Compare
Mattermost vs Zulip
Zulip threads every message by topic; Mattermost uses Slack-style channels.
ZulipOpen-source team chat organized by topic threadsWhich to pick
Pick Mattermost if you want…
- Zero-trust, air-gapped team collaboration
- Self-hosted Slack-style chat
- Integrations with REST API, Webhooks or Slash commands (on Mattermost's list, not Zulip's)
Pick Zulip if you want…
- Topic-based threaded chat
- Integrations with Zoom, Jitsi or BigBlueButton (on Zulip's list, not Mattermost's)
Mattermost uses Slack-style channels; Zulip uses topic threads.
Side by side
- What it is
- Mattermost:Mattermost is a self-hosted, secure team messaging and collaboration platform for mission-critical workflows.
- Zulip:Zulip is an open-source team chat app that organizes conversations by topic threads for async collaboration.
- Best for
- Mattermost:Zero-trust, air-gapped team collaboration
- Zulip:Topic-based threaded chat
- Who it’s for
- Mattermost:Enterprises, government, and critical-infrastructure teams needing data sovereignty.
- Zulip:Distributed teams, engineers, educators, open-source communities
- Pricing
- Mattermost:Contact sales
- Zulip:Freemium
- Plans
- Mattermost:—
- Zulip:Free $0 · Standard $0 · Basic (self-hosted) $0
- Open source
- Mattermost:Yes, 39,261 GitHub stars
- Zulip:Yes, 25,994 GitHub stars
- Works with
- Mattermost:REST API, Webhooks, Slash commands, Jira, GitHub, GitLab, ServiceNow, PagerDuty
- Zulip:Zoom, Jitsi, BigBlueButton, Zapier, IFTTT, 130+ native integrations
Mattermost features
- Secure Messaging & Collaboration. Channel-based chat with searchable history, per-channel permissions, and priority messages.
- Workflow Automation. Playbook-driven incident response, change management and compliance with conditional checklists and SLA timers.
- Human-Machine Teaming. Sovereign AI agents that summarize alerts, act on them, and integrate with any LLM you choose.
- Audio & Screenshare. 1-to-1 and group calls with screen sharing, live transcription and AI summaries on your own calls server.
- Project Management Boards. Kanban, table, calendar and gallery boards linked to conversations for task tracking.
- Federation & Interoperability. Secure message federation across Mattermost servers and real-time bridges to Teams, Matrix and XMPP.
Zulip features
- Topic-based threading. Each message is labeled with a topic, keeping discussions organized and easy to follow.
- Unlimited search (Standard+). Search full chat history without limits on Standard and higher plans.
- File storage per user. 5 GB per user on Standard, 25 GB per user on Plus.
- Advanced permissions. Custom groups, flexible roles, and granular admin controls.
- Integrations & bridges. 130+ native integrations plus bridges to Slack, Teams, Matrix, Zapier, IFTTT.
- Self-hosting option. 100 % open-source code can be deployed on-premises for full data sovereignty.
Mattermost vs Zulip FAQ
Is Mattermost or Zulip free?+
Zulip has a free plan and paid plans.
Is Mattermost or Zulip open source?+
Yes, both are open source: Mattermost (mattermost/mattermost on GitHub) and Zulip (zulip/zulip on GitHub, Apache-2.0 license).
Do Mattermost and Zulip integrate with the same tools?+
Their integration lists don't overlap: Mattermost lists REST API, Webhooks, Slash commands, Jira and 4 more; Zulip lists Zoom, Jitsi, BigBlueButton, Zapier and 2 more.
On DevHunt
Based on each tool's website and DevHunt data. Details may change; check the official sites.