The Sceyt Alternative for Self-Hosted Chat & AI

A modular Chat & AI SDK that runs on your servers, plugs into any LLM, and ships in days — not quarters.

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Real AI Bots & RAG built in Self-hosted by default Bring your own LLM

Ethora chat and AI bot UI — the self-hosted Sceyt alternative

Compliance, built in at every layer.

HIPAASOC 2GDPRCCPA

Compliance-ready

Compliance is built in — end-to-end encryption, role-based access control, audit logs, and configurable data retention: everything you need to meet regulatory requirements.

Self-hosting keeps data inside your own perimeter, so GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, and SOC 2 programs are far easier to satisfy. Regulated teams run Ethora in production today.

Encryption, audit logs, and data kept inside your own perimeter

Compliant

GDPR

EU data protection with regional data-residency options.

Built in

CCPA

California consumer privacy controls built into the platform.

In production

HIPAA

Healthcare PHI handling, running in regulated production today.

Audited

SOC 2

Security & availability controls with full audit logs.

Why teams switch from Sceyt

Teams move to Ethora when chat needs real AI inside it — and the data needs to stay on their side.

What you need

Sceyt

Cloud-hosted messaging

Recommended

Ethora

Self-hosted SDK + AI

AI, LLM & RAG

Sceyt Chatbots via REST APIs and webhooks — you build and manage the whole AI layer yourself.

Ethora A dedicated AI Bots SDK with a built-in RAG Crawler — real agents, out of the box.

Hosting

Sceyt Cloud-hosted only — you sign up through their console and data lives on their infrastructure.

Ethora Self-hosted by default on every plan, including the free tier.

Product scope

Sceyt Chat-only — no built-in knowledge base, marketplace features, or document engine.

Ethora Chat & docs engine, marketplace SDK, widget, and AI in one install.

Model choice

Sceyt No BYO LLM — limited to the AI features they provide.

Ethora Bring any LLM and switch it with a config change — inference in your own environment.

Hosting & data

Sceyt Your data lives on Sceyt’s platform.

Ethora The whole stack runs inside your own VPC.

One SDK, six production-ready modules

One SDK. Six tightly integrated, production-ready modules. Install what you need — everything works together without stitching separate services.

Chat & Docs Engine

Real-time messaging with end-to-end encryption, offline sync, read receipts, and full audit logs. Solid, reliable, and deeply integrated into your product.

AI Bots SDK

Multi-turn, intelligent agents that live inside your chat. Supports OpenAI, Claude, or any custom LLM via webhook, with conversation memory, function calling, and easy escalation to humans.

RAG Crawler

Point it at your website or documentation. It automatically crawls, indexes, and builds a knowledge base so your AI agents give accurate, up-to-date answers.

Marketplace Chat SDK

Purpose-built for buyer-seller messaging on Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento. Seller presence, order-linked threads, and dispute-resolution flows.

Chat Widget

Need a quick embed? Add a polished chat or AI support window to any website with a single script tag.

React UI Kits

Beautiful, fully themable components for React and React Native. Customize every detail so chat feels like a native part of your product.

Your servers. Your data. Your rules.

The complete chat and AI stack runs inside your own infrastructure — AWS, GCP, Azure, on-premises, AWS Marketplace, or private cloud. Self-hosting is a default in Ethora, not an add-on: you have complete control over your data.

AWS Google Cloud Azure On-premises AWS Marketplace Private cloud

Your infrastructure: data never leaves your VPC

Clients

Admin Dashboard React.js

Apps & SDK clients Web, iOS, Android

Edge · Ingress

Nginx proxy TLS termination & routing

Core services - the Ethora engine

API layer Node.js

XMPP server Ejabberd + modules

Realtime delivery Centrifugo

File storage MinIO

Push notifications Firebase

Background workers Node.js jobs

Data & infrastructure

MongoDB App data

Redis Cache & sessions

MySQL / Postgres XMPP data

Advanced services optional

AI service RAG, MCP · Node/Python

Video calls WebRTC · TURN/STUN

Bots framework Node.js / Python

Web3 module L2 nodes / bridge

Ethora core Clients & edge Data stores Optional

Ethora AI bot admin — choose your model, enable RAG, and configure the prompt for any LLM

Bring your own LLM

Ethora is AI-native while staying completely flexible. You’re not locked into any single model or provider — connect OpenAI, Claude, or your own custom LLM through a simple webhook. Teams use it to:

Handle support deflection

AI manages common questions in-chat and escalates when needed.

RAG over your own docs

Accurate, contextual answers drawn from your knowledge base.

Run AI moderation

Using your preferred models and policies.

No lock-in. Switching models takes just a change in a config file — inference stays inside your VPC.

By the numbers

Ship faster, spend less

~95%

faster dev time vs. building from scratch

~60%

cost reduction vs. in-house build

5 min

widget install on any website

How it ships

Integration is simple and takes four steps.

1. Install the SDK

One straightforward package for your platforms.

2. Configure your backend

Point it at your self-hosted or cloud deployment and set authentication and encryption.

3. Plug your LLM

Connect your chosen model and the RAG knowledge base if needed.

4. Go live

Deploy and monitor on your own infrastructure.

SDKs: React, React Native, iOS (Swift), Android (Kotlin), Node.js, Python.

Pricing

Save Months of Work with Ethora

Build any chat use case into your product: in hours.

Free

$0 / mo

free forever

1,000 MAU

100 Concurrent Connections

All Chat & AI features, including:

Community Support
30 Days of Free Support
No Credit Card Required

Small Business

$99 / mo

billed monthly

5,000 MAU

250 Concurrent Connections

Free Trial

All Free, plus:

Tech Support
SLA 99.9%
AI Allowance
Custom Domain

Recommended

Enterprise

$599+ / mo

billed monthly

Unlimited MAU

Unlimited Connections

All Business, plus:

24/7 Phone Support
Self-hosted AI
Custom Configuration
Dedicated / On-prem hosting

FAQ

Is Ethora a real Sceyt alternative?

Yes – especially for teams that want self-hosting, a complete built-in AI stack, and full ownership of their infrastructure. Sceyt is strong for low-latency messaging, while Ethora adds native AI Bots, RAG, and the ability to run everything on your own servers.

Can I migrate from Sceyt to Ethora?

Many teams have transitioned successfully. Core real-time messaging features map well, so you swap the client SDKs and set up your backend. We can help you plan the details during an intro call.

Does Ethora support self-hosting?

Yes – self-hosting is the default on every plan, including Free. The entire stack runs inside your own infrastructure (unlike Sceyt's cloud-only model).

Does Ethora have a real AI Bots SDK and RAG?

Yes. Ethora includes a dedicated AI Bots SDK with built-in RAG Crawler and full Bring Your Own LLM support. This goes well beyond basic webhook-based bots.

Is Ethora HIPAA / GDPR / SOC2 compliant?

It includes the technical foundations these frameworks require – encryption, audit logs, and access controls. GDPR and CCPA are supported by default. Full HIPAA and SOC 2 capabilities are available on Enterprise plans. Regulated teams are already using it in production.

How long does integration take?

The Chat Widget can be live in about 5 minutes. A full SDK integration with custom UI, AI bots, and RAG typically takes an experienced developer 1-3 days. Most teams reach production within one or two sprints.

Get started

Ready to ship chat + AI on your own terms?

Talk through your migration from Sceyt, or start building today — self-hosted, AI-native, and yours end to end.