# Campfire (ONCE)

> Campfire is 37signals' web group chat, now free and MIT-licensed. One Docker image holds the Rails app, background jobs, caching, file serving, SSL and a SQLite database. It covers rooms with access controls, DMs, attachments, search, web push notifications, @mentions and a bot API. There are no threads, voice or video calls, or native desktop apps documented. Install with the ONCE tool (Linux or macOS) or plain Docker; no hardware sizing is published.

- Repository: https://github.com/basecamp/once-campfire
- Official docs: https://github.com/basecamp/once-campfire/blob/main/docs/self-hosting.md
- Checked: 2026-10-15

## What it replaces
- Slack: Channels and direct messages, Integrations, Search and message history (partial). Rooms, DMs, search and bots only; no threads or calls.

## Facts, with sources

| Question | Status | Answer | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runs on my machine? | Confirmed | Self-hosted single Docker container | https://github.com/basecamp/once-campfire#running-your-own-campfire-instance | 2026-10-15 |
| Code licence | Confirmed | MIT | https://github.com/basecamp/once-campfire/blob/main/MIT-LICENSE | 2026-10-15 |
| Model weights licence | Confirmed | No separate model weights | https://github.com/basecamp/once-campfire#readme | 2026-10-15 |
| Commercial use | Confirmed | Yes, MIT | https://github.com/basecamp/once-campfire/blob/main/MIT-LICENSE | 2026-10-15 |
| Paid services needed? | Confirmed | None required | https://github.com/basecamp/once-campfire#readme | 2026-10-15 |
| Hardware | Unknown | Not documented | none found | - |
| Operating systems | Partial | Any machine that runs Docker; the ONCE installer runs on Linux and macOS | https://github.com/basecamp/once#readme | 2026-10-15 |
| Setup effort | Confirmed | Easy; one ONCE command or a single docker run with a volume | https://github.com/basecamp/once-campfire#deploying-with-once | 2026-10-15 |

GitHub: 4786 stars, 823 forks, last push 2026-10-16, archived: no.
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Source: RepoQuarry (https://repoquarry.dev/projects/campfire). Data licence: CC BY 4.0. Quotes are from project documentation and belong to their authors.