# Guest accounts on self-hosted Mattermost How Mattermost guest accounts work, why they need a paid licence, and what lifting that gate on a self-hosted server actually involves. Source: https://mattermore.dev/guest-accounts Project: Mattermore, a fork of Mattermost. https://github.com/dennisklappe/mattermore --- Guest accounts let you give someone outside your organisation access to a specific set of channels without handing them the whole team. Contractors, clients, external collaborators and vendors get a restricted role rather than an ordinary membership. On a self-hosted server the feature is present in the open source code but gated behind a paid licence. This page explains what the feature does, exactly where the gate sits, and what removing it would require. ## Scope: this is a server feature, not a plugin feature Read this part first, because it decides whether the rest of the page is relevant to you. Mattermost guest accounts are implemented in the Mattermost server itself. They are not part of the Calls plugin. That makes them different from [group calls](/group-calls), [video calls](/video-calls), [call recording](/call-recording) and [transcription](/transcription), where a plugin upload is the whole job. Lifting the guest accounts gate means running a patched Mattermost server, not uploading a plugin. In Mattermore terms that is Mattermore Server rather than the Mattermore calls plugin. It is a genuinely larger commitment: you would be running our build of Mattermost instead of the official one, which changes how you handle upgrades, security advisories and your own trust model. Decide that deliberately. Nothing here announces availability. For current status, check the [Mattermore repository](https://github.com/dennisklappe/mattermore). ## What guest accounts actually give you A guest is a distinct role, not a member with fewer channels. The permission set is restricted by design: - Access is limited to the channels a guest is explicitly invited to. - Guests do not browse the wider team, its channel directory or its user list in the way members do. - Guest permissions are managed separately from member permissions, so you can tighten them without touching your normal roles. The practical use case is narrow and common: you want to invite external users to Mattermost for one project, one incident or one vendor relationship, and you do not want that person reading everything else. The alternative without guest accounts is a separate team or a separate server, both of which cost you more administration than they save. ## Where the licence gate sits We checked this in the Mattermost source rather than relying on documentation. Guest accounts are gated behind a paid licence through the `GuestAccounts` licence feature flag. The enforcement points are: - `server/channels/api4/user.go`, lines 2437, 2493 and 3556. - `server/channels/api4/team.go`, line 1819. - `server/channels/utils/license.go`, line 257, which is what tells the web application whether the feature is available. One nearby check is worth separating out, because it is easy to miscount as a fourth `GuestAccounts` gate and it is not one. `server/channels/api4/role.go`, line 196, reads `License().Features.GuestAccountsPermissions`, a different licence feature, and it only fires when a licence is present at all. What it governs is editing the permissions attached to guest roles, not whether guest accounts exist. Lifting the `GuestAccounts` gate does not touch it, and a server with no licence never reaches it. Every one of those files is AGPL-licensed. That matters for the same reason it matters throughout [Mattermore's licensing position](/licensing): the AGPL grants you the right to modify and run modified code, provided you meet its conditions. ## The implementation genuinely ships in the open source repository This is the part that makes guest accounts interesting rather than academic. Some gated Mattermost features have their check in open source code while the feature itself lives in a private enterprise module. Removing the check there gets you a menu item that leads nowhere. Guest accounts are not like that. The guest roles, the database migrations and the application layer are all present in the open source repository. The gate is a gate, not a stub. The web application mostly follows automatically, because it gates on the `EnableGuestAccounts` client property derived from `utils/license.go`. Change what the server reports and the user interface generally comes along with it. ## Be fair to Mattermost about this Mattermost open sourced this code under the AGPL. They did not have to. The freedom to inspect and modify these enforcement points exists precisely because they published the implementation rather than hiding it behind a binary. If your organisation can afford a Professional licence, buy one. It funds the upstream work that everything here depends on, including the parts you would be patching. Mattermore exists for the case where the licence is genuinely out of reach, not as a way to avoid paying people who can be paid. ## Frequently asked questions ### Are Mattermost guest accounts free? No. On a stock server, guest accounts require a paid licence. Searching for a Mattermost guest account free option on the official builds will not turn one up, because the `GuestAccounts` licence feature flag gates it. ### Can I use Mattermost guest access self hosted without a licence? Not with the official server build. Self-hosting does not change the licence check, which runs server side regardless of how you deploy. ### What licence do I need for Mattermost guest accounts? A paid Mattermost licence that includes the `GuestAccounts` feature. Check Mattermost's current plan comparison for which tier that is today, as plan contents change. ### How do I invite external users to Mattermost without guest accounts? Give them ordinary member accounts on a dedicated team, or run a separate server for external collaboration. Both work. Both cost you more ongoing administration than guests would. ### Does the Mattermore calls plugin enable guest accounts? No. Guest accounts live in the server, so the plugin cannot affect them. That would require Mattermore Server, a patched Mattermost build. ### Is the guest accounts code actually in the open source repository? Yes. The roles, migrations and application layer are all present. The licence check is the only thing standing between the code and a working feature. ### Where do I start if I want to try this? Read [Mattermore's licensing position](/licensing) first, then the [installation guide](/install) and the rest of the [documentation](/docs). Current status for server-side work lives in the GitHub repository.