- No ads no one sells your time
- No platforms nobody in the middle
- No hosting fees it runs at your place
- No outside costs your power, your Wi-Fi
- No cloud nobody else's server
- Old and new a 1980s computer can join
- Real hardware a chip on your shelf
- Free software GPL v3 or later
- No internet needed a local network is enough
- You write the rules and you are the appeal
Social, before social mediaPrivacy forward
Your own online community, on a device that fits in your hand.
A place for your class, club, family or friends to chat and leave each other messages, on a device you own, from about $15. It runs at home or at work, with no ads, no feed and no platform in the middle. People join from a PC, an Android phone or an iPhone with a free app, and from old computers and terminals too.
See how µnleashed is differentSee the full feature list
From about $15 · About five minutes · No subscription · Free software
Supporting 10 tested ESP32 boards, and most generic ESP32 dev boards
What it is
A community space online that belongs to you, the kind people have called a BBSA bulletin board system: a small online community on one computer, which people connect to from theirs to chat, leave messages and share files., a bulletin board, since 1978: a chat room and messages, and with a memory card added, discussion forums and a shared file library. Up to ten people on at once.
Yours, not a platform's
No ads, no feed, nobody selling what is said. You set the rules, and the member list is yours.
Everyone can join
With a free app, a telnet clientA free app for joining a board: it connects to the board's address and shows its screens., on a PC, an Android phone or an iPhone, or from a computer from the 1980s. Each visitor's screen is drawn to suit what they joined from.
Tiny, and always on
A device from about $15 on a shelf at home or at work, on about half a watt. No computer to leave running, and nothing to rent.
Who builds one
A few examples of what a community on a board could be. When real ones write in, their stories go here. More about who it suits.
For example
A class
A teacher could have her class's community running before the bell: a chat room and messages on the school network, for the class and nobody else.
For example
A ham radio club
Net schedules, repeater notes and a swap list in one place, with a chat room for the evenings between meetings.
For example
A retro computing group
Members connect from the machines they collect, an Amiga, an Apple II, a VT220 terminal from 1983, side by side with laptops.
For example
A family
A family chat and message board that lives on a shelf at home, not on somebody else's servers.
For example
A street or a building
Notices, lost and found, and a place to talk, run by a neighbour rather than by an app.
For example
A group of friends
The group chat, but yours: nicknames, a room, messages, and house rules you wrote.
Three steps
No programming and no tools to install.
Get a board
An ESP32 dev board costs about $15. Which one to buy.
Install it from your browser
Plug it in with a USB cable, open the installer in Chrome or Edge, and pick your Wi-Fi. The browser puts the software on the board, which the hobby calls flashingWriting the software onto the board's chip over a USB cable. Here your browser does it for you.. About five minutes.
Invite your community
Share the address. People join with a free app on their computer or phone. How joining works.
Before social media, there were bulletin boards
In the 1980s and 90s, people met online by dialling into bulletin boards, BBSes for short: one person's computer, a phone line, a chat room and a message board. The host, the sysopThe system operator: the host who runs a board, sets its rules and looks after it., was somebody you could talk to, the regulars went by nicknames, and nothing was trying to hold your attention.
µnleashed is that idea on a device from about $15 and your Wi-Fi. Join from a laptop or a phone today, or from the computer you had in 1985. What it can do.
- 1978
- The first bulletin board goes online, in Chicago.
- 1990s
- About 60,000 of them in the United States alone.
- Today
- One fits in your hand, and you can run it. _
CBBS, Chicago, 16 February 1978
See one, then start yours
Visit a community that is running right now, or set up your own this afternoon.
Developers: build from source · GitHub