Rocket.Chat
Team Chat & Messaging · www.rocket.chat
Rocket.Chat is a secure communications and team collaboration platform that can be deployed on-premises, in sovereign/dedicated cloud, or in air-gapped environments for commercial, government, and defense organizations.
We only list alternatives we can defend with sourced pricing data.
Top Rocket.Chat alternatives
We compared 12 products and found 12 alternatives · Rocket.Chat pricing is still being verified, so savings are not computed yet · scenario: 10 seats, monthly billing, USD.
Rocket.Chat’s own free plan covers this scenario. If you’re paying for features you don’t use, downgrading beats switching. The paid comparison below is for when you’ve outgrown free tiers — the “Free plans” view shows alternatives if you want free with different limits.
We list 12 assessed alternatives; Rocket.Chat's own price is not verified yet, so no cheaper-than claim is made. Rocket.Chat's own free plan covers this scenario, so downgrading may beat switching.
| Product | Match | Price | Annual savings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Discord Nitro Basic plan · missing: Channels & group messaging, Threaded conversations, Guest & external collaboration, App integrations, Workflow automation, SAML single sign-on, Compliance exports & audit logs, Self-hosted deployment, AI search & summaries | 10% | $2.99/mo how? ⓘ | — | |
TOP PICK Zulip Self-hosted Basic plan · missing: Workflow automation | 90% | $3.50/mo how? ⓘ | — | |
Zoho Cliq Standard plan · missing: Guest & external collaboration, SAML single sign-on, Compliance exports & audit logs, Self-hosted deployment, AI search & summaries | 50% | $18/mo how? ⓘ | — | |
Pumble PRO plan · missing: Workflow automation, Compliance exports & audit logs, Self-hosted deployment, AI search & summaries | 60% | $29.90/mo how? ⓘ | — | |
Chanty Business plan · missing: Threaded conversations, Workflow automation, AI search & summaries | 70% | $40/mo how? ⓘ | — | |
Microsoft Teams Teams Essentials plan · missing: Threaded conversations, Guest & external collaboration, App integrations, Workflow automation, SAML single sign-on, Compliance exports & audit logs, Self-hosted deployment, AI search & summaries collaboration suite — adjacent | 20% | $40/mo how? ⓘ | — | |
Flock PRO plan · missing: Threaded conversations, SAML single sign-on, Self-hosted deployment, AI search & summaries | 60% | $45/mo how? ⓘ | — | |
Twist Unlimited plan · missing: Audio/video calls & screen sharing, Workflow automation, SAML single sign-on, Compliance exports & audit logs, Self-hosted deployment, AI search & summaries | 40% | $60/mo how? ⓘ | — | |
Google Workspace Business Starter plan · missing: Threaded conversations, Guest & external collaboration, App integrations, SAML single sign-on, Self-hosted deployment collaboration suite — adjacent | 50% | $70/mo how? ⓘ | — | |
Slack Pro plan · missing: Self-hosted deployment | 90% | $87.50/mo how? ⓘ | — |
Which Rocket.Chat alternative for which situation
Picked by the numbers in this scenario — same subtype unless stated, assessed products only.
- Best free plan
- Slack — $0/mo (Free plan) · covers 90%
- Best open source or self-hosted
- Mattermost — $0/mo (Entry plan) · covers 90%
- Best paid drop-in
- Chanty — $40/mo (Business plan) · covers 70%
- Need channels & group messaging, threaded conversations, audio/video calls & screen sharing, guest & external collaboration, app integrations, workflow automation, SAML single sign-on, compliance exports & audit logs or AI search & summaries?
- Slack — from $0/mo (Free plan)
- Need self-hosted deployment?
- Mattermost — from $0/mo (Entry plan)
What you give up
Capabilities Rocket.Chat has that the top alternatives lack.
- Audio/video calls & screen sharing — Make audio or video calls with screen sharing.Missing from Mattermost.
- Guest & external collaboration — Invite people outside your organization into a conversation.Missing from Element.
- Workflow automation — Automate routine steps directly within chat.Missing from Zulip, Element.
- SAML single sign-on — Sign in through your company's SAML single sign-on.Missing from Element.
- Self-hosted deployment — Run the chat platform on your own infrastructure.Missing from Slack.
- AI search & summaries — Search and summarize conversations with an AI assistant.Missing from Element.
Price at your volume
The same comparison recomputed at three sizes. Plan caps change who is cheapest.
Feature comparison
Rocket.Chat vs the top alternatives, on the 10 compared capabilities.
| Capability | Rocket.Chat | Slack | Mattermost | Zulip | Element |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Channels & group messaging | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Threaded conversations | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Audio/video calls & screen sharing | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Guest & external collaboration | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| App integrations | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Workflow automation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| SAML single sign-on | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Compliance exports & audit logs | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Self-hosted deployment | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI search & summaries | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Scenario price cheapest qualifying plan | — | $0/mo Free | $0/mo Entry | $0/mo Zulip Cloud Free | $0/mo Community |
✓ means the product offers the capability — possibly only on a higher tier than the plan priced below it. The price row shows the cheapest plan that qualifies for our comparison scenario, with its plan name; a $0 free plan may not include every checked capability.
What Rocket.Chat covers
The capability set used for comparison. Grey entries are not available on self-serve plans.
- ✓ Channels & group messaging
- ✓ Threaded conversations
- ✓ Audio/video calls & screen sharing
- ✓ Guest & external collaboration
- ✓ App integrations
- ✓ Workflow automation
- ✓ SAML single sign-on
- ✓ Compliance exports & audit logs
- ✓ Self-hosted deployment
- ✓ AI search & summaries
Price ladder
Observed prices from the official pricing page.
Sources
Every claim traces to an official source and a check date.
- https://www.rocket.chat/pricing (official_pricing, checked 2026-08-31)
Frequently asked
Is there a free Rocket.Chat alternative?
Yes. Slack has a free plan that covers 90% of the 10 capabilities we compared against Rocket.Chat.
What is the cheapest Rocket.Chat alternative?
In our scenario (10 seats, monthly billing), Slack is the cheapest assessed alternative at $0/mo (Free plan).
What is the cheapest Rocket.Chat alternative with Workflow automation?
Slack covers Workflow automation and costs $0/mo (Free plan) in our scenario.
Does Rocket.Chat have a free plan?
Yes. Rocket.Chat's free plan exists; its limits are not stated on the pricing page.
When were these prices checked?
Between 2026-08-25 and 2026-09-07, on the vendors' official pricing pages.
