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Open-source team chat with topic-based threading
Updated
Zulip is an open-source team chat app for distributed teams, offered as a cloud service or self-hosted. Each conversation carries a short topic, so people can follow one thread at a time.
Teams post in streams with a topic for each discussion, catch up from the unread overview and reply in context. Organizations choose Zulip Cloud or run their own server.
The vendor lists businesses such as iDrift AS, End Point Dev, Semsee, Atolio and WindBorne, universities and research groups such as TUM, UCSD and the Lean mathematical community, and open-source projects including Rust, Asciidoctor and Mixxx.
Zulip Cloud has a Free plan with 10,000 messages of search history and 5 GB total file storage, Standard at $6.67 per user per month billed annually ($8 monthly), and Plus at $10 per user per month annually ($12 monthly) with a 10-user minimum. Self-hosted has a Free community plan, Basic at $3.50 per user per month, Business at $6.67 annually and a quoted Enterprise plan. Open-source projects, academic research and many non-profits can qualify for free Standard.
Zulip links to an integrations section but names no specific integrations on its homepage; Slack and Teams appear as migration sources.
Front is a shared inbox for customer-facing teams rather than internal chat. Mattermost is an open-source chat platform positioned for secure self-hosted collaboration. Slack is the hosted incumbent organized around channels, with a topic model that is less structured than Zulip's.
Pricing Model
FREEMIUM
Starting Price
$7/mo
Free Options
Free version, Free trial
| Feature | Cloud Free | Cloud Standard | Cloud Plus | Self-Hosted Free | Self-Hosted Basic | Self-Hosted Business |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 messages of search history | , | , | , | , | , | |
| 5 GB total storage | , | , | , | , | , | |
| Guest accounts | , | , | , | , | , | |
| Per user, billed annually | , | , | , | |||
| Unlimited search history | , | , | , | , | , | |
| Priority support | , | , | , | , | , | |
| 10-user minimum | , | , | , | , | , | |
| SAML SSO and SCIM | , | , | , | , | , | |
| All features | , | , | , | , | , | |
| Limited mobile notifications | , | , | , | , | , | |
| Per user per month | , | , | , | , | , | |
| Unlimited mobile notifications | , | , | , | , | , | |
| 25-user minimum | , | , | , | , | , | |
| SSO and LDAP sync | , | , | , | , | , |
API Types
SDK Availability
Verify SDK availability in vendor's documentation.
Developer Features
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Compliance Standards
SOC 2 Type II
EnterpriseISO 27001
EnterpriseGDPR Compliant
GlobalHIPAA
HealthcarePCI DSS
FinanceCCPA
PrivacyFedRAMP
GovernmentCSA STAR
CloudDeployment & Data
Data Residency Options
Verify with vendor for your specific region requirements.
Team chat, meetings, and collaboration hub in Microsoft 365
The customer communication platform with a shared inbox.
Self-hosted collaboration platform for regulated and security-focused teams
Channel-based messaging platform for team communication and work
