Frequently asked questions

Family Chat gives each family a private Matrix chat server. You manage members and settings in a web control panel and chat using any Matrix-compatible app, such as Element or FluffyChat.

Family Chat is €5 per month per family (VAT included). That includes your dedicated server, unlimited family members, federation controls, and EU hosting (US and Asia Pacific regions are coming soon). See pricing for details.

Go to Sign up, enter your family name and email, choose a region, and complete payment through Stripe. Your server is usually ready within about a minute. See Set up a Matrix client to start chatting.

Use the email and password from signup at the control panel . Only parents need the control panel for managing members, billing, and federation; children can use chat apps once they have credentials.

Any Matrix-compatible client works. We recommend Element for the easiest setup. FluffyChat, Cinny, and SchildiChat are also popular. See our Matrix client setup guide.

It is https://YOUR-FAMILY-SLUG.safechat.family, where the slug is shown on your control panel dashboard (the short name you chose at signup, such as smith). You enter this URL when signing in to a Matrix app — not matrix.org.

Always use Sign in. Accounts are created by parents in the control panel. Using “Create account” in a Matrix app will not work with Family Chat.

Your messages are stored on your family’s dedicated server. We do not read, analyse, or sell message content. If you enable end-to-end encryption in your chat app, encrypted messages cannot be read by us or anyone without the room keys. See our Privacy Policy.

Yes — if you own a domain, your family’s chat addresses can be on it, like @mum:example.com, at no extra cost. Choose it during signup, or move an existing server later from the control panel. Your domain only needs to serve two small files; see the domain setup guide.

Your rooms and their history move across automatically. Everyone does get a new chat address and signs in again, and end-to-end encrypted messages need a one-time key export in your chat app. The migration guide explains exactly what’s kept and what changes.

By default, your server is private — only family members you add can log in, and no outside Matrix servers can connect. Parents can optionally allow federation with specific servers (including other Family Chat families) from the control panel.

Your server is suspended (stopped, not deleted) and data is preserved. If you resubscribe later, your server can be restored. Manage billing through the Stripe portal linked from the control panel.

Confirm the server status is Running in the control panel, use the correct homeserver URL with https://, choose Sign in (not create account), and use your control panel email and password. See troubleshooting in the setup guide.