# Alternatives to Zulip Open source team chat with topic-based threading. Zulip ranks #3 of 8 in Team chat, with an Alt Score of 78. It is licensed under Apache-2.0, open source with paid hosting from $6.67/user/mo and available on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and Web. 12 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source. Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/zulip/ Category: Team chat ## Overview - **Who it's for**: Distributed teams, open-source projects, research groups, and organizations that need many parallel conversations to stay organized without getting lost — from small companies to large enterprises, universities, and communities. - **What you get**: An open-source team chat app organized into channels, with every message assigned to a topic so separate discussions stay distinct and easy to follow even when many are happening at once. It's available as a hosted Zulip Cloud service or self-hosted on your own infrastructure. An inbox view surfaces unread conversations across channels and topics, letting you catch up asynchronously instead of scrolling a live feed. - **How it works**: You post into a channel and give the message a short topic label, which creates or continues a threaded conversation; replies stay attached to that topic so multiple discussions can run in the same channel without interleaving. Users browse and reply via the inbox or channel/topic list at their own pace. ## Profile - **License**: Apache-2.0 (verified 2026-07-10) - **Pricing model**: OSS + paid hosting (verified 2026-07-10) - **Starts at**: $6.67/user/mo (verified 2026-07-10) - **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web - **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-10) ## Ranked alternatives | # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms | |---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------| | 1 | [Mattermost](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/mattermost.md) | 89 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 2 | [Microsoft Teams](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/microsoft-teams.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 3 | [Rocket.Chat](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/rocketchat.md) | 70 | MIT | Web, iOS, Android | | 4 | [Element](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/element.md) | 55 | AGPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 5 | [Discord](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/discord.md) | 32 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 6 | [Twist](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/twist.md) | 29 | ? | ? | | 7 | [Slack](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/slack.md) | 17 | ? | ? | Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/ ## Feature comparison Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified). | Team chat checklist | Zulip | Mattermost | Microsoft Teams | Rocket.Chat | Element | Discord | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Pricing model | OSS + paid hosting | OSS + paid hosting | Freemium | OSS + paid hosting | OSS + paid hosting | Freemium | | Starts at | $6.67/user/mo | Free | $4.00/user/month | ? | ? | $2.99/month | | License | Apache-2.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | MIT | AGPL-3.0 | Proprietary | | Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web | Web, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | | Message history limit (free) | Yes | Yes | No | ? | No | ? | | Threads | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | ? | ? | | Huddles / audio rooms | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | | Video calls | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Guest access | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | | Federation | No | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | | Self-hostable | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | | E2E encryption | No | No | Partial | Yes | Yes | Partial | | Integrations count | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | | Workflow automations | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Partial | | Search quality (filters) | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | | Compliance exports | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ## Sources Sources for Zulip. Each alternative is sourced on its own page. - **License**: Apache-2.0 — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “Apache License / Version 2.0, January 2004 / http://www.apache.org/licenses/” - **Pricing model**: OSS + paid hosting — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “Sign up for a managed cloud solution, or self-host our 100% open-source software. Get started for free.” - **Starts at**: $6.67/user/mo — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “$6.67 /user/month billed annually or $8 billed monthly” - **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “Download the Zulip app for your device” - **Status**: active — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “With over 1,500 contributors merging over 500 commits a month, Zulip is the largest and fastest growing open source team chat project.” - **Message history limit (free)**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Note: Free plan: 10,000-message search history limit. - Quote: “How does having 10,000 messages of search history on Zulip Cloud Free work” - **Threads**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “Zulip is an open-source organized team chat app with unique topic-based threading that combines the best of email and chat” - **Huddles / audio rooms**: Partial — (verified 2026-07-10) - Note: Group DMs + call-link integration; no dedicated persistent audio room. - Quote: “Zulip makes it convenient to add a video or voice call link to any message, using the call provider (Jitsi, Zoom, etc.)” - **Video calls**: Partial — (verified 2026-07-10) - Note: Via configured provider, not built-in. - Quote: “Zulip makes it convenient to add a video or voice call link to any message, using the call provider (Jitsi, Zoom, etc.) configured by your organization's administrators.” - **Guest access**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “You can add users who should have restricted access to your organization as guests. For example, this may be a good choice for contractors or customers invited to a company's Zulip chat.” - **Federation**: No — (verified 2026-07-10) - Note: No federation; instances are independent (inferred from absence). - Quote: “Zulip comes with over a hundred native integrations out of the box, and integrates with Zapier and IFTTT to provide hundreds more” - **Self-hostable**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “Retain full control over your data. 100% open-source software.” - **E2E encryption**: No — (verified 2026-07-10) - Note: TLS-in-transit + server-side; no E2EE. - Quote: “Retain full control over your data.” - **Integrations count**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “Zulip comes with over a hundred native integrations out of the box, and integrates with Zapier and IFTTT to provide hundreds more” - **Workflow automations**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “Zulip comes with over a hundred native integrations out of the box, and integrates with Zapier and IFTTT to provide hundreds more” - **Search quality (filters)**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “It's easy to find the right conversation with Zulip's powerful search. When you find the message you were looking for, go directly to its topic for full context.” - **Compliance exports**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “Export your organization | Zulip help center” --- Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/