# A private Naven for a school, district, club or team

> A custom mode is paid work, quoted per organisation, and the first conversation is free — write to the developer and say what your organisation needs.

- Page: https://navenapp.com/for/custom-modes
- Last updated: 2026-10-21
- Published by: Naven, a free messaging app that runs in a web browser (https://navenapp.com/about)

## Who this is for

Schools and districts, sports clubs, youth organisations and member groups that want their own space inside Naven rather than another app for everyone to install.

## The problem

Group chats for an organisation end up scattered across the apps people already have — some on WhatsApp, some on a Facebook group, a few left out entirely because they will not install anything. Nobody can tell who is actually a member, anyone with the link can be added, and when somebody leaves, nothing about that follows them out.

## How Naven handles it

- Members are verified before they are in. Being in your organisation's mode is something Naven checks rather than something a link grants, so the space holds only the people who belong in it.
- Your own channels and directory. Members find each other by name inside the organisation, without the address book, the phone numbers, or the public profiles other platforms rely on.
- Your colours, your typeface, your name on it. A mode is a whole-app theme rather than a logo in a corner.
- Nothing to install, on any device, and the ordinary Naven account carries on underneath — the same conversations, the same settings, one step back out whenever somebody wants it.
- It is built independently, so it is deliberately bespoke: what verification means, who administers it, and what the space contains are decided per organisation.

## What it costs

A custom mode is the one thing Naven charges for, because it is bespoke work rather than a feature: verification, channels, a directory and a theme, set up and then run for your organisation. It is quoted per organisation against what you actually need, and the conversation that works out whether Naven suits you at all is free. Naven itself stays free for everybody in it — members are never charged, and there is no advertising.

**Other use cases:** [Family group chat](https://navenapp.com/for/families) · [Teen messaging parents can live with](https://navenapp.com/for/teens) · [Schools and libraries](https://navenapp.com/for/schools) · [Friends and family abroad](https://navenapp.com/for/international-friends) · [Clubs and small communities](https://navenapp.com/for/clubs) · [Messaging without a phone number](https://navenapp.com/for/no-phone-number) · [Messaging with nothing to install](https://navenapp.com/for/no-app-install) · [Communities without an algorithmic feed](https://navenapp.com/for/feed-free) · [Organising without a phone number](https://navenapp.com/for/activists) · [A team chat parents can join](https://navenapp.com/for/sports-coaches) · [Client chat without your personal number](https://navenapp.com/for/freelancers) · [Practising a language with someone abroad](https://navenapp.com/for/language-exchange) · [Coordinating care for a relative](https://navenapp.com/for/care-coordination) · [A study group that works on school devices](https://navenapp.com/for/remote-study-group) · [A volunteer rota that people read](https://navenapp.com/for/volunteer-shifts) · [A group for new parents](https://navenapp.com/for/new-parents) · [A house chat that survives people moving out](https://navenapp.com/for/housemates) · [A chat for a one-off event](https://navenapp.com/for/event-coordination) · [Messaging for a small charity](https://navenapp.com/for/small-charity) · [Tutor and student messaging](https://navenapp.com/for/tutoring)

## Naven, in brief

- **Price:** Free. No ads, no paid tier
- **Phone number:** Never asked for
- **To install:** Nothing. It runs in a browser
- **End-to-end encrypted:** No. Messages are screened before they send
- **Works on:** Phones, tablets, laptops, Chromebooks

### Limits, stated plainly

- Calls are not screened; messages, pictures and voice notes are
- The screen is automated. It misses things, and is weaker outside English
- No guarantees: Naven describes what it does, and its terms promise no outcome

**Tell the team what your organisation needs** The founder reads these directly, so this starts as an email rather than a sales process. Say who your members are, roughly how many, and what the space has to do.