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Zulip

Open-source chat organized by topic threads.

Open sourceSelf-hostableTeam chat apps
Visit ZulipSee 5 alternatives
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About Zulip

Zulip is an open-source team chat app whose defining feature is topic-based threading: every message in a channel belongs to a named topic, so conversations stay organized and easy to catch up on asynchronously. This makes it popular with open-source projects, research groups and distributed teams who cannot read every message in real time. It can be self-hosted for free or used through Zulip Cloud, which has a free plan and sponsorship for qualifying open-source and academic communities. Apps are available on desktop and mobile, and the full source code is public.

Best for: Distributed teams that work asynchronously across time zones.

Pros and cons

What works

  • Topic threads keep chat organized
  • Open source and self-hostable
  • Great for async work

Why people leave

  • Topic model takes getting used to
  • Fewer third-party integrations

Top Zulip alternatives

See all 5
  1. 1Slack logo
    Slack

    Hosted chat with more integrations and a familiar channel model.

    61.8
  2. 2Mattermost logo
    Mattermost

    Self-hosted, Slack-style channels for teams who prefer that model.

    61.8
  3. 3Rocket.Chat logo
    Rocket.Chat

    Self-hosted chat with omnichannel support and Matrix federation.

    57.8
  4. 4Twist logo
    Twist

    Another thread-first app, hosted, with an even more async style.

    40.0
  5. 5Element logo
    Element

    Open-source, self-hostable chat with encryption and federation.

    38.6

Why people left Zulip

In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.

No switching stories yet. If you moved away from Zulip, review the app you switched to and tell us why.

Reviews

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Zulip: common questions

Is Zulip free?

Yes. Zulip is free, open-source software that you can host yourself.

Is Zulip open source?

Yes. The source code is on GitHub at zulip/zulip. You can also run it on your own server.

What platforms does Zulip run on?

Zulip is available for Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and Self-hosted.

What are the best alternatives to Zulip?

The highest-ranked Zulip alternatives right now are Slack, Mattermost and Rocket.Chat. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 5 Zulip alternatives