Zulip
Open-source team chat that keeps every conversation organised by topic, available as hosted Zulip Cloud or self-hosted.
- Free plan
- Per-seat pricing
- Cloud
- Vendor-sourced
- Verified 20 Oct 2026Sources are dated on this profile
- 5 sourcesLinked, typed and dated
- Vendor and official documentationHow this profile was compiled
- Not an endorsementStack18 has not tested this product
What is Zulip?
Zulip is an open-source team chat app for distributed teams that organises messages into conversations, each with a brief topic, so discussions stay separate and easy to follow over time. It runs as hosted Zulip Cloud with Free, Standard and Plus plans, or on a customer's own server with free and paid self-hosted plans.
- Best forDistributed teams that want asynchronous chat organised by topic
- Team size fitSmall teams, Mid-size teams, Large enterprises
- PricingZulip Cloud Free; Standard $6.67 and Plus $10 per user per month billed annually ($8 and $12 monthly). Self-hosted is free, with paid plans reported from about $3.50 per user per month. Free plan available.
- Main limitationThe Cloud Free plan limits file storage to 5 GB in total and, according to independent listings, searchable history to 10,000 messages.
- AlternativesSlack, Microsoft Teams, Mattermost
Zulip overview: who it is for and what it does.
Zulip describes itself as organised team chat for distributed teams of all sizes and says it is designed for asynchronous conversations. Instead of one stream of messages, a new conversation starts by giving it a brief topic, replies stay in context, an inbox shows conversations with unread messages, and a conversation can continue over time. Customers quoted on Zulip's site, including a Rust language team lead and an engineering director, say this structure helps with decisions and with finding information.
The product is open source, and Zulip offers two ways to run it. Zulip Cloud is hosted by the core team and updated as features become production-ready, while self-hosting runs the same software on Ubuntu or Debian, in Docker, or from prebuilt images for Digital Ocean and Render. Export and import tools let organisations move between the two, and Zulip documents migration from Slack, Microsoft Teams and other chat tools.
Pricing is per user per month. Zulip Cloud has a Free plan, Standard at $6.67 and Plus at $10 on annual billing, with a 10-user minimum on Plus. Self-hosted use is free, with paid Basic, Business and Enterprise plans that add support, notifications and identity features. Zulip also offers free or discounted plans for many education, non-profit and community uses, and publishes more than one hundred native integrations plus a documented API.
Main problem it solves
Keeps busy team conversations organised and searchable so distributed teams can follow many discussions at once without losing context, while letting them choose hosted or self-hosted deployment.
Typical customer segment
Distributed and remote teams, open-source projects, universities and research groups, and organisations that want open-source software and control over their data.
Target users
- Remote and distributed teams that work across time zones
- Engineering teams and open-source communities
- Universities, research groups and non-profits that qualify for free or discounted plans
Primary use cases
- Asynchronous team communication organised by topic
- Open-source project and community chat
- Classroom and research group communication
- Self-hosted internal chat for data-sensitive teams
- Replacing a chat tool where long channels have become hard to follow
What makes it distinct
- Every conversation has a topic, so threads stay organised over time
- 100% open-source software that can be hosted by Zulip or self-hosted
- Free or discounted plans for many education, non-profit and community uses
Zulip features explained.
Organised conversations
- Topic-based conversations
- A new conversation starts with a brief topic, replies stay in context, and conversations continue seamlessly over time, according to Zulip's homepage.
- Inbox of unread conversations
- An inbox gives an overview of conversations with unread messages so people can focus on one conversation at a time.
- Search history
- Independent listings report that the Cloud Free plan limits searchable history to 10,000 messages, while Standard and above search all history.
- Replies in context
- Each reply sits inside the conversation it belongs to, so teams can follow one discussion without losing track of the others that are happening.
Hosting, data ownership and migration
- Zulip Cloud
- Hosting operated by the core team that develops Zulip, updated as new features become production-ready, with plans from Free to Plus.
- Self-hosting
- The same open-source software can be installed on Ubuntu or Debian, in Docker, or from prebuilt images for Digital Ocean and Render, with scripts for setup, backup and upgrades.
- Export, import and archives
- Export and import tools move an organisation between Zulip Cloud and its own servers, and message history can be exported to a static HTML archive.
- Migration from other tools
- Zulip's help centre documents moving from Slack, Microsoft Teams and other chat tools.
Administration, security and integrations
- Roles, groups and permissions
- The plans page lists custom user groups, permissions by user role and by user group, limits on guest access to the user list, credential revocation and user creation through the API.
- Identity and directory sync
- AD or LDAP sync is available on request, and independent listings report SAML single sign-on and SCIM sync on Cloud Plus and the higher self-hosted plans.
- Integrations and API
- More than one hundred native integrations and hundreds more through third-party extensions, plus a documented API.
- Desktop and mobile apps
- Zulip offers desktop and mobile apps, and its self-hosting page notes that major self-hosted versions are released twice a year.
Zulip pricing and plans.
Structure only; figures not recorded. Checked 20 Oct 2026 against Zulip · iTechGuides · Fitgap.
Pricing model
Per user per month by plan for Zulip Cloud (Free, Standard, Plus) and for self-hosted support plans (Free, Basic, Business, Enterprise). Free or discounted pricing is offered for many non-business uses.
Free plan
Yes
Free trial
Not documented
Zulip plans and prices (USD)
Cloud Free
$0
n/a
5 GB total file storage; independent listings report searchable history limited to 10,000 messages.
Cloud Standard
$6.67 per user per month billed annually; $8 billed monthly
Annual or monthly
5 GB of file storage per user; independent listings report unlimited search history, custom user groups and message retention policies.
Cloud Plus
$10 per user per month billed annually; $12 billed monthly
Annual or monthly
10-user minimum; independent listings report 25 GB per user, SAML single sign-on, SCIM sync and a custom domain.
Self-hosted Free
$0
n/a
The full open-source software; independent listings report limited mobile push notifications.
Self-hosted Basic
About $3.50 per user per month, billed monthly (reported)
Monthly
Reported to add unlimited mobile push notifications and support the open-source project.
Self-hosted Business
About $6.67 per user per month billed annually (reported)
Annual or monthly
Reported to require 25 users and add configurable guest access, single sign-on and directory sync.
Self-hosted Enterprise
Contact sales
Custom
Reported to add OpenID Connect, SCIM, implementation consulting and custom feature development.
The Zulip Cloud prices and the free and discounted-plan details come from zulip.com/plans as reviewed on 20 Oct 2026. The self-hosted Basic, Business and Enterprise figures and several plan limits come from two independent listings, so they are marked as reported. Zulip lists free Standard plan eligibility and special pricing for education, non-profits and other cases, with requests sent to its sales address.
Prices change. Confirm current plans and terms on the vendor's site before you decide.
Visit official website (external) ↗See alternativesZulip integrations, API and platforms.
Important integrations
- 100+ native integrations
- Third-party integration extensions
- Slack, Microsoft Teams and other chat imports
Supported platforms
- Web
- Desktop apps
- Mobile apps
API
A documented API is published at zulip.com/api, and the plans page lists creating users through the API.
Data import and export
Import from Slack, Microsoft Teams and other chat tools is documented, with export and import between Zulip servers and Zulip Cloud and a static HTML archive export.
Individual integrations and apps were not tested for this profile.
Balanced and sourced.
Each point cites a source. Editorial summaries are not customer reviews.
Strengths
- Topic-based conversations keep many parallel discussions organised and easier to revisit later. [1]
- It is 100% open-source software that can be hosted by Zulip or self-hosted, with export and import tools to move between them. [1]
- Zulip offers free or discounted plans for many education, non-profit and community uses. [2]
- More than one hundred native integrations and a documented API support common workflows. [3]
Limitations
- The Cloud Free plan limits file storage to 5 GB in total and, according to independent listings, searchable history to 10,000 messages. [4]
- Cloud Plus has a 10-user minimum, and single sign-on and SCIM are reported only on higher plans. [4]
- Self-hosting means the organisation runs, secures and upgrades its own server. [5]
- Teams used to a single stream of messages need to adopt the habit of naming a topic for each conversation. [1]
Best for
- Distributed teams that want asynchronous chat organised by topic
- Open-source projects, universities and research groups
- Organisations that want open-source chat they can self-host
May be less suited to
- Teams that do not want to name a topic for each conversation
- Organisations that need single sign-on and SCIM on the free tier
Alternatives to Zulip.
Slack
A channel-based team messaging platform with a free plan, per-user paid plans, and AI features that scale…
Explore →Related productMicrosoft Teams
Microsoft's chat, meetings and collaboration app, available free, as a $4 standalone plan or bundled in…
Explore →Related productMattermost
A collaboration platform for secure messaging, playbooks, boards and AI agents that can run self-hosted, in…
Explore →Zulip compared with similar collaboration software.
Summaries come from each profile. This is a side-by-side aid, not a ranking.
| Product | Pricing model | Free plan | Knowledge base and docs | Collaboration | AI features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zulip | Per user by plan; free self-hosted software | Yes, Zulip Cloud Free | Searchable topic history; unlimited search on paid Cloud plans | Topic-based conversations, user groups and guests | Not described in the sources reviewed |
| Coda (Superhuman Docs) | Per Doc Maker; editors and viewers free | Yes | Docs, wikis and tables in one doc | Real-time docs with free editors and viewers | AI in docs; Grammarly and Go bundled from Pro (reported) |
| Confluence | Per user per month by plan, annual | Yes, up to 10 users | Structured pages and spaces | Team spaces, guests, Jira links | Rovo credits on paid plans (reported) |
| Mattermost | Annual seat licences; quote-based | Free evaluation edition; permanent free tier not confirmed | Searchable channel history; Boards on Enterprise | Channels, threads, calls, guests and playbooks | Bring-your-own LLM agents and MCP |
| Microsoft Teams | Per user; standalone or bundled in Microsoft 365 | Yes, with 60-minute meetings | Via SharePoint, OneDrive and Loop | Chat, channels, meetings and calling | Copilot add-on and Copilot Chat |
| Miro | Per member; AI credits and add-ons extra | Yes, three editable boards | Visual boards, not a wiki | Infinite whiteboard with visitors and guests | Credit-based AI, AI workflows and Miro MCP |
Zulip head-to-head.
No published comparisons yet.
Join the discussion.
No published discussions mention this product yet.
Zulip questions and answers
What is Zulip used for?
Zulip is used for team chat where every conversation has a topic. Distributed teams, open-source projects, universities and research groups use it to keep many discussions organised and searchable.
How much does Zulip cost?
On zulip.com/plans reviewed on 20 Oct 2026, Zulip Cloud Free is $0, Standard is $6.67 per user per month billed annually ($8 monthly) and Plus is $10 ($12 monthly) with a 10-user minimum. Self-hosted use is free, with paid plans from about $3.50 per user per month according to independent listings.
Is Zulip free?
Yes. Zulip Cloud has a Free plan and the self-hosted software is free. Zulip also lists free Standard plan eligibility and discounted pricing for education, non-profits and other organisations.
Is Zulip open source and can I self-host it?
Yes. Zulip is 100% open-source software. You can self-host it on Ubuntu or Debian, in Docker, or from prebuilt Digital Ocean and Render images, and you can move between self-hosting and Zulip Cloud using export and import tools.
How does Zulip organise conversations?
Each conversation starts with a brief topic, replies stay in context, and an inbox shows conversations with unread messages so you can focus on one at a time.
Can I move to Zulip from Slack or Microsoft Teams?
Yes. Zulip's help centre documents moving from Slack, Microsoft Teams and other chat tools.
What integrations does Zulip support?
Documented integrations and ecosystem items include 100+ native integrations, Third-party integration extensions, Slack, Microsoft Teams and other chat imports. API details: A documented API is published at zulip.com/api, and the plans page lists creating users through the API.
What are the limitations of Zulip?
The Cloud Free plan limits file storage to 5 GB in total and, according to independent listings, searchable history to 10,000 messages. Cloud Plus has a 10-user minimum, and single sign-on and SCIM are reported only on higher plans. Self-hosting means the organisation runs, secures and upgrades its own server.
Which platforms does Zulip run on?
Zulip is documented as available on: Web, Desktop apps, Mobile apps.
When was the Zulip profile last verified?
Sources for this profile were last reviewed on 20 Oct 2026. 5 sources are listed under Sources, and prices and plans can change, so confirm with the vendor.
Where this information comes from.
- Zulip: organized team chat Zulip Official Accessed 20 Oct 2026
- Zulip plans and pricing Zulip Official Accessed 20 Oct 2026
- Self-host Zulip Zulip Official Accessed 20 Oct 2026
- Zulip pricing and features iTechGuides Third-party Accessed 20 Oct 2026
- Zulip pricing and features Fitgap Third-party Accessed 20 Oct 2026
Further official pages: Zulip plans and pricing (external) · Zulip self-hosting (external)
Zulip Cloud pricing, hosting options and product description were checked against Zulip's own homepage, plans page and self-hosting page on 20 Oct 2026. Self-hosted paid-plan prices and several plan limits come from two independent listings and are marked partial. Product behaviour was not tested.
Stack18 has not tested this product or received anything from the vendor for this profile. Editorial summaries of vendor information are not endorsements. Confirm details with the vendor before buying.
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