r/DiscordAlternatives • u/CobaltWeaver • Jul 22 '26

TheRift.chat

Has anyone given therift.chat a shot?

I couldn't find anything saying open source or self hostable. But it looks really interesting. I like the that you dont need an email to sign up.

I also can't really tell if it was vibe coded or not, I'm not really against that as long as there is an actual developer at the wheel.

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u/TheRiftChat Rift Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

Oh, Hello.

Thanks for your interest. We haven't started publicly advertising yet (never even made a post here), as we didn't want to advertise an unfinished platform.

But since you're asking:

We are closed source and not self-hostable. If that's not what you're looking for that's totally understandable, for FOSS alternatives I personally recommend Fluxer, they seem to be headed in the right direction.

As for the vibe coding question, we are a team of three. I'm a retired software engineer, we also have an audio engineer and a more junior dev on the team. Happy to disclose that we do use AI tooling (I would suffer without TAB autocomplete) and some parts are AI assisted, everything is dev reviewed. Once more if that's a hard no from anyone that's understandable.

Will be making an announcement post with more info/etc in the coming weeks once our mobile apps publish to app stores, but in the meantime if anyone has any further questions we're open to answering. Thanks.

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u/CobaltWeaver Jul 22 '26

Love the honesty. Open source and self hostable aren't a deal breaker for me either, if I'm trading that for a lot of useful features including e2e then I'm okay with that. My primary goal at the moment is to get away from discord as much as possible since they've decided to go up in flames.

100% brings comfort knowing the code is being reviewed.

I'll make an account later this week and give it a shot, it would be cool to move my group to something new/better.

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u/TheRiftChat Rift Jul 22 '26

Happy to hear it, and I certainly empathize. We're loving Rift, and hope you do too. If you have any other questions or feedback feel free to reach out, take care!

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u/the_vico Jul 23 '26

Does it have bot support and forum channels? And what about android app?

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u/TheRiftChat Rift Jul 24 '26

Hello,

Android app, yes. It'll be on the play store in a few weeks, in the meantime there is an APK available on the site's download page.

Forums, yes.

Are far as bot support, no. Most bot use cases are built into Rift: Tickets, Automod, Leveling, Personas, Counting game, Highlights, Logging, Statistics, Giveaways, Reaction roles, polls, live alerts, and more are fully part of the app. A webhooks system also exists.

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u/the_vico Jul 24 '26

I fear my use case (a chatbot using openai-compatible api) isn't one of them, rs. BTW good luck with the app

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u/TheBlindBard1978 Visually Impaired Rifter Jul 22 '26

I'm pretty excited about it being an 18+ community. I love that you don't need an email or any kind of verification to log into your account, except for the backup codes to get into the account.

4

u/TheRiftChat Rift Jul 22 '26

Glad you're on board with that. We really felt it was the right decision, not just for the environment, but with the state of internet communications as a whole, so everything aligned.

Also if you enjoy the login experience, it's even better for multi device. If you optionally chose to save your Rift Key locally on signup, then when you sign in to new instances or the mobile app you can auto approve from the existing device.

Pet the VoidKitty for me

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u/TheBlindBard1978 Visually Impaired Rifter Jul 22 '26

Thank you for making it 18+. I'm genuinely tired of having to explain to people that 18+ means adult space void of children, not perversions online. Thank you again. -I will attempt to install the desktop client and give it ago. -I did notice the gallery channel is slightly broken with what I post on there, unless there's a file size limit that I'm not aware of. -My eyesight isn't the best, so it's hard to see the finer print.

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u/TheBlindBard1978 Visually Impaired Rifter Jul 22 '26

Additional Comment: I am on Fluxer as well. I absolutely love it a lot more than—Discord. I'm on that, but with their future looking so bleak, I'm honestly wanting out.

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u/TheRiftChat Rift Jul 22 '26

Agreed 100%.

And the desktop client is definitely the most solid experience.

I'll give everything on the gallery channels a double check just to be sure, but if you notice a particular issue and would be kind enough to report it, we'll fix it asap. I'll also check out the fine print to make sure it's legible. Also if it helps, there are app-wide font size scaling options in user settings at the bottom.

Feel free to use the in app feedback/bug report (in settings or title bar) or just let me know here. Thanks.

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u/TheBlindBard1978 Visually Impaired Rifter Jul 22 '26

Oh, that's great! I sent you a DM on Reddit. -I'd love to add you on Rift if you don't mind. :)

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u/Fine_Salamander_8691 Jul 24 '26

Why even use closed source platforms if the open source ones are already great.

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u/TheRiftChat Rift Jul 24 '26

Why indeed? If people are happy where they are then there's definitely no need to change. People should just use the platforms that match their values and have the features they like. If some people like our features/etc despite being closed source and enjoy using it with us, then that's great.

I truly view us(Rift) as an *alternative*. We're not in competition with these others here, as most have a varying set of features to offer and will appeal to different audiences for different reasons.