Messages that stay yours
Conversation history is stored locally in SQLite and encrypted in transit between peers.
Beta available for Windows, macOS, and Linux
Harbor
Private conversations without a platform in the middle.
Message, call, and share directly with the people you trust. Harbor keeps identity and conversation history on your device while encrypted peer-to-peer connections carry the conversation.
Harbor releases include signed updater artifacts for every supported platform. Windows SmartScreen or macOS Gatekeeper may still warn because the beta is not yet store-distributed or notarized.
Harbor
Design room
Design roomEnd-to-end encrypted
RRichard
MMaya
JJordan
EncryptedMessages and calls
Local-firstYour history, your device
Peer-to-peerDirect when the network permits
Open sourcePublicly inspectable
The product
One private space for your people.
Harbor combines everyday communication with a local-first identity. No phone number, advertising profile, or social graph sale required.
Voice and video calls
Start one-to-one or group WebRTC calls with clear participant and connection state.
Portable identity
Create an identity on your device and connect through shareable contact links instead of a central account.
Spaces beyond chat
Share updates and collaborate through local-first social and board views within the same desktop app.
How it works
Infrastructure helps peers find each other. It does not become the conversation.
Your deviceIdentity and local history
Relay assistedDiscovery and connectivity
Their deviceEncrypted peer connection
Harbor uses relay services when direct connections are unavailable. Message content and call media remain end-to-end encrypted; relay operators may still observe operational metadata such as IP addresses, timing, and traffic volume. The architecture and threat model are open for inspection.
Inspect the implementation
A public good
Built for connection, not extraction.
Harbor's core platform is not built to make a profit. We believe profit motives can introduce perverse incentives into social networks until monetization overshadows the human benefit they should provide.
Our intention is to preserve that benefit as a public good. We have no intention of seeking profit from the core platform.
We may offer optional services in the future, such as custom deployments or hosted community relays. Those services will remain separate. They will never limit, degrade, or redirect how you choose to use the Harbor app.
Private beta
Ready for real conversations.
The current Harbor beta includes messaging plus one-to-one and group calls, with native builds for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Choose the package for your platform.
Windows x64
macOS Apple Silicon
macOS Intel
Linux AppImage
Release notes and signatures
Report an issue
Latest published beta · x64 Linux and Windows · Apple Silicon and Intel macOS
curl -fsSL https://social-harbor.com/install.sh | shirm https://social-harbor.com/install.ps1 | iex