head to head · open source
Zulip vs Campfire
Zulip has 26,158 GitHub stars, 10,521 forks, 2,008 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Campfire has 4,813 stars, 824 forks, 37 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zulip leads on adoption by 443% (26,158 vs 4,813 stars). Zulip is written in Python under Apache-2.0; Campfire is written in Ruby under MIT. Zulip has attracted 40% as many forks as stars, Campfire 17%. Zulip 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
| Zulip | Campfire | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 4.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Ruby |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 824 |
| 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 Campfire if
- You want the Campfire feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You evaluated both and Campfire fits your workflow better
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 →
About Campfire
Campfire Campfire is a web based chat application. It supports many of the features you'd expect, including: Multiple rooms, with access controls Direct messages File attachments with previews Search Notifications (via Web Push) @mentions API, with support for bot integrations Running your own Campfire instance Campfire's Docker image contains everything needed for a fully functional, single machine deployment. This includes the web app, background jobs, caching, file serving, and SSL. You can use our pre built image at ghcr.io/basecamp/once campfire:latest , or build your own from this repo. Deploying with ONCE…
read the full Campfire overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zulip or Campfire more popular?
Zulip has 26,158 GitHub stars and Campfire has 4,813. Zulip has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zulip and Campfire free?
Both are open source. Zulip is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Campfire under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zulip and Campfire?
Zulip is written in Python and Campfire in Ruby. 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 Campfire?
Choose Zulip if you want the larger community (26,158 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Campfire if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.