head to head · open source
Jitsi vs Zulip
Jitsi has 29,931 GitHub stars, 8,026 forks, 141 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zulip has 25,921 stars, 10,247 forks, 2,008 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Jitsi leads on adoption by 15% (29,931 vs 25,921 stars). Jitsi is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; Zulip is written in Python under Apache-2.0. Jitsi has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, Zulip 40%. Jitsi 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
| Jitsi | Zulip | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 26K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.0K | ⑂ 10K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Jitsi if
- You weight community size — 30K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-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 Jitsi
Jitsi Meet is an open source video conferencing platform built on WebRTC standards, designed for privacy focused, account free video calls. It operates as a standalone web application or embeddable component, supporting both browser based and native mobile usage without requiring user accounts to join meetings. The project lives in the video communication ecosystem, competing directly with proprietary services like Zoom, Google Meet, and Slack’s built in calling.
read the full Jitsi overview →
About Zulip
Zulip is an open source organized team chat application built on topic based threading, aimed at distributed teams that need live and asynchronous conversation in one place, and it is positioned as an open alternative to Slack.
read the full Zulip overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Jitsi or Zulip more popular?
Jitsi has 29,931 GitHub stars and Zulip has 25,921. Jitsi has the larger community by that measure.
Are Jitsi and Zulip free?
Both are open source. Jitsi is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Zulip under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Jitsi and Zulip?
Jitsi 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, Jitsi or Zulip?
Choose Jitsi if you want the larger community (29,931 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Zulip if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.