SELF-HOSTED IM
Why self-hosted
imcore is a self-hosted IM & AI customer-service engine you deploy yourself — not a usage-billed SaaS cloud. Your data, your keys, and your costs stay with you.
The difference is control
This is not just two feature lists. It is about who owns the data, cost curve and final decisions.
| imcore (self-hosted) | Usage-billed SaaS IM | |
|---|---|---|
| Where data lives | Your servers / VPC — never leaves your network | Third-party cloud, via the vendor |
| Billing model | Free to start; annual subscription or perpetual buyout — decoupled from user count | Per MAU / DAU — grows with usage |
| Cost predictability | Flat license fee, budgetable | Scales linearly with active users |
| Source & lock-in | Binary delivery + custom dev — no lock-in | Black box, capped by the vendor |
| On-prem / offline | Yes — fully offline / intranet capable | Depends on the vendor's public cloud |
| Compliance boundary | Runs inside your own boundary | Bound by the vendor's region & policy |
| Deep customization | Custom development to fit your business | Only vendor-exposed configuration |
Cost trajectory (illustrative)
SaaS IM wins on zero-ops onboarding and elasticity. When data sovereignty, predictable cost, and deep customization matter more, self-hosting fits better.
| Active users | Usage-billed SaaS | imcore |
|---|---|---|
| 10K | $ | flat license |
| 100K | $$$ | flat license |
| 1M | $$$$$ | flat license |