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Mikk
Mikk

Posted on

How I built Meetsy — a full-featured private messaging app with Laravel 11

What I built

Meetsy is a privacy-first messaging web app — no ads, no tracking. Built solo as a side project, it grew into a full-featured messenger.

🔗 getmeetsy.app

Features

  • Real-time private & group messaging (AJAX polling)
  • Voice & video calls (WebRTC)
  • Voice messages, file & image attachments
  • Message reactions, replies, edit & delete
  • Web Push Notifications (VAPID)
  • Installable PWA (iOS & Android)
  • Typing indicators & read receipts
  • Friend requests, block & report users
  • Full admin panel with moderation tools

Tech Stack

  • Backend: Laravel 11 + MySQL
  • Frontend: Alpine.js + Tailwind CSS + Vite
  • Auth: Laravel Breeze + Sanctum
  • Storage: Cloudflare R2
  • Hosting: Hostinger VPS
  • Push: Web Push API + minishlink/web-push
  • Real-time without WebSockets
  • Instead of running a WebSocket server, I used AJAX polling every 3 seconds. Simple, reliable, no extra infrastructure needed.

What's next
Would love feedback from the dev community!

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