---
title: echoplexus
date: 2013-03-01
summary: An anonymous, web-based, IRC-like chatting platform that made its best effort to respect your privacy, with encrypted channels, pseudonyms, collaborative code and drawing, and peer-to-peer WebRTC calls.
published: true
image: echoplexus-latest.png
---

![Screenshot of echoplexus chat window](echoplexus-latest.png "echoplexus running as a Firefox App on Ubuntu, back when Firefox had apps")

## The goods

- [Code](https://github.com/qq99/echoplexus)
- [Official Website (archive.org, now down)](https://web.archive.org/web/20161217201426/https://echoplex.us/)

## What is it?

Echoplexus was an anonymous, web-based, IRC-like chatting platform that
made its best effort to respect your privacy. Here's a list of some of
the features:

- create and manage public or private channels
- encrypt your chats with a shared secret or PGP
- secure a pseudonym for linkable anonymity
- code (JS) and draw together in real time
- make free and secure Peer2Peer video and voice calls with the people
  in your channel using WebRTC

The name comes from the song "Echoplex" by Nine Inch Nails. I happened
to be listening to it while I was developing it at one point, and the
lyrics, "My voice just echoes off these walls" felt really apt while I
was chatting with myself.

[Watch the demo video](https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/watch?v=_c7ixDZj9DA)

## Current status

echoplex.us is dead. Now, a spammer owns the domain :/

The userbase / interest just wasn't there for it to be worthwhile for me
to continue working on it. Due to the multi-player nature of the beast,
I can't enjoy the project alone. One day, I'd like to revisit the
concept with a better initial design plan; the ad hoc nature of feature
development meant things were getting complex and more difficult to
maintain.

![An older screenshot of the echoplexus user interface](echoplexus_chat.jpg "echoplexus used to be a lot darker! It got a revamp in 2014 for greater appeal.")