Productivity & Collaboration / Team Chat Software
Zulip is a team chat product that organizes workplace messaging into persistent topic-based conversations with cloud and self-hosted deployment options.
Buying snapshot
A compact view of who this tool fits, what it costs, and what to confirm before choosing it.
Product scope
Topic-organized workplace chat, available as managed Zulip Cloud or the same open-source software on customer infrastructure.
Product checked: Oct 6, 2026
Pricing checked: Oct 6, 2026
Pricing plans
Pricing checked: Oct 6, 2026
Cloud Standard and Plus offer annual and monthly billing; Plus requires at least 10 users. Self-hosted Business requires at least 25 users, and Enterprise is priced through sales. Self-hosted software remains free; paid plans add mobile push service and commercial support. Eligible organizations can apply for sponsored Cloud Standard or self-hosted Community access. Self-hosted Basic and Business advertise a first-year organization-level discount. Automatic or manual license management is available; invoice payments require manual management.
Official pricing pageCurrent official sources describe an offer or purchase route differently. The page remains usable, but affected price schema is withheld until the scope is resolved.
Verified plan boundaries that can change the required edition.
Need to view or search beyond the latest 10,000 messages, use retention policies or receive priority support.
Supporting pricing evidenceNeed managed SAML SSO, SCIM provisioning, a custom domain or tighter guest user-list visibility.
Supporting pricing evidenceNeed mobile push service for more than 10 users without Community sponsorship.
Supporting pricing evidenceNeed commercial help with installation, upgrades and advanced configuration.
Supporting pricing evidenceNeed hands-on support, advanced deployment consulting or custom development.
Supporting pricing evidenceProduct scope
Material capabilities are separated by their verified relationship to the target product.
Scope is push-notification content and metadata; no general stored-chat E2EE claim.
Guest user-list visibility controls differ by deployment and cloud plan.
Retention does not establish legal hold or regulated archiving certification.
Self-hosted tiers use the same open-source software; services and support differ.
Cloud Plus supplies managed SAML; self-hosted SAML software is freely available and customer-configured.
Cloud Free retains older messages but hides them beyond its 10,000-message window.
Ordinary Self-hosted Free is limited to organizations up to ten users. Community eligibility and registration apply.
Zoom, Jitsi and other providers are external services; their prices and entitlements are excluded.
Scoring method
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.
Persistent named topics, channels and direct messages support parallel asynchronous discussions; assess whether the topic structure matches the team’s communication habits.
Channels, guests, roles, file sharing, integrations and an API support collaboration and handoffs; confirm the specific workflows the team expects to manage inside chat.
Named topics keep discussions separable and searchable, while Cloud Free limits viewable and searchable history; confirm the required history window and plan.
Encrypted mobile push content supports a protected alert path, with self-hosted free push eligibility bounded by organization size; confirm alert controls and service eligibility for the chosen deployment.
Configurable integrations and an API connect chat with workplace systems, while Cloud Plus adds SAML, SCIM and a custom domain; validate the exact integration and synchronization behavior required.
Roles, guest accounts, configurable retention and exports support governance; self-hosted SAML and LDAP are available in the software, while Cloud Plus adds SAML and SCIM.
Cloud Free retains older messages but limits their view and search, and self-hosting offers deployment control; confirm archive needs and operating responsibilities because performance and availability commitments are not established here.
Public review signals
SoftwareReviews: 9.2/10 (44 reviews); SourceForge: 5/5 (1 reviews and ratings); TrustRadius: 8.4/10 (4 reviews and ratings)
Public review signals updated: Oct 7, 2026
These ratings are retained for transparency but are not presented as representative buyer sentiment.
Insufficient sample · 1 review or rating
Insufficient sample · 4 reviews and ratings
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.
AI assessment
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
Zulip fits distributed teams that benefit from topic-separated asynchronous chat, including organizations that want to self-host. Before choosing, match the topic workflow to how the team works and verify the required history, storage, guest billing, notification service and administration model for the selected plan.
Research transparency
A compact record of the evidence used, what was not tested, and which conclusions still need verification.
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 handlingUnresolved evidence is disclosed on the page; affected deterministic calculations and price schema are withheld when the conflict is blocking.
View research methodologySources checked
FAQ
Channel messages use named topics so separate discussions remain readable and can continue asynchronously.
Zulip Cloud Free is ongoing with a limited history window and storage. The self-hosted open-source software is free; vendor push service and commercial support have separate plan conditions.
No. These software features are freely available when self-hosting; paid plans affect vendor services and support.
Older messages remain stored but cannot be viewed or searched beyond the most recent 10,000-message window. Upgrading restores access.
Eligible new self-hosted customers can start a 30-day Basic trial. Cancel during the trial to avoid charges; permanent free options remain separate.
Self-hosted plans can be purchased for individual organizations or for an entire server. Multiple plans cannot be mixed within one organization.
Zulip explicitly provides end-to-end encryption for mobile push-notification content. Its general client/server communication uses TLS; this does not establish end-to-end encryption of all stored chat messages.
Popular comparisons
Only high-scoring and nearby tools from the same subcategory are shown, avoiding comparisons between unrelated use cases.