head to head · open source
Mattermost vs Tracecat
Mattermost has 39,093 GitHub stars, 9,000 forks, 1,012 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Tracecat has 3,804 stars, 416 forks, 137 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Mattermost leads on adoption by 928% (39,093 vs 3,804 stars). Mattermost is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Tracecat is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. Mattermost has attracted 23% as many forks as stars, Tracecat 11%. Tracecat 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
| Mattermost | Tracecat | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 3.8K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.0K | ⑂ 416 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Mattermost if
- You weight community size — 39K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Tracecat if
- You want the Tracecat feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Tracecat fits your workflow better
About Mattermost
Mattermost is an open core, self hosted collaboration platform for teams that need secure chat, workflow automation, voice calling, screen sharing, and AI integration while keeping the deployment under their own control.
read the full Mattermost overview →
About Tracecat
Tracecat is an open source security automation platform for teams and AI agents. It lives in the security operations and incident response ecosystem, combining agents, workflows, lookup tables, and case management in one Python application. The project is licensed under AGPL 3.0, with a separate paid Enterprise Edition directory and feature gates.
read the full Tracecat overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Mattermost or Tracecat more popular?
Mattermost has 39,093 GitHub stars and Tracecat has 3,804. Mattermost has the larger community by that measure.
Are Mattermost and Tracecat free?
Both are open source. Mattermost has no licence declared in this registry, and Tracecat is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Mattermost and Tracecat?
Mattermost is written in TypeScript and Tracecat 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, Mattermost or Tracecat?
Choose Mattermost if you want the larger community (39,093 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Tracecat if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.