R
Robcord
Working Title

Your Community.Your Data.Your Rules.

An open voice and chat platform that truly belongs to you — self-hosted, built in Europe, no compromises.

One command. Your server.
bash <(curl -fsSL https://about.robcord.de/install.sh)
Self-hosting first
01
EU infrastructure
02
BSL → Open Source
03
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01Why we're building this

We've accepted enough.

At some point we stopped asking why our software always works against us. Data gets sold, features disappear behind paywalls, prices go up — and we just shrug. As if that's normal.

That's not a law of nature. It's a decision companies make. We're making a different one: users get control over their own community back.

01

Your Workspace, your rules

Connect your own Workspace to any Hub — or run everything yourself. The typical entry point: a hosted Hub, your own Workspace. Your data lives on your server. That's it.

02

European by Design

Built in Europe, for Europe. We rely on European infrastructure and providers as much as possible — and we care about data sovereignty.

03

Affordable for everyone

Managed hosting is planned. Self-hosting already works. The goal is a fair price — one where you don't feel ripped off, and we can still keep the lights on long-term.

02Technical overview

How you can run it

Four typical configurations — from "just get started" to "full control over everything".

01 / 04
BROWSER / APPUser interfaceHUBIdentity · Auth · ProxyWORKSPACEChannels · Members · MessagesMEDIA NODEVoice · Video · Screen
Hosted by us
Your server
Your choice
No setup

Everything hosted

Just sign up and go. No server, no config, no hassle. Great for trying the platform — or for anyone who doesn't want to manage infrastructure.

03What Robcord can do

Everything that works today.

Real-time Chat

Channels, messages, mentions, file attachments — WebSocket events in real time, instantly visible to all.

Voice & Video

Voice and video calls via LiveKit SFU. BYO media node, role-based stream quality up to 4K60.

BYO Workspace

Run your own server and connect it. Push-claim behind NAT, three connectivity tiers, automatic fallback.

Roles & Permissions

22 permissions across 7 domains. Role hierarchy, channel overwrites, moderation with voice mute/kick/ban.

Watch Together

Jellyfin integration: watch movies and series together in voice channels. Synced playback, BYO Jellyfin, auto-next.

Plugin System

Plugins with manifest, JS runtime, visual tiles, context menu. Sandboxed and permission-controlled.

DMs & Reactions

Direct messages with replies and emoji reactions. Works across workspaces through the Hub.

Guest Voice & Lobby

Share voice channels via link — no membership needed. Lobby mode with admin approval.

OAuth2 & Multi-Provider

Google, GitHub and more. Multi-provider identity per user, PKCE, OIDC issuer.

Search & Notifications

Universal search (Ctrl+K) across everything. Browser notifications for mentions, cross-workspace.

04What's next

The roadmap

None of this is set in stone. We're building this in the open.

Workspace Export & Migration

Soon

One-click export of all data: messages, members, roles, settings. Move without data loss.

Transparency Labels

Soon

Clear display of where your data lives: BYO workspace, managed workspace, Hub-hosted. Who operates what.

Thread Channels

Later

Reddit-style posts with comment trees for structured discussions — alongside normal real-time channels.

05Install

Get started.

Multiple ways to install Robcord on your server. Pick what works for you.

Install Script

Recommended

One command that sets everything up: system detection, dependencies, configuration.

bash <(curl -fsSL https://about.robcord.de/install.sh)

Docker Compose

Ready-made Compose configs for Hub, Workspace and Media Node. Portainer templates available.

docker compose up -d

Go Binary

Pre-compiled binaries for Linux, macOS and Windows. Directly from GitHub Releases.

Packages

Soon

deb/rpm packages with systemd integration. AUR package in preparation.

All releases on GitHub Installation guide
05License & Openness

Open, but not naive.

The entire source code is publicly visible. You can read it, contribute, learn — exactly as you'd expect from open source. Only one thing is restricted: other companies cannot take this code and sell it as a hosting service.

That sounds odd, so we'll explain directly: we criticize platforms that profit from your data. The only way we can prevent that is by keeping control over commercial operation ourselves. If another company offers workspaces as a service, users lose exactly the control we're trying to restore.

What's explicitly allowed: you can self-host your own workspace. You can make money with it — whether you're a creator selling exclusive access, building internally for your company, or whatever you can imagine. That's fully fine. Only offering the software itself as a hosting service for others is reserved.

Business Source License (BSL) Converts to Open Source
Self-host — privately or for your community
Commercial use (creator access, internal tools, …)
Read, fork, contribute to the code
Host with us (fairly priced, European servers)
Sell this code as a hosting service to third parties
After 2 years: real open source.

Every released version automatically moves to a full open-source license after at most two years. No permanent BSL — transparent scheduling from the start.

06Get involved

"Robcord" is just a working title.

Honestly, we typed the name at the first commit. The platform deserves something better. Got a suggestion?

Submitted suggestions are reviewed before they appear here.

Community suggestions

These names have been approved by us. Vote for the one you like.

07Get updates

Stay in the loop.

We don't write AI-generated newsletters. When we write, it's because there's something to say.

Your email is only used for this purpose and never shared.

Dev Updates

For the curious

Irregular updates straight from development. What we're building, why, and what's coming next.

Launch Notification

Minimalist

Exactly one email when we're ready. No spam, no newsletter funnel.