head to head · open source
Plane vs Zulip
Plane has 61,880 GitHub stars, 6,282 forks, 1,103 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zulip has 26,158 stars, 10,521 forks, 2,008 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Plane leads on adoption by 137% (61,880 vs 26,158 stars). Plane is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; Zulip is written in Python under Apache-2.0. Plane has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Zulip 40%. Plane 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
| Plane | Zulip | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 62K | ★ 26K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.3K | ⑂ 11K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Plane if
- You weight community size — 62K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 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 Plane
Modern project management for all teams Website • Forum • X • Documentation Meet Plane, an open source project management tool to track issues, run sprints cycles, and manage product roadmaps without the chaos of managing the tool itself. 🧘♀️ Plane is evolving every day. Your suggestions, ideas, and reported bugs help us immensely. Do not hesitate to join in the conversation on Forum or raise a GitHub issue. We read everything and respond to most. 🚀 Installation Getting started with Plane is simple. Choose the setup that works best for you: Plane Cloud Sign up for a free account on Plane Cloud—it's the…
read the full Plane 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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Plane or Zulip more popular?
Plane has 61,880 GitHub stars and Zulip has 26,158. Plane has the larger community by that measure.
Are Plane and Zulip free?
Both are open source. Plane is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Zulip under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Plane and Zulip?
Plane 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, Plane or Zulip?
Choose Plane if you want the larger community (61,880 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Zulip if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.