head to head · open source
Zulip vs octo-server
Zulip has 25,929 GitHub stars, 10,263 forks, 2,008 open issues and last shipped yesterday. octo-server has 1,059 stars, 165 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Zulip leads on adoption by 2,348% (25,929 vs 1,059 stars). Zulip is written in Python under Apache-2.0; octo-server is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Zulip has attracted 40% as many forks as stars, octo-server 16%. Zulip was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (chat, collaboration), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| Zulip | octo-server | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 165 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Zulip if
- You weight community size — 26K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick octo-server if
- You want the octo-server feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and octo-server fits your workflow better
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 →
About octo-server
octo server is the Go backend at the centre of OCTO, an open workplace built for humans and AI agents, and it is aimed at teams that want to self host a collaboration platform where Lobster agents participate in conversations as first class members.
read the full octo-server overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zulip or octo-server more popular?
Zulip has 25,929 GitHub stars and octo-server has 1,059. Zulip has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zulip and octo-server free?
Both are open source. Zulip is licensed under Apache-2.0 and octo-server under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zulip and octo-server?
Zulip is written in Python and octo-server in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Zulip or octo-server?
Choose Zulip if you want the larger community (25,929 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose octo-server if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.