head to head · open source
Rocket.Chat vs Zulip
Rocket.Chat has 46,361 GitHub stars, 14,076 forks, 4,023 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zulip has 26,158 stars, 10,521 forks, 2,008 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Rocket.Chat leads on adoption by 77% (46,361 vs 26,158 stars). Rocket.Chat is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Zulip is written in Python under Apache-2.0. Rocket.Chat has attracted 30% as many forks as stars, Zulip 40%. Rocket.Chat was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 6 topic tags (chat, collaboration, foss, free), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Rocket.Chat | Zulip | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 26K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 14K | ⑂ 11K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Rocket.Chat if
- You weight community size — 46K 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 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 Rocket.Chat
The ultimate secure open source solution for team communications Rocket.Chat is an open source, secure, fully customizable communications platform developed in TypeScript for organizations with high standards of data protection. We are the ultimate solution for team communications, enabling real time conversations between colleagues, with other companies, and with your customers or citizens, regardless of how they connect with you. The result is an increase in productivity and user satisfaction rates. Every day, tens of millions of users in over 150 countries and in organizations such as Deutsche Bahn, The US…
read the full Rocket.Chat overview →
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 →
More in Business Software
Related comparisons
More Collaboration & Communication projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Collaboration & Communication field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Rocket.Chat or Zulip more popular?
Rocket.Chat has 46,361 GitHub stars and Zulip has 26,158. Rocket.Chat has the larger community by that measure.
Are Rocket.Chat and Zulip free?
Both are open source. Rocket.Chat has no licence declared in this registry, and Zulip is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Rocket.Chat and Zulip?
Rocket.Chat 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, Rocket.Chat or Zulip?
Choose Rocket.Chat if you want the larger community (46,361 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Zulip if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.