Getting Started

What is Astral

A short overview of Astral, what it is for, and how it differs from a typical messenger

1 min readUpdated for the current Astral app

Astral is an independent communication platform: direct messages, group chats, communities with channels, voice, video, and screen sharing. It is one app, not a bundle of separate products.

What you can do in Astral

  • Message friends in DMs and gather small groups.
  • Create communities with text, voice, stage, and link channels.
  • Call, turn on your camera, and share your screen in a voice channel or a private call.
  • Share files, emoji, stickers, and saved media.
  • Customize the look: themes, chat wallpapers, and your own CSS.
  • Manage roles, permissions, invites, and the activity log in a community.

What Astral is not

  • It is not cloud storage: larger attachments expire over time. See How attachment expiry works on Astral.
  • There is no ad feed, activity ranking, or “we miss you” push notifications.
  • Native iPhone and macOS apps are not sold separately yet. On those platforms, use the web app or install the PWA.

Free and Plutonium

Core communication — text, voice, video, search, and moderation — stays free. Plutonium raises limits: 500 MB files, 10 GB daily uploads, longer file retention, 10-minute voice notes, full search history, 4K/60 video, plus a custom numeric tag and per-community profiles. Details: What Astral Plutonium includes.

Start here

  1. How to create an account and sign in
  2. How to download Astral
  3. Interface overview and first steps

Official site: astraof.com. Rules: Community Guidelines. Product philosophy: Manifesto.

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