HuddleChat: It's like Campfire, but free

Filed under: Developer, Internet, Web services, Google, web 2.0

HuddleChat: It's like Campfire, but free

by Brad Linder Apr 8th 2008

A lot of folks say that Google's new App Engine is basically a free clone of Amazon's Web Services. And they're pretty much right. So we probably shouldn't be surprised to find that some of the applications already making use of Google App Engine are free clones of other popular programs.

HuddleChat is a web-based mult-user chat application built with Google's App Engine. And it's almost identical to Campfire, a chat application from 37signals. But while Campfire provides free chat rooms for up to 4 users, and charges a fee for rooms with more users, HuddleChat lets an unlimited number of users chat for free.

The interface is pretty slick and offers a bunch of features that make it ideal for virtual team meetings. Chats are automatically archived, and you can upload files like images which will be displayed in the chat. They're also saved on a Transcripts & Files page. You can invite any user by sending out an email from the site, or you can share the room's URL. Best of all, users can sign into a chat room using their Google ID. So if you already have a Gmail, Google Calendar, or Picasa account you don't need to sign up for a new account to use HuddleChat.

Predictably, the folks at 37signals are less than pleased with HuddleChat.

Update: Astute blogger Emily Price noticed that there's at least one important Campfire feature missing from HuddleChat: Search. Which is kind of funny when you consider the fact that HuddleChat is hosted by Google and was developed by two Google employees.

Update 2: HuddleChat is dead.

[via Web Worker Daily]

Tags: 37signals, campfire, chat, huddlechat

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Brent said 5:07PM on 4-08-2008

I can't "Sign-in with my Google Account". After entering my password I get sent to an error page:

Google Accounts

"The page you requested is invalid."

Todd said 5:07PM on 4-08-2008

That Tweet is priceless. Marked as favorite.

Nate said 7:55PM on 4-08-2008

I don't understand the anger. It's a beautiful app, and it's free....

ipodrulz said 9:31PM on 4-08-2008

It looks amazing, and no matter how badly I wanna use it... I can't actually find a use for it.

rao.murlidhar said 7:36AM on 4-09-2008

Sad that it is now closed. Anyways it was much better than campfire.

Rob said 7:39AM on 4-09-2008

"Hi, a couple of our colleagues wrote Huddle Chat in their spare time as a sample application for other developers to demonstrate the power and flexibility of Google App Engine. We've heard some complaints from the developer community about it and because of that we've decided to take it down. If you'd like to see more sample applications written on Google App Engine please check out our documentation and our App Gallery.

Thanks,
The Google App Engine Team"

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