What you get
Your own chat environment on Matrix, with Element as the application on desktop, web and mobile. The server lives in the Netherlands and belongs to you; we maintain it. You get rooms per team or project, end-to-end encryption where you want it, and an administrator who cannot read your messages.
No prices here: they depend on user count, whether the server runs at our place or yours, and the agreed support scope.
Why your own chat
Most Dutch organisations chat on WhatsApp. It is free and familiar, and it has four problems that only become visible when it is too late:
- It is not yours. Whoever leaves takes the phone number and often the client contact. The history stays with Meta.
- Interception is possible. In March 2024 it became public in the Netherlands that police had used a backdoor in WhatsApp to tap thousands of phones; several cases collapsed when courts ruled out the evidence. The lesson is not that WhatsApp is bad, but that a vendor with access can be your conversation — even if you do nothing wrong.
- Archiving. In sectors with a retention duty, an app on a private phone is not an archive. Export is possible but messy, and it usually disappears at a handover.
- Administration. There is no administrator who can tell you who could see which room, when, or whether a backup exists.
What Matrix is
Matrix is an open standard for messaging, the way e-mail is an open standard. Many servers exist, they can talk to each other, and nobody owns the whole. Element is the application you type in: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and the browser. The server can run at our place, at yours, or with another provider, and the client stays the same.
That architecture is the business difference: you can switch provider without asking your department to learn a new app.
End-to-end encryption, explained honestly
In an encrypted room, messages are readable on the recipient's screen and nowhere else. The server does not see them, not even if we wanted it to. What remains visible: that you communicate with someone, when, and in which room — metadata. Encryption protects content, not patterns.
Two things come with it. First, key management: lose your keys and older messages are gone for good. So we set up recovery properly and explain the practical consequences. Second, device security: encryption does nothing against someone looking over your shoulder or walking off with a laptop that has a logged-in profile. That is why a privacy phone belongs to this product.
What we manage
- The server: installed and maintained, with TLS, firewall and automatic updates.
- Backups with an annual restore attempt — we actually restore, otherwise we do not know whether it works.
- User administration: onboarding, offboarding, and closing a profile at departure without destroying history.
- Connection to your own environment: sign in through your existing accounts (single sign-on) so shared passwords are unnecessary.
- Rooms and policy: who sees what, how long messages are retained per room, and an archive you can hand over.
- Bridges — links to Telegram, Signal or IRC — only on explicit request; a bridge pulls part of the trust chain outside.
- Monitoring, and one contact during an incident, with a defined scope.
SimpleX, for those who want no server
SimpleX runs without usernames and without a central server: connections run between devices. For someone who wants no administration and mainly needs conversations that cannot be traced back, it is a good choice. It is not a replacement for workplace chat: there is no central archive, no administrator who can act when someone leaves, and the feature set is smaller than Matrix. So we treat it as an option beside the chat, not as the product for an organisation.
Comparison
| Matrix via GSAP | Microsoft Teams | Signal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who owns the data | you, on your server | Meta | Microsoft | Signal Foundation |
| Content encrypted | yes, per room as configured | yes, by default | yes for 1:1 and calls; can be policy-dependent | yes, by default |
| Metadata | on your server, managed by you | with Meta | with Microsoft | limited, not zero |
| Administration and audit | yes, by you and by us | no | yes, inside Azure | no |
| Archive after departure | you keep the server | device-bound | rental; export takes effort | device-bound |
| Good for | daily workplace chat, project groups, client contact | consumer contact | organisations already inside Microsoft | individual conversations |
Migrating, step by step
- Pilot with one team or one case, two weeks, alongside WhatsApp.
- Agreements: which rooms, who may invite, what is retained, what may leave the building.
- Rest of the organisation joins; bridging only where genuinely needed.
- Device management around it: privacy phones or a policy for private phones.
- Old WhatsApp history: export where needed, then stop. We take part in that moment, not after it.
Questions
Does our staff have to learn a new app?
Element looks like what they already know: rooms, direct messages, files. We give a short walkthrough and a one-page explainer.
Can we leave?
Yes. You have the server and the data. That is the material difference from a subscription.
Does it work with another Matrix server?
Yes, federation can be on or off. For most clients we turn it off; anyone talking to chain partners will want it on.
How long does an installation take?
A basic environment is up within days; the time that matters is the consultation with your security officer and the rollout, not the technology.
Can a government body or a lawyer use this?
Yes, and that is where this comes from. For lawyers: a duty of confidentiality that is undermined in practice by the chat tool is not a theory.