sent browser to browser
Call your pack. No server in sight.
Voice, video and chat for up to 5 friends, right in your browser. No sign up and nothing to install. Share six words and you are talking.
- 1Open a den
- 2Share six words
- 3Talk
Free and open source. Desktop and phone. End to end encrypted.
Luna wants to call Nova. Press play to watch them connect.
An animation on this page. In the app, the words are new every time.
- No sign upNo email, no password, no phone.
- No server of oursVoice, video, chat and files go browser to browser.
- End to end encryptedEvery connection is sealed by WebRTC.
- Invite onlyNobody gets in without you.
30 seconds
The whole tour, in six scenes
From opening the app to talking with your friends. Press play, or pick a scene.
Live preview
Look around a den
This is the real layout. Click the channels, react, mute yourself or type a message. It all stays on this page.
is typing
Nova is sharing a screen
Luna
Fang
Pip
Nova
Text channels
Chat, react, howl
Text channels with bold, italic, spoilers, code and quotes. Reply to a friend, mention the whole pack, react with a howl or a campfire, send a Luna sticker, start a thread or a poll, record a voice message, drop a file that goes straight from your browser to theirs. It all feels like the chat app you know, minus the company in the middle.
Getting startedVoice, video, screen share
Talk, see and share, no server watching
Click a voice channel to sit down, click again to leave. Turn on cameras, share a game or a tab, and watch the ring light up around whoever speaks. Mute and deafen are one click away, and every stream travels directly between you, sealed with DTLS and SRTP.
- Push to talk, with a big Hold to talk button on phones.
- Music mode turns the noise and echo filters off and raises the quality for instruments and singing.
- Local recording, saved only on your device, with a notice everyone in the call can see.
Your account
Your account lives on your device
No email, no password, no phone number. Pick a username and an avatar and your browser makes a signing key pair that never leaves your device. Your tag, like luna#7c1f, comes from that key, so friends know it is really you. There is no server to reset it, sell it or leak it from.
- Lock your profile with a PIN on shared computers.
- Moving to a new device? Save an encrypted backup file and import it there.
- Clearing your browser data clears your profile too, unless you kept a backup.
Invite only
How inviting works
There is no server to introduce you, so friends introduce themselves: six words out, six words back. That is the whole handshake.
1Show six words
Click Invite in your den and howlden shows six words, plus a small QR code. Read them out on a call or send them in any messenger.
2Your friend types them
The six words find your den through public relays that only ever see an encrypted handshake. Nothing to send back, and the words expire in ten minutes.
3Confirm and howl
Type the six confirmation words your friend sees and they are in. Known friends are let in on their verified key. Then chat, voice and files go device to device.
A real QR code drawn by howlden's own encoder. This one opens the app.
Say them, send them or scan them
Read the six words aloud on a call, send them in any messenger you already trust, or show the QR code to someone in the room. On a phone, Call a friend makes the words and opens the share menu in one tap. Your friend never sees anything technical.
- The member who invited types the confirmation words, so leaked words are not enough to get in.
- Phones scan the QR with the camera where the browser supports it, or type the words.
- After the first friend, the den connects each newcomer to everyone else by itself.
Why it is private
Nothing in the middle
Most chat apps send every message through a company's servers. A howlden den is a small circle of browsers talking to each other. Here is exactly what that means, with no fine print.
No server of ours
There is no howlden backend, database or account system. No server of ours ever sees your messages, voice, video or files. This website is static files.
Encrypted by WebRTC
Every connection is encrypted end to end with DTLS, and audio and video with SRTP. It is built into the browser and cannot be switched off.
Relays cannot read
The six word handshake travels encrypted through public relays (EMQX, HiveMQ, Mosquitto) that cannot read it, and a TURN relay, when a strict network needs one, only forwards encrypted packets.
Nothing stored online
No email, no phone number, no profile in the cloud. Your profile, settings and dens live in your own browser.
Optional passphrase
Give a den a passphrase for a second layer: PBKDF2 derives an AES-GCM key, so only members who know it can read messages and files.
Compare a fingerprint
howlden shows a short connection fingerprint. Read it aloud on a call: if both sides see the same code, nobody is in the middle.
Honest note: private is not the same as anonymous. Members of a den connect directly, so they can see each other's network address, and your security still depends on your device and your browser.
YouFriend
howlden: browser to browser, encrypted
YouNo server of oursFriend
There is simply no box in the middle to store or read anything.
Use cases
A den for every pack
Small groups of people who know each other are where howlden shines.
Friends gaming
Hop into voice before the match, share your screen for the strategy and keep the memes in a text channel. Nothing to install for the friend with the new laptop.
Study groups
A channel per subject, a voice room for exam night, notes passed straight between classmates. No accounts for anyone.
Family calls
Grandpa types six words and he is in. Video with the whole family, no app store, no password to forget.
Small teams
A quick room for a small team with nothing in the middle: no workspace to sign up for, no data held by a provider.
Two approaches
Server based or direct?
Both approaches are good at different things. Server based apps are great for big communities, message history and reaching friends who are offline. A direct, peer to peer den is for small groups who want nothing in the middle.
| Topic | Server based chat apps | howlden (direct) |
|---|---|---|
| Where messages go | Through the provider's servers, which store and forward them | Straight between the members' browsers |
| Account | Usually an email or a phone number and a password | A local profile on your device: username, avatar and identity key |
| Group size | Large communities, thousands of people | Up to 5 people per den, or just you and one friend |
| Friends who are away | Messages wait on the server until they come back | Everyone chats while online. History syncs from members who are online |
| How people join | Public servers, search and invite links | Invite only. Nothing to discover |
| Encryption | Depends on the app: to the server, or end to end | End to end by WebRTC, plus an optional passphrase |
| Install | An app, or the browser | The browser. Installing is optional |
| Moderation and bots | Often rich: roles, bots, moderation tools | Kept simple, for small groups who know each other |
| Who runs it | The provider runs and pays for the servers | Nobody. The members' browsers do the work |
Want the long version? Read how howlden works.
Up to 5
Why a den holds 5 wolves
In a den, everyone is linked to everyone. With 4 members that is 6 links, with 5 members it is 10. Each member sends their voice and video to each of the others, so upload bandwidth grows with the size of the pack. Audio is light; video with 5 cameras on asks a lot of a home connection.
Five is where a mesh still feels good on ordinary connections. For bigger groups, a server based tool is the honest answer, and that is fine.
- Text, reactions and files are tiny and stay quick in a full den.
- If two members cannot link directly, another member forwards their messages.
- When both sides sit behind a strict NAT, a TURN relay can carry the encrypted traffic. When a connection fails.
FAQ
Questions around the campfire
Including the limits. A den is not the right tool for everything, and we would rather you know before you invite your pack.
Is howlden really serverless?
Yes. The site and the app are static files on GitHub Pages, and once the page is loaded your messages, voice, video and files go directly between browsers. To find each other, the browsers pass a short handshake, sealed with a key made from the six words, through public relays that only see ciphertext, and each browser asks a public STUN server one question, "what is my public address?". When no direct route exists, an optional TURN relay forwards encrypted packets it cannot read. No server of ours ever sees your conversations.
Do I need an account or to sign up?
No email, no password and no phone number. You create a local profile: a username, an avatar and a cryptographic identity key (Ed25519 where the browser supports it), all made in your browser and kept on your device. The dens you join see your name, your avatar and your public key, nothing else.
How many people can be in a den?
Up to 5, or just two of you. A den is a full mesh: every member sends their audio, video and messages to every other member directly. That keeps everything private, but upload bandwidth grows with each person, so for big communities a server based tool is the better fit.
Do my friends need to be online?
Yes, to talk everyone has to be online at the same time, because there is no server holding messages. When you come back, members who are online share the messages you missed, but if nobody is online the den is quiet.
Why can't I connect to a friend?
Most often both of you are behind a strict NAT (some office, school, hotel and mobile carrier networks). Then a direct connection is not possible and you need a TURN relay. howlden tells you in plain words when this happens, and you can add your own TURN server in Settings.
Is howlden end to end encrypted?
Yes. WebRTC encrypts every connection end to end with DTLS (and SRTP for audio and video). You can add a den passphrase for a second layer, and compare the connection fingerprint to make sure nobody is in the middle. Your security still depends on your device: encryption cannot protect a device that is already compromised.
Can strangers find or join my den?
No. A den has no public address and is not listed anywhere. To get in, someone needs six words from a member, and that member has to type the confirmation words the newcomer reads back. Words that leak are not enough on their own, and they expire after ten minutes.
Can someone record a call?
The app has a local recording option: it saves what that device hears, only on that device, after the person confirms, and everyone in the call sees a Recording notice and hears a short sound. The notice comes from the howlden app, so it cannot stop someone who records with another program. Only talk with people you trust.
What happens if I clear my browser data?
Your local profile, identity key and dens live in your browser, so clearing site data removes them. There is no server copy to restore from, which is exactly the point, so save an encrypted backup file from Settings first: you can import it on any device, and only your backup password opens it.
Does it work on phones?
Yes, in modern mobile browsers on Android and iOS, with text, voice and video. Screen sharing from a phone browser is limited by the phone, not by howlden.
Is howlden free and open source?
Yes. It is free, MIT licensed and has no ads and no tracking. The code is on GitHub, so anyone can read how it works.
Guides
Guides from the den
Four short guides, in plain words.
- Getting startedHow to start a den with only a name and an avatar, how friends join with six words, and what you give up without an account.
- Voice and video callsHow to start a call in the browser, fix microphone permissions, share a camera or a screen, and keep the sound clean.
- How howlden worksHow two browsers find each other, how six words carry the handshake, what STUN and TURN do, and where a peer to peer den has limits.
- When a connection failsWhy two browsers sometimes cannot reach each other, the quick checks that fix most cases, and how to add a TURN relay when nothing else works.
Your pack is waiting. Start howling.
Open a den, share six words, and you are around the campfire in under a minute. No account to make, nothing to download, no server of ours.
Open howlden in your browser
