Global Tool Radar

Productivity & Collaboration / Team Chat Software

Mattermost Review, Pricing, Pros & Cons

Mattermost is a secure collaboration platform centered on messaging, channels, direct and group communication, file sharing, calls, and controlled deployment for operational teams.

Research by Global Tool Radar Research SystemEvidence checked: Oct 7, 2026AI-assisted · No Global Tool Radar hands-on testView research methodology
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Buying snapshot

Quick buying snapshot

A compact view of who this tool fits, what it costs, and what to confirm before choosing it.

Best for
  • Your organization needs control over its collaboration environment: Mattermost supports deployment on your own infrastructure and private or disconnected environments.
  • Operational teams need conversation and tools in one workspace: Channels, threaded conversations, calls and integration mechanisms support coordinated work.
More buying conditions
  • Retention and legal hold are required: Enterprise and Enterprise Advanced include governance capabilities for those workflows.
Not for
  • You intend to run the free Enterprise binary in production: Its free-version license restricts use to evaluation, testing and non-production.
  • You plan to use Team Edition for government or sensitive commercial work: Mattermost specifically recommends against those Team Edition workloads.
Pricing
  • Free self-hosted Team Edition plus sales-quoted commercial editions. Professional and Enterprise use prepaid annual seat subscriptions.
  • Professional · Requires quote · per seat · custom quote · annual upfront payment · minimum 11 users
Free or trial access
  • Team Edition is an ongoing free edition. A separate one-hour live preview is available. The free Enterprise binary mode is restricted to evaluation, testing and non-production use.

Product scope

Product functionality and purchase scope

The Mattermost collaboration platform centered on channel messaging, direct and group conversations, file sharing, search and calls, with edition-specific identity, governance and operational capabilities.

Product checked: Oct 6, 2026

Functionality reviewed
  • Mattermost Team Edition
  • Mattermost Professional
  • Mattermost Enterprise
  • Mattermost Enterprise Advanced
  • Self-hosted deployment and the documented managed cloud route
Non-target functionality excluded from scoring
  • Entry / free Enterprise binary evaluation as a production plan
  • One-hour preview as a purchasable plan
  • External LLM subscriptions, third-party infrastructure and separately purchased support services
Purchase paths

Pricing checked: Oct 6, 2026

  • Mattermost Cloud: A vendor-managed private cloud deployment provides the Mattermost platform without operating the underlying instance yourself; arrange deployment and licensing with sales.

Pricing plans

Mattermost pricing table

Pricing checked: Oct 6, 2026

Official factConfidence 95%4 linked sources

Professional, Enterprise and Enterprise Advanced are sold through sales quotations. Self-hosted subscription purchases have an eleven-user minimum. Professional and Enterprise licenses are prepaid annually and licensed by activated-user seats. Annual subscriptions require quarterly activated-user reporting. Managed private cloud is available by enquiry. The applicable order sets subscription terms; the standard agreement provides automatic renewal and advance written non-renewal notice.

Official pricing page
Pricing cautions
  • An eleven-user minimum exceeds your commercial deployment budget: Self-hosted license subscriptions require at least eleven users.
  • Compare annual prepayment with your cash-flow requirements: Professional and Enterprise use prepaid annual seat subscriptions.
  • User growth needs to be budgeted through the year: Annual subscriptions require quarterly reporting of activated users; discuss seat additions with sales.
  • Confirm commercial terms in the quotation and order: Commercial tiers require sales pricing, and the applicable order sets subscription terms.
  • Plan written notice before renewal: The standard agreement automatically renews paid subscriptions unless written non-renewal notice is given at least thirty days before term end.
  • Advanced support is a separate purchase: Premier Support is optional for Enterprise and Enterprise Advanced.
  • Confirm free Enterprise mode rights before deploying: The free-version license permits evaluation and non-production use, which is distinct from the ongoing free Team Edition.
PlanPriceBest for
Team EditionMattermost Team EditionSupporting pricing evidence
  • Free
Small teams and hobbyist use that can operate a self-hosted instance.
ProfessionalMattermost ProfessionalSupporting pricing evidence
  • Requires quote · per seat · custom quote · annual upfront payment · minimum 11 users
Technical and operational teams needing managed identity and supported channel collaboration.
EnterpriseMattermost EnterpriseSupporting pricing evidence
  • Requires quote · per seat · custom quote · annual upfront payment · minimum 11 users
Organizations needing retention, legal hold, enterprise search and high availability.
Enterprise AdvancedMattermost Enterprise AdvancedSupporting pricing evidence
  • Requires quote · custom quote · minimum 11 users
Organizations needing specialized security controls for multi-domain operations.

Plan upgrade triggers

Verified plan boundaries that can change the required edition.

What is included, connected, or sold separately

Product scope

What is included, connected, or sold separately

Material capabilities are separated by their verified relationship to the target product.

Direct messages, channels, file sharing and searchIncluded capability

Official source
Webhooks, slash commands and bot integration frameworkIncluded capability

Official source
Enterprise data retention and legal holdPlan-dependent capability

Applies to the commercial Enterprise tiers. Evaluation-only Entry is outside the retained production plan set.

Plan: Team Edition: Unavailable · Professional: Unavailable · Enterprise: Included · Enterprise Advanced: Included
Official source
Enterprise high availability deploymentPlan-dependent capability

Requires deployment architecture in addition to the appropriate subscription.

Plan: Team Edition: Unavailable · Professional: Unavailable · Enterprise: Included · Enterprise Advanced: Included
Official source
Separately purchased Premier SupportPlan-dependent capability

Explicit add-on wording governs the two Enterprise tiers.

Plan: Team Edition: Unavailable · Professional: Unavailable · Enterprise: Optional add-on · Enterprise Advanced: Optional add-on
Official source
How the score is calculated

Scoring method

How the score is calculated

The score uses the category-specific buying dimensions below and their displayed weights.

This page is based on public product information, official sources, structured feature data, and AI assessment. It is not a hands-on lab test unless explicitly stated. Confidence percentages describe our research indicators, not the probability that a claim is true or a measured accuracy rate.

Evidence confidence
85%
AI claim confidence
96%
Required-field evidence status
100%
Evidence freshness
100%
Field traceability
100%
Model agreement
88%
Why this confidence level
  • Evidence confidence uses source level and claim-to-source support; AI claim confidence is shown separately.
  • Required-field evidence status measures whether weighted required claims have evidence links; it does not mean every product behavior was independently verified.
  • 8 of 8 weighted claims have evidence links.
  • 9 A1 documentary official sources and 3 A2 official product sources are linked.
  • 7 independent review sources are retained, including 0 professional sources with an explicit hands-on method.
  • No weighted claim is past the review window.
  • No blocking evidence conflict was identified.
Messaging flow quality25%
82

Direct and group messages, public and private channels, threads, and native audio calls support several team conversation modes; buyers should confirm how these workflows fit their operating practices and external collaboration needs.

Collaboration context workflows15%
77

File sharing, calls, screen sharing, webhooks, slash commands, and bot integrations support coordination and automation; teams relying on formal task ownership or approval routing should verify those specific workflows.

Conversation organization and search15%
82

Threaded discussions and search help teams retrieve conversation context, while channels and file sharing keep related collaboration together; organizations with formal retention or legal-hold requirements should match those needs to Enterprise or Enterprise Advanced.

Notification and attention control15%
50

The documented messaging and channel workflows support communication, but specific alert prioritization, availability, or focus controls are not established; buyers who depend on those controls should confirm them for their deployment.

App workflow continuity10%
66

Webhooks, slash commands, and bot integrations provide stated connection points for automation; buyers needing particular workplace-system synchronization or approval flows should verify the exact integrations and behavior required.

Chat administration and governance10%
84

Enterprise and Enterprise Advanced include retention policies and legal hold, and external deployments can be self-hosted or managed privately; match required controls to the edition and note that Team Edition is not recommended for government or sensitive commercial workloads.

Reliability and scale experience10%
75

High availability is listed for Enterprise and Enterprise Advanced, supporting organizations that require an availability-oriented deployment; buyers should confirm the applicable edition and deployment-specific service expectations.

Public review signals

Ratings and themes reported by public review sites

Capterra: 4.4/5 (168 reviews); G2: 4.3/5 (369 reviews); GetApp: 4.4/5 (168 reviews); Software Advice: 4.4/5 (168 reviews); SoftwareReviews: 8.4/10 (49 reviews); SourceForge: 4.5/5 (2 reviews and ratings); TrustRadius: 8.7/10 (117 reviews and ratings)

Public review signals updated: Oct 7, 2026

Commonly reported strengths

  • TrustRadius's synthesis of five recent reviews highlights self-hosting for security and control over data.
  • TrustRadius's recent-review synthesis highlights organized channels and streamlined technical workflows.

Commonly reported concerns

  • TrustRadius's synthesis of five recent reviews notes inconsistent mobile responsiveness and layout.
  • TrustRadius's recent-review synthesis describes native video calling as less capable than dedicated tools.
Capterra4.4/5
Review count
168 reviews
Source context
Public ratingExact product

History baseline established · Oct 7, 2026
A trend will appear after the next verified snapshot.

View sourceHistory baseline established: Oct 7, 2026
G24.3/5
Review count
369 reviews
Source context
Public ratingExact product

History baseline established · Oct 7, 2026
A trend will appear after the next verified snapshot.

View sourceHistory baseline established: Oct 7, 2026
GetApp4.4/5
Review count
168 reviews
Source context
Public ratingExact product

History baseline established · Oct 7, 2026
A trend will appear after the next verified snapshot.

View sourceHistory baseline established: Oct 7, 2026
Software Advice4.4/5
Review count
168 reviews
Source context
Public ratingExact product

History baseline established · Oct 7, 2026
A trend will appear after the next verified snapshot.

View sourceHistory baseline established: Oct 7, 2026
SoftwareReviews8.4/10
Review count
49 reviews
Source context
Public ratingExact product

History baseline established · Oct 7, 2026
A trend will appear after the next verified snapshot.

View sourceHistory baseline established: Oct 7, 2026
TrustRadius8.7/10
Reviews and ratings
117 reviews and ratings
Source context
Public ratingExact product

History baseline established · Oct 7, 2026
A trend will appear after the next verified snapshot.

View sourceHistory baseline established: Oct 7, 2026

Limited review signals

These ratings are retained for transparency but are not presented as representative buyer sentiment.

SourceForge4.5/5

Insufficient sample · 2 reviews and ratings

Reviews and ratings
2 reviews and ratings
Source context
Public ratingExact product

History baseline established · Oct 7, 2026
A trend will appear after the next verified snapshot.

View sourceHistory baseline established: Oct 7, 2026

Marketplace app signals

Marketplace app signals

These source-reported ratings describe a specific marketplace listing, integration, mobile app, or add-on. They do not automatically represent the complete software product.

Apple App Store4.8/5
Rating count
5.6k ratings
Evaluated scope
Mobile app
Storefront
United States
View source
Google Play4.7/5
Review count
20k+ reviews
Evaluated scope
Mobile app
View source
Microsoft Marketplace4.7/5
Rating count
11 ratings
Evaluated scope
Integration
View source
Score74
Pricing modelFree self-hosted Team Edition plus sales-quoted commercial editions. Professional and Enterprise use prepaid annual seat subscriptions.
Use caseInternal communications
Company sizeEnterprise
Structured tags

Mattermost tag profile

Company size
  • Enterprise
Business function
  • IT admin teams
Use case
  • Internal communications
Deployment model
  • Self-hosted deployment
Compliance requirement
  • Records retention and legal hold
Key features

Mattermost core capabilities

  • Direct and group messaging with public and private channels
  • File sharing, threaded conversations and search
  • Native audio calls and screen sharing
  • Webhooks, slash commands and bot integrations
  • Self-hosted and managed private-cloud deployment options
  • Enterprise-tier data retention, legal hold and high availability
Detailed strengths and purchase cautions
Pros

Why it is worth considering

  • Direct and group messaging, public and private channels, threads, search, and file sharing support ongoing team communication and retrieval.
  • Self-hosted and managed private-cloud options let organizations choose between operating the deployment themselves and enquiring about a managed private environment.
  • Enterprise and Enterprise Advanced include retention policies and legal hold, with high availability also listed for enterprise tiers, supporting buyers whose governance needs match those editions.
Cons

What to confirm before buying

  • Team Edition is self-hosted and is not recommended for government or sensitive commercial workloads
  • the free Enterprise binary is limited to evaluation, testing, and non-production use.
  • Commercial self-hosted subscriptions have an eleven-user minimum, and Professional and Enterprise require annual prepayment, which buyers should account for in procurement and cash-flow planning.
  • Commercial editions require a sales quote, annual subscriptions require quarterly activated-user reporting, and the standard paid agreement renews automatically unless written non-renewal notice is provided at least thirty days before term end.
AI buying perspectives

AI assessment

AI buying perspectives

The assessments below use the same buying criteria. Review their scores, confidence, fit, cautions, and conclusions alongside the sources.

AI assessment updated: Oct 31, 2026

Score comparisonGPTRange
Messaging flow quality820
Collaboration context workflows770
Conversation organization and search820
Notification and attention control500
Chat administration and governance840
App workflow continuity660
Reliability and scale experience750
GPTAI-assisted buyer perspective74

Mattermost fits technical and operational teams that want messaging with self-hosted or managed private-cloud deployment options. Its channels, threaded discussions, search, calls, and file sharing cover team coordination, while edition boundaries, deployment ownership, quoted commercial terms, and the free edition's stated use limits should be checked against the intended workload.

Review confidence
88/100
Model details
Strengths
  • Direct and group messaging, public and private channels, threads, search, and file sharing support ongoing team communication and retrieval.
  • Self-hosted and managed private-cloud options let organizations choose between operating the deployment themselves and enquiring about a managed private environment.
  • Enterprise and Enterprise Advanced include retention policies and legal hold, with high availability also listed for enterprise tiers, supporting buyers whose governance needs match those editions.
Cautions
  • Team Edition is self-hosted and is not recommended for government or sensitive commercial workloads
  • the free Enterprise binary is limited to evaluation, testing, and non-production use.
  • Commercial self-hosted subscriptions have an eleven-user minimum, and Professional and Enterprise require annual prepayment, which buyers should account for in procurement and cash-flow planning.
  • Commercial editions require a sales quote, annual subscriptions require quarterly activated-user reporting, and the standard paid agreement renews automatically unless written non-renewal notice is provided at least thirty days before term end.

Research transparency

How this page was researched

A compact record of the evidence used, what was not tested, and which conclusions still need verification.

Official sources
12
Broad product review sources
7
Marketplace and app-store sources
3
Editorial sources
0
Latest evidence check
Oct 7, 2026
Research basis

Global Tool Radar generated this assessment from structured facts linked to public sources. No Global Tool Radar hands-on test is recorded in this page's research data. Any external hands-on assessment is identified separately and does not affect the Global Tool Radar score.

Conflict handling

Unresolved evidence is disclosed on the page; affected deterministic calculations and price schema are withheld when the conflict is blocking.

View research methodology
Verified findingsTeam Edition is an ongoing free edition. A separate one-hour live preview is available. The free Enterprise binary mode is restricted to evaluation, testing and non-production use.
  • Free self-hosted Team Edition plus sales-quoted commercial editions. Professional and Enterprise use prepaid annual seat subscriptions.
  • Direct and group messaging with public and private channels File sharing, threaded conversations and search Native audio calls and screen sharing Webhooks, slash commands and bot integrations Self-hosted and managed private-cloud deployment options Enterprise-tier data retention, legal hold and high availability
  • Free (Team Edition; self-hosted)
  • Professional, Enterprise and Enterprise Advanced are sold through sales quotations. Self-hosted subscription purchases have an eleven-user minimum. Professional and Enterprise licenses are prepaid annually and licensed by activated-user seats. Annual subscriptions require quarterly activated-user reporting. Managed private cloud is available by enquiry. The applicable order sets subscription terms; the standard agreement provides automatic renewal and advance written non-renewal notice.
Verification notes and unresolved itemsThe commercial editions use sales quotations, and the supplied facts do not provide amounts or detailed performance commitments. Edition-specific capabilities must not be generalized across Team Edition, Professional, Enterprise, and Enterprise Advanced
  • buyers should verify the applicable quote, order, deployment, and exact integration requirements.
  • Identity verified as Mattermost / mattermost in Productivity & Collaboration, Team Chat Software, category 70 and subcategory 468.
  • Full governing prompt and userJson read
  • current official pages inspected on 2026-10-06.
Sources checked

Sources checked

Mattermost source links

Mattermost PlansMattermostLevel A1Linked to 1 scored claimChecked Oct 6, 2026
Talk to an ExpertMattermostLevel A1Linked to 0 scored claimsChecked Oct 6, 2026
Get a QuoteMattermostLevel A1Linked to 4 scored claimsChecked Oct 6, 2026
Mattermost Software and Services License AgreementMattermostLevel A1Linked to 0 scored claimsChecked Oct 6, 2026
Mattermost Enterprise Edition License AgreementMattermostLevel A1Linked to 0 scored claimsChecked Oct 6, 2026
Self-HostedMattermostLevel A1Linked to 0 scored claimsChecked Oct 6, 2026
Subscription OverviewMattermostLevel A1Linked to 4 scored claimsChecked Oct 6, 2026
Flexible DeploymentMattermostLevel A2Linked to 1 scored claimChecked Oct 6, 2026

FAQ

Mattermost FAQ

Is there an ongoing free Mattermost edition?

Yes. Team Edition is free to use and self-hosted. The free mode of the commercial Enterprise binary has different licensing restrictions and is for non-production evaluation.

Are public paid per-user prices available?

Professional, Enterprise and Enterprise Advanced use sales quotations. Professional and Enterprise are prepaid annual seat subscriptions.

Can Mattermost be hosted for us?

Yes. A fully managed private single-tenant cloud deployment is available through sales enquiry.

Is a trial the same as Team Edition?

No. The one-hour live preview and free Enterprise evaluation mode are separate from the ongoing free Team Edition.

Do all editions include legal hold?

Legal hold and data retention policies are included in Enterprise and Enterprise Advanced, rather than Team Edition or Professional.

Popular comparisons

Common Mattermost comparisons

Only high-scoring and nearby tools from the same subcategory are shown, avoiding comparisons between unrelated use cases.

VS #1
MattermostvsElement
74Gap 276

Enterprise / Internal communications / External guest collaboration

VS #2
MattermostvsWire
74Gap 781

Internal communications

VS #3
MattermostvsZulip
74Gap 781

Small business / Enterprise / Internal communications / External guest collaboration