd expect
Channels, DMs, and threads
Everything Slack has — public/private channels, group DMs, threaded replies, reactions, pinned messages, starred items, search.
Voice & video huddles
Low-latency huddles for ad-hoc team calls. Built-in to every channel. No separate Zoom required.
Canvas collaboration
Rich documents inside channels. Write meeting notes, specs, and docs that live alongside the conversation.
Workflow automation
No-code workflows that trigger on events — new message, keyword match, scheduled time. Like Slack Workflow Builder.
Incoming webhooks
GitHub, Jira, Linear, PagerDuty, GitLab, and generic webhooks. HMAC-verified, sanitized, safe.
App directory
Install bots and custom apps. Slash commands, block messages, full SDK. Permissions you control.
Retention & legal hold
Workspace-level retention policy (30d / 60d / 1y / forever). Channel-level legal holds for compliance.
Audit log
Every admin action recorded to the tamper-evident audit log. Export for SOC2 / ISO evidence.
Mobile apps
Native iOS and Android apps (Capacitor). Same experience as web. Push notifications via your own canister.
Slack import
Import your Slack workspace export (.zip) in minutes. Channels, messages, reactions, threads, users — all preserved.
Single sign-on
SAML and OIDC SSO on Unlimited. Wire up Okta, Azure AD, Google Workspace, or your own IdP in minutes.
Data export
Export your entire workspace as JSON anytime. Your messages are always yours.
Your workspace is your canister.
Every Nib workspace — Free or Unlimited — is its own canister on the Internet Computer. Your Internet Identity principal is a controller. No shared infrastructure, no multi-tenant database, no trust-us promises.
- You hold the keysYour II principal is registered as a canister controller. Nobody can read, copy, or upgrade it without your consent.
- Upgrade or export anytimeExport every message as JSON. Migrate the canister to a different subnet. Fork the code and self-host. No lock-in.
- Graduate to SNS governanceHand control to a Service Nervous System — even the original creator can't modify it without on-chain governance vote.
Nib vs. Slack, honestly.
Where we're better. Where Slack is better. Where we're the same. No hand-waving.
Comparison based on publicly available Slack pricing and features as of April 2026. Slack is a registered trademark of Slack Technologies, LLC. Nib is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Slack Technologies, LLC.
How Nib stacks up
| Feature | Nib on ICP | Slack | Teams | Mattermost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open source | ✓ | — | — | ✓ |
| End-to-end encrypted DMs | ✓ | — | — | — |
| You own the infrastructure | ✓ | — | — | self-host |
| AI on-chain (no 3rd party) | ✓ | — | — | — |
| No AWS/servers to manage | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Native mobile apps | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Slack import | ✓ | — | limited | ✓ |
| Workspace-level retention | ✓ | paid only | paid only | ✓ |
| Price per user | $3 / mo | $8.75 | $6.00 | $10 |
Two plans. No per-seat tax.
Every workspace — Free or Unlimited — is its own canister on the Internet Computer. Payment unlocks features and member limits. Infrastructure stays the same.
Free
Try it out with your team
- Your own workspace canister
- Up to 10 teammates
- 30-day message history
- Unlimited channels & DMs
- Voice & video huddles
- End-to-end encrypted DMs
- Slack import
- Unlimited members
- Unlimited history
- Custom apps & webhooks
- SSO
Unlimited
Every feature. Any team size.
- Your own workspace canister
- Unlimited teammates
- Unlimited message history
- Custom apps, bots, and webhooks
- GitHub / Jira / Linear / PagerDuty
- SSO (SAML / OIDC)
- Audit log + retention policies
- End-to-end encrypted DMs
- Email support
Same architecture on both plans. Every workspace is its own canister. Your Internet Identity principal is the controller. Export or walk away whenever you want.
USD · billed monthly or annually (save 20% with annual) · need something custom?
How much would you save?
Drag the slider. Real numbers based on Slack's published pricing as of 2026-04-16.
Slack pricing sourced from slack.com/pricing · Last verified 2026-04-16
Start saving — free 14-day trialLet us handle it, or do it yourself.
Nib runs on the Internet Computer either way — your messages, your channels, your canister. The only question is whether we handle the operational bits for you.
We handle the operations
- We provision your workspace canister in seconds
- We keep it topped up with cycles (included in Free and $19/mo)
- We publish updates; admin console shows "Update available" banner
- Your II principal is still the controller — export or leave anytime
- Stripe billing, email support, one invoice
You handle the operations
- Clone the repo,
icp deployto your own canisters - You top up cycles directly on ICP (~$3–15/mo for a typical team)
- Pull the latest code + run the upgrade on your own cadence
- Zero relationship with Nib — no accounts, no invoices
- Same product, same code, same architecture
Source release targeted for launch
Security isn't a paid add-on.
Every workspace — free or paid — gets the same security primitives. SSO and compliance features unlock on paid tiers; the underlying cryptography is free for everyone.
vetKeys encryption
End-to-end encrypted direct messages using the IC's identity-based encryption. Only the recipient can decrypt — not even the canister controller.
Tamper-evident audit log
Every admin action — member changes, retention updates, webhook creation — written to an append-only log stored on-chain.
Message retention policies
Workspace-level automatic purge. Channel-level legal hold overrides retention for compliance investigations.
IP allowlist
Per-workspace CIDR allowlist for admin actions. Block access from unapproved networks.
Rate limiting
Per-principal sliding-window rate limits at the canister level. DoS-resistant by design.
HMAC-verified webhooks
GitHub, Jira, Linear, PagerDuty, GitLab — signatures verified with constant-time comparison. Markdown break-out sanitized.
Questions people actually ask
Do I need to know anything about blockchain or ICP to use this?
No. You sign up with an email, pay with a credit card, and use it like any other chat app. The Internet Computer is the infrastructure — you'll never see ICP, cycles, or a canister ID unless you want to.
How does Nib end up cheaper than Slack?
Slack charges $7–15/user/month because they pay for AWS, datacenters, ops teams, and shareholder profit. Nib runs on the Internet Computer — a serverless protocol where you pay only for the cycles your workspace actually burns. A small team's monthly bill is often under $5 total, not per user.
What happens to my data if DFINITY Foundation disappears?
Nothing bad. Every workspace — Free or Unlimited — is its own canister you control. The Internet Computer is operated by hundreds of independent node providers, and you can export everything as JSON at any time. Your data survives even if we don't.
Can I migrate from Slack?
Yes. Download your Slack workspace export as .zip and upload it on the Import tab. Channels, messages, threads, reactions, attachments, and users are all preserved. Most migrations complete in under an hour.
How does end-to-end encryption work here?
Direct messages use vetKeys — the Internet Computer's identity-based encryption scheme. Messages are encrypted with the recipient's principal as the public key, and only the recipient's browser can decrypt. Not even a malicious admin or canister controller can read them.
What does "your own canister" actually mean?
Every workspace gets its own canister on the Internet Computer — think of it as a sovereign compute unit that holds your messages, channels, and members. Your Internet Identity principal is registered as a controller, so you can upgrade, export, or shut down the canister at any time without anyone's permission. This applies on both plans, Free and Unlimited.
Do I get voice and video?
Yes, huddles are built in on every tier. WebRTC peer-to-peer for low-latency audio/video, with signaling through your workspace canister.
What about HIPAA / SOC 2 / GDPR?
Legal hold, retention policies, audit log, and data export are built into every workspace — Free or Unlimited. GDPR data-subject-access workflows work today. SOC 2 Type II is on our roadmap. For HIPAA, we can provide a BAA on request; email us.
How do updates work? Who decides when my workspace upgrades?
Nib keeps the code up to date. Since every workspace is its own canister, the workspace admin decides when to take an update. When we publish a new version, your admin console shows an "Update available" banner with release notes and a one-click install. Security patches can auto-apply (opt-in, recommended). Feature updates always require the admin to click. Rollback is available for 7 days if anything breaks. If you're deploying it yourself, you pull the latest code from GitHub and run the upgrade on your own cadence.
Is this open source?
Planned — the codebase is being prepared for an Apache 2.0 public release at launch. If you need source access sooner for due diligence, reach out.
How do I get support?
Free: community forum. Unlimited: email support within two business days. Need something custom? Email us directly.
Stop renting your team's conversations.
Spin up a workspace in 30 seconds. Free forever for small teams. Cancel whenever.
Open source · Apache 2.0 · Not affiliated with Slack Technologies, LLC