A self-hosted Slack alternative that runs in your own cloud.
Channels, threads, DMs and files, plus AI that only sees what each person can see. Kernyl is installed in your own cloud, so your team's conversations never sit in a vendor's cloud.
When chat has to stay in your own cloud
Chat is where a company thinks out loud. Customer names, incident details, deal terms and half-made decisions all pass through it. For finance, health, legal and public-sector suppliers, where those messages are stored comes up in every audit and every customer security review.
Slack is a hosted service, and there is no edition you can run yourself. Data residency options help with location, but the service and its AI features still run on infrastructure the vendor operates. If your policy is that this data stays in your own account, you need chat that installs there.
Kernyl Chat has what your team already uses every day: public and private channels, direct messages, threads, reactions, file sharing and profile cards. Issue keys show the issue's live status.
Kernyl Chat
Kernyl and Slack, on where things run and how you pay
Slack is a mature product with a large ecosystem of integrations. The differences below are about hosting, AI and pricing.
Where it runs
- Kernyl
- Your cloud, in the region you choose.
- Slack
- Slack's cloud, operated by Slack. Data residency regions are available on some plans.
Self-hosted option
- Kernyl
- Yes. It's the only way Kernyl runs.
- Slack
- No self-hosted edition.
AI data path
- Kernyl
- AI models in your own cloud. Permissions checked at question time. Content not sent to us.
- Slack
- Slack's AI features run on infrastructure operated by Slack.
What's in the app
- Kernyl
- Chat, Issues, Docs, Calendar and AI in one package.
- Slack
- Messaging with canvases and lists. Issue tracking and a wiki usually come from other tools.
Pricing model
- Kernyl
- Annual subscription by team-size tier, plus your own cloud costs.
- Slack
- Per user, billed monthly or annually.
Mobile apps
- Kernyl
- Not yet. Web and Mac desktop app.
- Slack
- iOS and Android apps.
| Topic | Kernyl | Slack |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Your cloud, in the region you choose. | Slack's cloud, operated by Slack. Data residency regions are available on some plans. |
| Self-hosted option | Yes. It's the only way Kernyl runs. | No self-hosted edition. |
| AI data path | AI models in your own cloud. Permissions checked at question time. Content not sent to us. | Slack's AI features run on infrastructure operated by Slack. |
| What's in the app | Chat, Issues, Docs, Calendar and AI in one package. | Messaging with canvases and lists. Issue tracking and a wiki usually come from other tools. |
| Pricing model | Annual subscription by team-size tier, plus your own cloud costs. | Per user, billed monthly or annually. |
| Mobile apps | Not yet. Web and Mac desktop app. | iOS and Android apps. |
Slack import ships next
The importer is in development. It reads the export file your Slack admin downloads, so there's no connection to Slack to set up, and it converts Slack's formatting so messages read the same in Kernyl. Channels move across one at a time, so each team can switch on its own schedule.
Replacing more than chat? See the Jira and Confluence pages.
We're onboarding our first teams now. Design partners get hands-on help with the install, a direct line to the people building Kernyl, and a say in what we build next.
FAQ
Is there a self-hosted version of Slack?
No. Slack is only offered as a service that Slack runs. Teams that need chat inside their own infrastructure have to use a different product.
Can we import our Slack history into Kernyl?
Slack import is in development and is the next importer we'll ship. It works from the export file your Slack admin downloads, so channels can move across one at a time.
Does Kernyl work with our identity provider?
Kernyl supports single sign-on with Google Workspace and OpenID Connect providers. SAML and SCIM are not available yet.
Is there a Kernyl mobile app?
Not yet. Kernyl runs in the browser and as a Mac desktop app. If your team relies on mobile chat today, raise it on the demo so we can talk about timing.
How is pricing different?
Kernyl is priced per person: $15 a month for teams up to 150 people, less for larger teams, billed annually, plus a one-time installation. You also pay your cloud provider for the infrastructure Kernyl runs on.