Rocket.Chat vs Mattermost vs Zulip
Self-hosted team chats, alternatives to Slack. Rocket.Chat is the most complete; Mattermost focuses on devops and Git; Zulip has the unique topic-per-conversation model.
| Tool | ★ GitHub | License | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| | 45,690 | MIT | Nodejs, Docker, K8S |
| | 38,130 | ⊘ Proprietary | Go, Docker, K8S |
| | 25,389 | Apache-2.0 | Python |
Popularity (★ on GitHub)
Rocket.Chat is a complete communication platform (chat, voice, video) that puts data protection first. It's the self-hosted alternative to Slack for companies that need control and compliance.
Mattermost is a secure team chat, similar to Slack, geared toward development and integrated with Git. Self-hosted, it keeps the company's conversations and files on your own infrastructure.
Zulip is a powerful, open source group chat application.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the best self-hosted alternative among Rocket.Chat, Mattermost, Zulip?
It depends on your case. Rocket.Chat is the most popular (45,690 stars). Compare license, platform and features in the table above.
Are Rocket.Chat, Mattermost, Zulip free?
Yes, they're all open source and self-hosted — you run them on your own server with no monthly fee.