Element

Built on the open Matrix protocol; federated and E2E-encrypted. Popular with governments and the public sector for data control.

Based in: London, United Kingdom
Licence: Apache-2.0 (open source)
Hosting: both
Data residency: Self-host the Matrix server anywhere, or use their hosted service.
Free tier: Free and open source when self-hosted.
Paid from: Hosted / enterprise plans priced per use.
Best for: Organisations that want decentralised, end-to-end encrypted chat they can fully control.
Alternative to: Slack, Microsoft Teams

Sources: element.io (Mon Jul 06 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time))