head to head · open source
Zulip vs blocksuite
Zulip has 25,921 GitHub stars, 10,247 forks, 2,008 open issues and last shipped yesterday. blocksuite has 6,016 stars, 563 forks, 196 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Zulip leads on adoption by 331% (25,921 vs 6,016 stars). Zulip is written in Python under Apache-2.0; blocksuite is written in TypeScript under MPL-2.0. Zulip has attracted 40% as many forks as stars, blocksuite 9%. Zulip was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | blocksuite | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 6.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 563 |
| 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 blocksuite if
- You want the blocksuite feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and blocksuite 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 blocksuite
BlockSuite is an MPL 2.0 licensed TypeScript toolkit for building block based editors and collaborative applications, intended for developers who need to embed, extend, or compose rich content editing rather than adopt a finished product.
read the full blocksuite overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zulip or blocksuite more popular?
Zulip has 25,921 GitHub stars and blocksuite has 6,016. Zulip has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zulip and blocksuite free?
Both are open source. Zulip is licensed under Apache-2.0 and blocksuite under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zulip and blocksuite?
Zulip is written in Python and blocksuite in TypeScript. 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 blocksuite?
Choose Zulip if you want the larger community (25,921 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose blocksuite if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.