head to head · open source
Huly vs Zulip
Huly has 28,042 GitHub stars, 2,187 forks, 849 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zulip has 26,158 stars, 10,521 forks, 2,008 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Huly leads on adoption by 7% (28,042 vs 26,158 stars). Huly is written in TypeScript under EPL-2.0; Zulip is written in Python under Apache-2.0. Huly has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Zulip 40%. Zulip was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Huly | Zulip | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 26K |
| License | EPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.2K | ⑂ 11K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Huly if
- You weight community size — 28K stars and counting
- You want the EPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Zulip if
- You want the Zulip feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Zulip fits your workflow better
About Huly
Huly Platform ⭐️ Your star shines on us. Star us on GitHub! [!IMPORTANT] Hosted Huly is shutting down — please migrate your data. The hosted Huly service is being discontinued because its hosting is no longer being funded. If you keep important data on the hosted platform, export and back it up, and migrate as soon as possible — we can help you move to either a self hosted setup or a hosted option. Not sure how? Follow the backup & restore guide for step by step instructions on downloading your backup and restoring it elsewhere. The service shutdown is expected on July 20 . Please make sure to export and migrate…
About Zulip
Zulip overview Zulip is an open source organized team chat app with unique [topic based threading][why zulip] that combines the best of email and chat to make remote work productive and delightful. Fortune 500 companies, [leading open source projects][rust case study], and thousands of other organizations use Zulip every day. Zulip is the only [modern team chat app][features] that is designed for both live and asynchronous conversations. Zulip is built by a distributed community of developers from all around the world, with 99+ people who have each contributed 100+ commits. With over 1,500 contributors merging…
read the full Zulip overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Huly or Zulip more popular?
Huly has 28,042 GitHub stars and Zulip has 26,158. Huly has the larger community by that measure.
Are Huly and Zulip free?
Both are open source. Huly is licensed under EPL-2.0 and Zulip under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Huly and Zulip?
Huly is written in TypeScript and Zulip in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Huly or Zulip?
Choose Huly if you want the larger community (28,042 stars) or its EPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose Zulip if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.