Zulip
Organized team chat for distributed and remote teams
Founded
2012
Starting Price
0
Category
Collaboration
Last updated March 12, 2026
About Zulip
Zulip is a 100% open-source team chat platform that uniquely combines the immediacy of real-time messaging with the organization of threaded discussions using its topic-based threading model. Designed for teams that need to stay productive and focused, it offers streams and topics that keep conversations structured, searchable, and easy to catch up on asynchronously.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Topic-based threading keeps conversations organized and easy to follow, even when catching up asynchronously
- 100% open-source with self-hosted option gives full control over data and deployment
- Generous free tier suitable for small teams and open-source communities
- Excellent search turns message history into a searchable knowledge base
- Rich Markdown and LaTeX support makes it ideal for technical and academic teams
Key Features
Topic-Based Threading
Every message belongs to a topic within a stream, making it easy to follow, participate in, and catch up on multiple conversations without losing context.
Streams & Subscriptions
Organize communication into streams for teams, projects, or topics, with granular subscription controls so users only see what's relevant to them.
Powerful Search
Full-text search across all messages with advanced filters by sender, stream, topic, and date, turning chat history into a searchable knowledge base.
Cross-Platform Apps
Native applications for Web, Desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux), iOS, and Android ensure seamless access from any device.
100+ Integrations & Bots
Connect with GitHub, Jira, Jenkins, Sentry, and 100+ other tools via native integrations, webhooks, and a powerful bot framework.
Markdown & LaTeX Support
Rich message formatting with full Markdown support, syntax highlighting for code blocks, and LaTeX rendering for mathematical expressions.
Pricing
Cloud Free
0/month
- Up to 10,000 message history
- File storage up to 5 GB
- Full-featured web, desktop, and mobile apps
- Topic-based threading
- 100+ integrations
Best For
Open-Source Project Communication
Manage contributor discussions across time zones with topic-based threads that make it easy for volunteers to catch up and participate asynchronously.
Remote & Distributed Teams
Keep globally distributed teams aligned with organized, searchable conversations that don't require everyone to be online at the same time.
Academic & Research Groups
Facilitate scholarly discussions with LaTeX support, code formatting, and structured threads for different research topics and courses.
Enterprise Team Chat
Deploy on-premises with SAML/SSO, LDAP integration, and compliance features for organizations with strict data sovereignty requirements.
Similar Tools
Featured In
#4
7 Best Open-Source Team Communication Platforms You Can Self-Host (2026)
Best for distributed and async-first teams who lose productivity to chat noise. The topic-based threading model is genuinely superior for catching up across time zones — if your team commits to the workflow shift.
#5
5 Tools That Stop Your Team From Using Personal WhatsApp for Work (2026)
Best for async-heavy distributed teams — Zulip's structured threading solves the information overload that drives people to WhatsApp, but requires team commitment to a different messaging paradigm.
