What is Zulip used for?

Zulip is an open-source team chat app that organizes conversations into topic-based threads, designed for both live and asynchronous discussion, available hosted or self-hosted. It is a good fit for remote team communication, open-source project community chat and replacing Slack with threaded discussions.

Is Zulip open source?

Yes. Zulip is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at zulip/zulip and is written mainly in Python.

Yes. Zulip is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available, with paid plans from $3.50 per seat per month.

Can I self-host Zulip?

Yes. Zulip can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Zulip an alternative to?

Zulip is an open-source alternative to Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat and Zoho Cliq. Other open-source alternatives to Slack include Rocket.Chat, Mattermost and Element.

Is Zulip actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Zulip was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 12.3, published on 21 September 2026. The project has 26k stars on GitHub.

Zulip: open-source alternative to Slack, Microsoft Teams

About Zulip

Zulip is an open-source team chat application whose defining feature is topic-based threading within channels. The idea is to blend the strengths of email and chat, so that remote and distributed teams can follow several conversations at once and catch up later without losing context. Its topics tag it as a Slack alternative.

The project is developed by a distributed community, with more than a thousand contributors and a steady flow of commits each month, and it says it has put effort into readable, tested code and extensive contributor documentation. The server is a Python web application, and there are web, desktop, built on Electron, and mobile clients, built with React Native. Zulip is used by companies and open-source projects alike, and the README says it is designed for both live and asynchronous communication.

Zulip is licensed under Apache-2.0. You can run the server on your own infrastructure, which gives full control over data, or use the hosted service operated by the project's company. It suits teams that find flat channel-based chat chaotic and want a more structured way to keep discussions organized.

Key features

Topic-based threading in channels
Live and asynchronous conversations
Web, desktop and mobile clients
Self-hosted server or hosted service
Extensive contributor documentation
Python and JavaScript codebase

Good fit for

→Remote team communication
→Open-source project community chat
→Replacing Slack with threaded discussions

Built with: Python; JavaScript; React Native; Electron
Tags: team-chat; collaboration; slack-alternative; threaded-conversations; self-hosted; python; remote-work; messaging

Zulip: questions and answers

What is Zulip used for?: Zulip is an open-source team chat app that organizes conversations into topic-based threads, designed for both live and asynchronous discussion, available hosted or self-hosted. It is a good fit for remote team communication, open-source project community chat and replacing Slack with threaded discussions.
Is Zulip open source?: Yes. Zulip is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at zulip/zulip and is written mainly in Python.
Is Zulip free?: Yes. Zulip is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available, with paid plans from $3.50 per seat per month.
Can I self-host Zulip?: Yes. Zulip can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Zulip an alternative to?: Zulip is an open-source alternative to Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat and Zoho Cliq. Other open-source alternatives to Slack include Rocket.Chat, Mattermost and Element.
Is Zulip actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Zulip was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 12.3, published on 21 September 2026. The project has 26k stars on GitHub.