# Zulip Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra > With the help of Capterra, learn about Zulip Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other Team Communication products and more. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/197945/Zulip --- # Zulip Software Review 2026: Features, Integrations, Pros & Cons Last updated on March 13, 2026 Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[Users](#users)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Integrations](#integrations)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews) Zulip ## What is Zulip? Zulip is the only modern team chat app that is designed for both live and asynchronous conversations. Zulip topics create a separate space for each discussion, so different conversations will never get in each other’s way. Teams of all sizes rely on Zulip — Fortune 500 companies, open-source projects, startups, and many others. Zulip is 100% open-source enterprise-grade software, self-hosted or in the cloud. ## What is Zulip used for? [Team Communication](https://www.capterra.com/team-communication-software/)[Collaboration](https://www.capterra.com/collaboration-software/)[Internal Communications](https://www.capterra.com/internal-communications-software/) Overall rating Based on 196 user reviews Reviews sentiment Positive 100% Neutral 0% Negative 0% Starting price $6.67 Per User, Per Month Free trial not available Capterra Shortlist charts the highest-rated and most popular products... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Do you work for Zulip?[Manage this product listing](https://digitalmarkets.gartner.com/get-listed/claim-bx?url=https://zulip.com/&name=Zulip) ## Compare with a popular alternative Capterra selects software alternatives based on relevant features, verified user reviews and user interactions. Placement may be influenced by client status. ### Zulip 4.9 (196) VS. [4.7 (24,036)](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/reviews/) Starting Price $6.67 Per User, Per Month Starting Price $8.75 Per User, Per Month Free Trial Free Version Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version Ease Of Use 4.6 (196) Ease Of Use 4.6 (10,908) Value For Money 4.9 (154) Value For Money 4.5 (6,658) Customer Service 4.8 (136) Customer Service 4.4 (6,409) ## Zulip alternatives [4.6 (5,044)](https://www.capterra.com/p/153140/Connecteam/reviews/) Starting price $29.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 96% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [4.5 (13,544)](https://www.capterra.com/p/184581/Asana-PM/reviews/) Starting price $10.99 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 92% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [4.6 (14,521)](https://www.capterra.com/p/144037/Zoom-Video-Conferencing/reviews/) Starting price $14.99 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 96% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [4.4 (2,883)](https://www.capterra.com/p/76113/Wrike/reviews/) Starting price $10.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 89% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [View all alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/197945/Zulip/alternatives/) ## Who uses Zulip? Based on Capterra reviews from the past 4 years Talk to a software expert to get a free software list tailored to your business needs ## Features Features with the highest number of reviews are displayed first. Those that have no reviews appear next, sorted alphabetically. Real-Time Chat 4.9 (116) 77.59% of 116 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important With this capability, you communicate instantly and organize conversations by streams and topics. Reviewers appreciate Zulip’s threaded chat, fast message delivery, and markdown support, noting it’s easier to follow discussions than Slack or MS Teams. Mobile Access 4.3 (114) 71.93% of 114 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important You get access to Zulip on the go with its mobile app, supporting most functions. Some reviewers find the app reliable and easy to use, but mention navigation and notification controls could improve, and switching between organizations is limited. File Sharing 4.4 (110) 58.18% of 110 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important This aspect lets you quickly upload and share files in chats. Reviewers indicate file sharing is simple and useful for collaboration, but searching files and image handling can be difficult, and some prefer external tools like Google Docs for important files. Alerts/Notifications 4.5 (83) 72.29% of 83 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important It gives you customizable notifications for channels and topics, helping you stay informed. Reviewers appreciate flexible notification settings, email alerts, and reliability, but some report occasional missed notifications and wish for more customization options. Discussions/Forums 4.9 (61) 80.33% of 61 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Zulip offers structured discussions using streams and topics, helping you keep conversations organized. Users think the enforced topic system and clear threading make it efficient for following debates, though some mention long replies can clutter threads. Activity/News Feed 4.7 (61) 70.49% of 61 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Continuous profile-based stream of news and activity Zulip 42 features An @mention is a way to tag or notify a specific person about a message/post Define levels of authorization for access to specific files or systems Integrates with Active Directory Dashboard to view the status of ongoing processes, identify current incidents and track past activities Continuous profile-based stream of news and activity It gives you customizable notifications for channels and topics, helping you stay informed. Reviewers appreciate flexible notification settings, email alerts, and reliability, but some report occasional missed notifications and wish for more customization options. Application programming interface that allows for integration with other systems/databases Ability to make voice calls within the system Communicate using direct chat or messages within the system Provides a channel for team members to share media files, communicate, and work together Manage and track all internal and external communication conducted via calls, email, text, or chat Manage, organize, and store contact information Add customized logos and colors to align with company branding Import and export data to and from software applications Zulip offers structured discussions using streams and topics, helping you keep conversations organized. Users think the enforced topic system and clear threading make it efficient for following debates, though some mention long replies can clutter threads. Store and organize documents in a centralized system Assemble applications and processes by dragging over and arranging pre-built components Store photos of employees This aspect lets you quickly upload and share files in chats. Reviewers indicate file sharing is simple and useful for collaboration, but searching files and image handling can be difficult, and some prefer external tools like Google Docs for important files. Move files across different systems or networks You get access to Zulip on the go with its mobile app, supporting most functions. Some reviewers find the app reliable and easy to use, but mention navigation and notification controls could improve, and switching between organizations is limited. Notifications via mobile devices Manage and support multiple languages With this capability, you communicate instantly and organize conversations by streams and topics. Reviewers appreciate Zulip’s threaded chat, fast message delivery, and markdown support, noting it’s easier to follow discussions than Slack or MS Teams. Notifications that are delivered to users as soon as an event occurs Receive system updates as soon as any changes are made Access work applications remotely, for when working away from the office and/or traveling Provide support to your customers and employees remotely over a shared network Collection, analysis, and representation of numerical data and generation of reports to understand various patterns Set & manage permission levels based on user roles and restrict access to only authorized individuals Digitally share screen view with others Search and filter data across systems to locate required information by entering keywords or certain criteria Allow users to access multiple services after entering their login credentials once Security protocol that ensures secure, encrypted communication over the internet, safeguarding sensitive data from unauthorized access Create and administer polls and surveys Set up connections to third-party platforms to improve business processes Identify and track locations and time zones of your collaborators to enable productive scheduling and cooperation A digital list of items that need to be completed View messages sent by both parties during the chat conversation Presenter can see and hear participants and vice versa Chat with your counterparts over the video in real time Connect with meeting participants remotely over video Get Advice We can help you find the software with the features you need. Features 4.6 (196) 4.6 Based on 196 reviews ## Pricing Value for money 4.9 (154) Free Version Basic $6.67 Per User,Per Month Value for money 4.9 (154) 4.9 Based on 154 reviews ## Integrations [ GitHub](https://www.capterra.com/p/129067/GitHub/) Connect with a Capterra advisor for a free 15-minute consultation Get a personalized software list aligned to your business needs with guidance from our expert advisors. Our team has helped 1 million+ businesses like yours find options that fit their needs. ## Support, customer service and training options Customer Service 4.8 (136) Support - Email/Help Desk - FAQs/Forum - Knowledge Base - Phone Support - 24/7 (Live rep) - Chat Training - In Person - Live Online - Webinars - Documentation - Videos Deployment - Web - Android - iPhone/iPad Typical users - Freelancers - Small businesses - Mid size businesses - Enterprises Customer Service 4.8 (136) 4.8 Based on 136 reviews ## User reviews Overall rating 4.9 Based on 196 reviews Filter by rating 5(172) 4(24) 3(0) 2(0) 1(0) Mentioned topic Sorted by most recent JW Jacob W. Maintainer Computer Software ### "Fast, high quality team chat" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 January 31, 2026 Pros Zulip's interface is very fast, and both the web and mobile apps work well. When we reported a bug in Zulip, the team responded extremely quickly with both a fix and deploying the updated code. There's a wealth of options for private and public channels, types of notifications and their behavior, and robust permissions. Cons Zulip has some unique preferences about threading in channels, where every post is intended to be associated with a "topic". It makes sense once you are used to it, but it requires a little relearning. Switched from [Element](https://www.capterra.com/p/214578/Element/) I found Element/Matrix to be slow and we had issues getting support for issues from the main homeserver. Notifications frequently misbehaved and the banner feature for us, the IRC bridge, was shut down. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. YS Yorgos S. Software Engineer Non-Profit Organization Management ### "Finally! Threads, done right! Thank you Zulip!" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 0.0 0.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 November 17, 2025 Pros Zulip is like a breath of fresh air after working with slack / discord and the like for so many years and struggling with their "threads" implementation. In Zulip, you can - wait for it - \*\*move messages\*\* to the right topic! Once a thread goes off-topic, it's so easy to spin off a different discussion and just move all the messages to the right place. With Zulip, you can finally have \*\*on-topic\*\*, organised, discussions in an instant messaging app! So, not only does Zulip improve on the UX of instant messaging, but it's also Open Source and can be self-hosted. What more to ask for ? Cons Not much. There was a little bit of a learning curve with streams / topics, but it's one of those things that makes it worth it so much that there's no going back. Switched from [Discord](https://www.capterra.com/p/240238/Discord/) [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Improved UX plus the important option of self-hosting and owning your data. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RL Rasmus L. CEO Computer Software ### "Great product with great features and pricing" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 November 10, 2025 We have been using Zulip for more than 5 years, and it just grows on you. It works really well, and the more you use it, the better it seems. For many products this is the other way around. We are a company of 30 and have around 70 users including guests. Zulip is our main communication channel - we barely use e-mail any longer. We chose Zulip over Slack (and many other alternatives) after an extensive research period. Zulip is not perfect, but we have never regretted our choice. Pros It's threaded by default, efficient and feature-rich. Love the structure of it all. Reasonable priced. Guests are free (hosted version). Search actually works, and there are many notification settings. Cons Some media, such as embedded images/video, could be displayed nicer. Some notification settings are missed, e.g.: "don't disturb in these hours" etc. Design and UX polish is getting better, but it still seems a bit lagging compared to other competitors. Alternatives considered [Google Chat](https://www.capterra.com/p/175800/Chat/) [Rocket.Chat](https://www.capterra.com/p/161575/Rocket-Chat/) [Discord](https://www.capterra.com/p/240238/Discord/) [Mattermost](https://www.capterra.com/p/170524/Mattermost/) [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Reasons for choosing Zulip Better pricing. Better feature set for us (threading enforced). Open Source - possible to self-host. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. NS Nazmus S. CEO Information Technology and Services ### "A great Business application , would recommend. " 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 9/10 November 5, 2025 Seamless experience. A great business centered application. Probably having some official videos about the usage of the application would have been nice. Pros \- Ability to create additional folders and topics under a channel. - Security and user assignment - Haven't used the bot but i can imagine the use of it. - Mobile APP for easy access. - Ability to invite user outside the organization. Cons \- Sometimes takes time to load on mac after inactivity. Have to restart to make it work. - Sound notification is not easy to setup on windows. Switched from [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Open source, Cost effective, more advanced than slack. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. CB Cole B. Associate Professor of Pediatrics Research ### "Zulip for a 100% remote academic research group" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 November 3, 2025 Zulip has been a game changer for our group’s collaboration. It combines the immediacy of chat with the structure of email, allowing complex projects and parallel discussions to stay organized without chaos. We no longer lose context between meetings; every idea, file, and decision is easy to find and build on. It has fundamentally improved how we communicate, document, and coordinate our research. Pros Zulip has been an exceptional tool for our research group. Its threaded messaging makes it far easier to follow multiple topics at once compared to chat platforms that collapse everything into one stream. The search and navigation features are excellent; messages are easy to retrieve months later, which has made it ideal for keeping track of discussions and shared resources between meetings. The value for money is outstanding, especially for an academic setting (academic sponsorship FTW!). The integration and automation options (bots/webhooks, GitHub/Zoom integrations) have streamlined our workflow. It’s also an excellent way to organize knowledge between meetings, so important context doesn’t get lost. Cons The learning curve can be a bit steep for new users unfamiliar with streams and topics, but this is rare in the real-world. The mobile app interface feels less fluid than the desktop or web versions, but is still a great convenience. A few minor integrations require manual setup or API familiarity. Alternatives considered [GitHub](https://www.capterra.com/p/129067/GitHub/) [Microsoft Teams](https://www.capterra.com/p/168668/Microsoft-Teams/) [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Reasons for choosing Zulip MS Teams is just awful; GitHub didn't have all the features we needed; Slack doesn't have the features we needed Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. WT William T. Scientific Researcher Education Management ### "Improve my scientific communication" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 November 2, 2025 Pros I find very useful to group all possible topics that currently I'm working on with my team and mark as resolved the ones which seem to be done. For the latter it is quite nice that one can always revisit what was done in the past, even if it was resolved. Likewise, typing of equations using LaTex commands works pretty well! Cons When discussing various topics, it would be nice to be able to reply comments in a separated box. At the moment, I reply comments by using the option "quote". Probably, the Zulip team could improve in that. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. SD Stefano D. Researcher Research ### "Zulip is great for researchers" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 0.0 0.0 Likelihood to Recommend 8/10 November 2, 2025 Very, very positive. I use it for my research activity, where I share news with my collaborators across the globe. Pros The platform is free for researchers, works on every OS, and allows you to type in markdown. It’s well-structured for multi-directional conversations. Cons It has a few bugs when refreshing, and often I have to restart the application. When this happens, I miss messages for my collaborators. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. FB Felipe B. CEO Information Technology and Services ### "Great alternative to $lack" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 November 1, 2025 It's a great alternative to Slack, but cheaper and more stable, and it scale with you if you are a startup Pros The possibility to organize the different conversation based on topics and channels, so you never missed anything. Cons The UI isn't beautiful but really functional. All the rest I think is well though and offers what's needed. Switched from [Huly](https://www.capterra.com/p/10022383/Huly/) We were not able to organize the different conversation happening. Alternatives considered [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Reasons for choosing Zulip Zulip covers all our needs in its free version. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. MC Madison C. Parts Manager Automotive ### "Highly Recommended" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 October 31, 2025 It's been great! Teams crashed, wouldn't open properly and had to manually boot up the "old" version for it to work, it would randomly close in the middle of the work day or fail to show a notification so messages were missed. Zulip has none of these issues. Pros Easy to set up and easy to use. Microsoft Teams was giving me and my coworkers nothing but headaches until I found Zulip as an alternative. UI is great and straightforward, and works seamlessly with my phone. The search function is great and saves me a lot of time when looking for a specific keyword. I would recommend Zulip to anyone! Cons No cons from me. Works exactly how I hoped it would and has made internal communications simple and reliable. Switched from [Microsoft Teams](https://www.capterra.com/p/168668/Microsoft-Teams/) Teams was unreliable; would close itself or fail to display notifications leading to missed communications. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RK Rudo K. Director, Indigenous Guardianship Program Environmental Services ### "Excellent threaded communications app" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 October 31, 2025 We started to use Zulip to have threaded conversations about many different subjects after finding that things were getting lost on Chat, and it worked super well for our purposes. Highly recommended for dynamic remote teams. Pros Intuitive UI to have threaded conversations. Searchability and findability. Ease of use, minimal onboarding. Cons Nothing comes to mind, really! It's a great application (both web and mobile), and it does exactly what it needs to. Switched from [Google Chat](https://www.capterra.com/p/175800/Chat/) Threaded conversations and findability / indexing Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. [View all Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/197945/Zulip/reviews/) Popular comparisons [Microsoft Teams vs Zulip](https://www.capterra.com/compare/168668-197945/Microsoft-Teams-vs-Zulip)[Slack vs Zulip](https://www.capterra.com/compare/135003-197945/Slack-vs-Zulip)[WhatsApp vs Zulip](https://www.capterra.com/compare/180345-197945/WhatsApp-vs-Zulip)[Connecteam vs Zulip](https://www.capterra.com/compare/153140-197945/Connecteam-vs-Zulip)[Telegram vs Zulip](https://www.capterra.com/compare/180347-197945/Telegram-vs-Zulip)[Google Workspace vs Zulip](https://www.capterra.com/compare/197945-247901/Zulip-vs-Google-Workspace)[Asana vs Zulip](https://www.capterra.com/compare/184581-197945/Asana-PM-vs-Zulip)[Basecamp vs Zulip](https://www.capterra.com/compare/56808-197945/Basecamp-vs-Zulip)[Zoom Workplace vs Zulip](https://www.capterra.com/compare/144037-197945/Zoom-Video-Conferencing-vs-Zulip)[Flock vs Zulip](https://www.capterra.com/compare/151072-197945/Flock-vs-Zulip) [Pumble vs Zulip](https://www.capterra.com/compare/197945-218055/Zulip-vs-Pumble)[GoTo Meeting vs Zulip](https://www.capterra.com/compare/163332-197945/GoToMeeting-vs-Zulip)[Wrike vs Zulip](https://www.capterra.com/compare/76113-197945/Wrike-vs-Zulip)[monday.com vs Zulip](https://www.capterra.com/compare/147657-197945/monday-com-vs-Zulip)[Mattermost vs Zulip](https://www.capterra.com/compare/170524-197945/Mattermost-vs-Zulip)[Trello vs Zulip](https://www.capterra.com/compare/197945-211559/Zulip-vs-Trello)[Miro vs Zulip](https://www.capterra.com/compare/128955-197945/Miro-vs-Zulip)[Missive vs Zulip](https://www.capterra.com/compare/152884-197945/Missive-vs-Zulip)[Google Meet vs Zulip](https://www.capterra.com/compare/176572-197945/Google-Hangouts-vs-Zulip)  Independent research methodology Capterra's researchers use a mix of verified reviews, independent research and objective methodologies to bring you selection and ranking information you can trust. 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