Zulip
Team Chat & Messaging · zulip.com
Zulip is an open-source team chat application with topic-based threading, available as a managed cloud service or self-hosted deployment.
Switching to Rocket.Chat saves $42 / year and covers 100% of the compared capabilities.
Find my alternative
Way less money.
Top Zulip alternatives
We compared 12 products and found 9 cheaper alternatives · vs Zulip Self-hosted Basic at $3.50/mo · scenario: 10 seats, monthly billing, USD.
Zulip’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.
Zulip costs $3.50/mo on the Self-hosted Basic plan at 10 seats, monthly billing. We found 9 assessed alternatives that are cheaper in this scenario; 3 of them cover at least 75% of the 9 compared capabilities. The cheapest option that covers everything we compared is Rocket.Chat at $0/mo (Starter plan), 100% less. Zulip'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, SAML single sign-on, Compliance exports & audit logs, Self-hosted deployment, AI search & summaries | 11% | $2.99/mo how? ⓘ | $6.12 / year 15% cheaper |
Which Zulip alternative for which situation
Picked by the numbers in this scenario — same subtype unless stated, assessed products only.
- Best full coverage
- Rocket.Chat — $0/mo (Starter plan) · covers 100%
- Best free plan
- Rocket.Chat — $0/mo (Starter plan) · covers 100%
- Best open source or self-hosted
- Rocket.Chat — $0/mo (Starter plan) · covers 100%
- Need channels & group messaging, threaded conversations, audio/video calls & screen sharing, guest & external collaboration, app integrations, SAML single sign-on, compliance exports & audit logs, self-hosted deployment or AI search & summaries?
- Rocket.Chat — from $0/mo (Starter plan)
What you give up
Capabilities Zulip 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.
- 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.
| Scenario | Zulip | Cheapest assessed alternative |
|---|---|---|
| 3 seats | $3.50/mo | Rocket.Chat $0/mo (Starter) |
| 10 seats | $3.50/mo | Rocket.Chat $0/mo (Starter) |
| 25 seats | $3.50/mo | Rocket.Chat $0/mo (Starter) |
Feature comparison
Zulip vs the top alternatives, on the 9 compared capabilities.
| Capability | Zulip | Rocket.Chat | Slack | Mattermost | Element |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Channels & group messaging from Zulip Cloud Free | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Threaded conversations from Zulip Cloud Free | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Audio/video calls & screen sharing from Zulip Cloud Free | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Guest & external collaboration from Zulip Cloud Free | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| App integrations from Zulip Cloud Free | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| SAML single sign-on from Zulip Cloud Plus | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Compliance exports & audit logs | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Self-hosted deployment from Self-hosted Free | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI search & summaries | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Scenario price cheapest qualifying plan | $3.50/mo Self-hosted Basic | $0/mo Starter | $0/mo Free | $0/mo Entry | $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 Zulip covers
The capability set used for comparison. Grey entries are not available on self-serve plans.
- ✓ Channels & group messaging — from Zulip Cloud Free
- ✓ Threaded conversations — from Zulip Cloud Free
- ✓ Audio/video calls & screen sharing — from Zulip Cloud Free
- ✓ Guest & external collaboration — from Zulip Cloud Free
- ✓ App integrations — from Zulip Cloud Free
- ✓ SAML single sign-on — from Zulip Cloud Plus
- ✓ Compliance exports & audit logs
- ✓ Self-hosted deployment — from Self-hosted Free
- ✓ 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://zulip.com/plans/ (official_pricing, checked 2026-09-07)
Frequently asked
How much does Zulip cost?
Zulip's Self-hosted Basic plan costs $3.50/mo in our scenario (10 seats, monthly billing). A free plan exists.
Is there a free Zulip alternative?
Yes. Rocket.Chat has a free plan that covers 100% of the 9 capabilities we compared against Zulip.
What is the cheapest Zulip alternative?
In our scenario (10 seats, monthly billing), Rocket.Chat is the cheapest assessed alternative at $0/mo (Starter plan).
What is the cheapest Zulip alternative with Audio/video calls & screen sharing?
Rocket.Chat covers Audio/video calls & screen sharing and costs $0/mo (Starter plan) in our scenario.
Does Zulip have a free plan?
Yes. Zulip'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.