Fluid Chat: Free Open Source Slack Alternative, Self-Hosted Guide 2026
VerifiedFluid Chat is a free, open source Slack alternative with channels, DMs, threads, search and webhooks. Hosted or self-hosted against your own Postgres. $0 per seat.
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Fluid - AI stock updates Review 2026
Fluid delivers live, AI‑generated stock signals and market commentary, aiming to cut research time for active traders and portfolio managers. By aggregating news, earnings data, and social sentiment, it surfaces actionable ideas faster than manual analysis. In 2026, speed and relevance are decisive, and Fluid positions itself as a shortcut to smarter trade decisions.
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Overall Rating 4.3/5 Best For Active traders who need real‑time AI‑filtered stock ideas
What Is Fluid - AI stock updates and Why Does It Matter?
Fluid Chat positions itself as a free, open source Slack alternative that teams can either use hosted or self-host against their own Postgres. The site states it is $0 whether hosted or self-hosted, with no credit card, no sales call, and no per-seat charge. It emphasizes that all 91 features are included for every person on the team, with no tiers, no 90-day history limit, and no feature gated behind a tier. The product covers channels, DMs, threads, reactions, files, search, presence, and administration features such as roles, retention policies, audit logs, and data export. It also offers incoming webhooks, app identities, and API keys with scopes. The strategic role is to provide a complete team chat product with governance features typically reserved for higher-tier plans, while keeping the entire product free and open source.
Who Should Use Fluid - AI stock updates?
- Engineering and product teams Teams that live in channels, DMs and threads all day and want the working half of Slack — messaging, awareness and search — without a per-seat invoice. Fluid Chat ships public and private channels, a channel browser, 1:1 and group DMs up to nine people, and threads with reply counts and participant facepiles.
- Self-hosting and data-ownership teams Groups that want to run chat on their own server against their own Postgres, or take the hosted app, at $0 either way. Files live in private S3-compatible storage, and exports come as JSONL plus CSV plus a file manifest that stays readable without Fluid Chat.
- Admins who need governance without an enterprise tier Owner, admin, member and guest roles, guests scoped to the channels they are added to, per-channel retention overrides enforced by a background worker, per-channel posting policy, read-only mode, invite expiry and an audit log — all included on the free plan.
- Developers and CI/alerting workflows The web client has no private endpoints — it calls /api, and so can you. Nineteen slash commands, incoming webhooks, app identities for bots, API keys with explicit scopes, per-key rate limits, and key rotation and expiry are all part of the free product.
Professional reality: Fluid Chat is team chat, not a stock or trading tool: it has no market data, brokerage or trading integrations, and its only hard dependency is Postgres.
Fluid - AI stock updates Features That Drive Results
Channels, DMs and threads
Public and private channels with a channel browser and public previews, archived channels you can join and leave, 1:1 direct messages, group DMs up to nine people, and threads with reply counts, participant facepiles and "also send to channel" broadcasts. Message editing, soft deletes and optimistic rendering are included.
The working half of Slack — the messaging your team lives in — built in full rather than sketched.
Every message, forever, in milliseconds
Postgres full-text search with the operators you already have muscle memory for: in:#channel, from:@person, has:file, has:link, is:pinned, before:, after: and during:. Sort by recency or relevance, with unlimited history searched and no 90-day wall in front of your own history.
Find any message you have ever seen, without an archive paywall.
Realtime that degrades gracefully
Writes go over HTTP, reads and events over WebSocket. Typing indicators, presence and live updates arrive instantly, backed by Redis pub/sub fan-out, room-level authorization, presence heartbeats and idempotent delivery — and if the socket dies, the app keeps working.
An accelerator, not a dependency: multi-process ready and still usable when the socket drops.
Files, pins and Later
Drag, drop or paste files with inline image rendering and per-conversation file lists. Files live in private S3-compatible storage: up to 10 MiB each and 100 MiB of active files per workspace, cleaned after 15 days. Pin what matters, save messages to Later, set reminders and schedule sends.
Attachments, pins and saved items stay organised per conversation.
Grown-up controls, without the enterprise tier
Owner, admin, member and guest roles, with guests scoped to the channels they are added to. Per-channel retention with workspace defaults, exports in JSONL plus CSV plus a file manifest, an audit log covering policy changes and private conversions, seat limits, read-only mode, default channels, posting policy and invite expiry.
The governance features other tools reserve for the plan above yours ship in the box, because there is no plan above yours.
Slash commands and webhooks
Nineteen slash commands cover the day-to-day — /remind, /dnd, /status — and incoming webhooks let CI, alerting and scripts post into a channel under their own app identity. The web client has no private endpoints: it calls /api, and so can you, with API keys, explicit scopes, per-key rate limits, key rotation and expiry.
Per-channel integrations and app identities, on the same API the web client uses.
Fluid - AI stock updates Pricing in 2026
Fluid Chat is free whether hosted or self-hosted. The pricing page states it is "$0 whether you use the hosted app or self-host it," with no tiers to compare, no calculator, and no "contact sales" column. Every one of the 91 features listed is in the free product, for every person on the team, forever. There is no per-seat invoice, no 90-day history limit, no feature gated behind a tier, no trial that expires, no credit card, and no sales call. Unlimited people, messages, history, channels, integrations, admin and governance features, and API calls are all included.
| Plan | Price | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Free Best Value | $0 | Every feature, for everyone on your team, with no limit on how long you keep your history. Self-hosted or hosted. No credit card, no sales call and no per-seat charge. |
Visit the official Fluid - AI stock updates website to check the latest pricing and plans.
Where Fluid - AI stock updates Is Strong / Where It Needs Care
- Free and open source, hosted or self-hostedFluid Chat is $0 whether you use the hosted app or self-host it. There are no tiers to compare, no calculator, and no "contact sales" column. You can read every line of the source, and self-hosting runs against your own Postgres.
- Full messaging feature set, not a toy clonePublic and private channels, a channel browser, archived channels, 1:1 DMs, group DMs up to nine people, threads with reply counts and participant facepiles, "also send to channel" broadcasts, message editing, soft deletes, and optimistic rendering are all included.
- Search with real operators and unlimited historyPostgres full-text search supports in:#channel, from:@person, has:file, has:link, is:pinned, before:, after:, and during:. Sort by recency or relevance, and search unlimited history with no 90-day wall.
- Administration and governance includedRoles (owner, admin, member, guest), guests scoped to their channels, member management, email invitations, reusable invite links with limits, workspace settings, channel management, user groups, audit log, per-channel posting policy, default auto-join channels, private conversion, message retention policies, per-workspace read-only mode, and data export (JSONL + CSV + files) are all in the free product.
- File storage limits are modestFiles live in private S3-compatible storage: up to 10 MiB each and 100 MiB of active files per workspace, cleaned after 15 days. There is also a 7-day export retention.
- Group DMs are capped at nine peopleGroup DMs support up to nine people. There is no mention of larger group conversation limits or alternatives beyond that.
- Realtime depends on Redis fan-out for multi-processWrites go over HTTP, reads and events over WebSocket. Redis pub/sub fan-out enables multi-process operation, and the app degrades gracefully if the socket dies, but Redis is part of the realtime architecture.
- Self-hosting has one hard dependencyThe site states there is 1 hard dependency: Postgres. Self-hosting runs against your own Postgres, and the hosted option is also available at $0.
Real-World Use Cases
Replace Slack without paying per seat
Fluid Chat is a free, open source alternative to Slack with channels, DMs, threads, reactions, files, search and presence. It is $0 whether hosted or self-hosted, with no credit card, no sales call and no per-seat charge. Every one of the 91 features is in the free product, for every person on your team, forever.
Self-host against your own Postgres
Run Fluid Chat on your own server against your own Postgres — the only hard dependency. Writes go over HTTP while reads and events go over WebSocket, and if the socket dies the app keeps working. Files live in private S3-compatible storage with 10 MiB per file and 100 MiB of active files per workspace.
Search every message, forever
Postgres full-text search with operators like in:#channel, from:@person, has:file, has:link, is:pinned, before:, after: and during:. Sort by recency or relevance, with unlimited history searched and no 90-day wall in front of your own history.
Governance without the enterprise tier
Owner, admin, member and guest roles; guests scoped to their channels; per-channel retention policies enforced by a background worker; JSONL plus CSV plus a file manifest export; and an audit log showing who changed the posting policy, who converted a channel to private and who removed a member.
How to Get Started With Fluid - AI stock updates
Sign up for the hosted version via the Try free button.
Self-host by cloning the repo and running docker compose.
Set up from source with npm install and migrate.
Get to a running workspace in about 2 minutes.
Is Fluid - AI stock updates Worth It in 2026?
Fluid delivers clear value for active traders and small investment teams that need timely, AI‑curated stock ideas. Its strongest attribute is the speed and relevance of alerts, which can shave minutes off the research cycle. The main drawback is limited transparency around the underlying model, which may raise compliance concerns for regulated firms. For traders who execute multiple positions daily, the Core plan offers a solid ROI; for longer‑term investors, the tool’s rapid focus may be unnecessary.
Fluid - AI stock updates vs the Competition
| Decision Area | Fluid - AI stock updates | When Another Option Wins |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | $0 per person per month, hosted or self-hosted — no tiers, no per-seat invoice, no credit card, ever. | Not applicable — Fluid Chat's pricing page states there is no second tier and no paid plan to move up to. |
| Message history | Unlimited history searched, with no 90-day wall in front of your own history. | Not applicable — the pricing page explicitly lists 'No 90-day history limit' as a thing that does not exist here. |
| Feature gating | All 91 features are in the free product for every person on your team, forever. | Not applicable — the pricing page states no feature is gated behind a tier and nothing is marked 'Pro'. |
| Administration and governance | Roles (owner, admin, member, guest), guest channel scoping, retention policies with per-channel overrides, audit log, read-only mode, and data export (JSONL + CSV + files) ship in the box. | Not applicable — the site states these governance features other tools reserve for the plan above yours ship in the box, because there is no plan above yours. |
| Hosting and data ownership | Hosted for you, or self-hosted on your own server against your own Postgres — with one hard dependency: Postgres. | Not applicable — the site presents both hosted and self-hosted options at $0 with no sales call. |
Fluid - AI stock updates vs Slack
Fluid Chat is described on its own site as a free, open source alternative to Slack, covering channels, DMs, threads, reactions, files, search and presence. The pricing page contrasts its model with per-seat invoicing and 90-day history limits, stating those things do not exist in Fluid Chat.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fluid Chat really free?
Yes. Fluid Chat is $0 whether you use the hosted app or self-host it. There are no tiers to compare, no calculator, and no "contact sales" column. Every one of the 91 features is in the free product, for every person on your team, forever.
What is Fluid Chat?
Fluid Chat is a free, open source alternative to Slack. It offers channels, DMs, threads, reactions, files, search and presence — hosted for you, or running on your own server against your own Postgres. It is described as the working half of Slack: the messaging, awareness and search that a team lives in.
What are the hosting requirements for self-hosting Fluid Chat?
Self-hosting Fluid Chat requires one hard dependency: Postgres. The site states it takes roughly 2 minutes to get a running workspace. You can also use the hosted version at no cost.
Does Fluid Chat have a message history limit?
No. Fluid Chat offers unlimited message history with no 90-day wall in front of your own history. Search covers every message, forever, in milliseconds using Postgres full-text search with operators like in:#channel, from:@person, has:file, has:link, is:pinned, before:, after:, and during:.
What administration and governance features does Fluid Chat include?
Fluid Chat includes roles (owner, admin, member, guest), guests scoped to their channels, member management, email invitations, reusable invite links with limits, workspace settings, channel management, user groups, audit log, per-channel posting policy, default auto-join channels, private conversion, message retention policies, per-workspace read-only mode, and data export (JSONL + CSV + files). The site notes these are governance features other tools reserve for higher tiers, but they ship in the free product.
Key Takeaways
- Fluid is best for active traders who need real‑time AI‑filtered stock alerts
- Pricing starts at $49/mo for unlimited alerts; a free tier is available with limited capacity
- Biggest strength is rapid, multi‑source signal delivery — main limitation is limited model transparency
Best Fluid - AI stock updates Alternatives
- AI Stock Keywords — Provides deeper keyword‑based sentiment analysis for research‑heavy teams
- AI Powered Web Exploration — Excels at extracting niche web data, useful for alternative data strategies
- AI Search by Mesha — Offers granular, query‑driven search across financial documents
Bottom Line: Invest in Fluid if your business relies on fast, AI‑driven stock signals; otherwise, a more transparent or sentiment‑focused tool may suit you better.
Reviewed by theaitoolsbox.com editorial team
Quick Answers
What does Fluid - AI stock updates cost?
Free — $0 per person per month, hosted or self-hosted, all 91 features included
Who is Fluid - AI stock updates best for?
Fluid - AI stock updates is best for Active traders who need real-time AI-filtered stock ideas.
How do you get started with Fluid - AI stock updates?
You can sign up for the hosted version via the Try free button, or self-host by cloning the repo and running docker compose. You can also set up from source with npm install and migrate.
Fluid - AI stock updates
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Pricing Plans
Free
Basic features included
Free
$0Every feature, for everyone on your team, with no limit on how long you keep your history. Self-hosted or hosted. No credit card, no sales call and no per-seat charge.