Platypuss

Platypuss is an open-source, decentralised platform for communicating and file sharing. It's a three-part system with a client, one or more servers and an authentication backend. The client handles allowing you to connect to all of your servers and send a recieve messages. The servers are responsible for storing and distribution of messages, and the authentication backend keeps track of accounts, logging in, and logging out.

Why use Platypuss?

There are a few Platypuss alternatives floating around out there. There are a few main goals of Platypuss:

Performance: Platypuss should be efficient on your system so that anyone can use it without waiting minutes for button clicks to register. This is sadly underconsidered in the development of modern apps.
Open source: Platypuss' code is free to use, modify and distribute as per the GNU GPL version 3. It does not cost you money, there are no ads and it's built and maintained by volunteers.
More decentralised: Compared to many other alternatives Platypuss is more decentralised, meaning flexibility for server owners and users while avoiding compromising security and privacy where possible.
Easy to use: Platypuss is designed to not need a user guide. You can invite people to servers with links, and from there they will comfortably find their way around.
Customisable: Because of how decentralised it is server owners are free to add functionality and the client can also easily be modified. You can make Platypuss do just about anything you like.

How to get started

You can create a Platypuss account for free with the button at the top of this page, and you can either join an existing server with an invite link or see the instructions on the wiki to host your own. In the future I will probably provide ways you can host your own server, probably on a small monthly subscription, but I don't have any short term plans.