Zulip
Zulip is an open-source, self-hosted app in the Team Chat category, licensed Apache-2.0 and written mainly in Python. It is a self-hosted alternative to Slack and Discord. It has 26,114 GitHub stars and its last commit was on Oct 26, 2026 (data as of Oct 26, 2026).
GitHub stats
- GitHub stars
- 26,114
- Forks
- 10,479
- Open issues
- 1,169
- Commits, last 12 months
- 5,095
- Last commit
- Oct 26, 2026
- Latest release
- 12.3Sep 21, 2026
- Created
- Sep 25, 2015
- License
- Apache-2.0Open source
Data as of from the GitHub API. Report an error
Project health
ActiveActive: last commit Oct 26, 2026, 5,095 commits in 12 months.
- Regular releases6 releases in 12 months
- Welcomes contributors82 open good-first-issue or help-wanted issues and a contributing guide
- Security policyPublishes a security policy on GitHub
| Last commit | Oct 26, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Commits, last 12 months | 5,095 |
| Latest release | 12.3 (Sep 21, 2026) |
| Releases, last 12 months | 6 |
| Releases, all time | 129 |
| Open issues | 1,169 |
| Open pull requests | 890 |
| Good first issues | 0 |
| Contributing guide | Yes |
| Security policy | Yes |
| Created | Sep 25, 2015 |
Health as of , from the GitHub API. A label describes activity, not quality or security. How we label project health · Report a data error
About Zulip
Zulip is a powerful, open source group chat application.
Description adapted from awesome-selfhosted (CC BY-SA 3.0). Source code: github.com/zulip/zulip.
Topics
- zulip
- python
- python3
- chat
- javascript
- collaboration
- slack
- foss
- free
- apache
Open-source alternative to
Zulip can replace these commercial products. Compare every option on each page.
Repository preview
Compare
Zulip compared
Head-to-head comparisons with a clear verdict on when to pick Zulip.
Rocket.Chat vs Zulip
Pick Rocket.Chat if you want Slack-style channels plus omnichannel customer chat; pick Zulip if your team works asynchronously and wants topic-based threads that stay organized.
Mattermost vs Zulip
Pick Mattermost if you want Slack-style channels with DevOps workflows and enterprise options; pick Zulip if you want topic-based threading and a fully Apache-2.0 server.
Similar apps
More apps like Zulip
Other projects in Team Chat, ranked by GitHub stars.
Rocket.Chat
RocketChat/Rocket.Chat
Communications platform that puts data protection first (alternative to Gitter.im and Slack).
Active · last commit Oct 26, 2026
Team ChatTypeScriptDockerNovu
novuhq/novu
Notification infrastructure for developers.
Active · last commit Oct 26, 2026
Team ChatTypeScriptDockerMattermost
mattermost/mattermost
Platform for secure collaboration across the entire software development lifecycle, can be integrated with Gitlab (alternative to Slack).
Active · last commit Oct 26, 2026
Team ChatTypeScriptDockerChatwoot
chatwoot/chatwoot
Customer communication platform (alternative to Intercom and Zendesk).
Active · last commit Oct 26, 2026
Team ChatRubyDockerntfy
binwiederhier/ntfy
Push notifications to phone or desktop using HTTP PUT/POST, with Android app, CLI and web app, similar to Pushover and Gotify.
Active · last commit Oct 25, 2026
Team ChatGoDockerSimpleX Chat
simplex-chat/simplex-chat
The most private and secure chat and applications platform - now with double ratchet E2E encryption.
Active · last commit Oct 25, 2026
Team ChatHaskell
Is Zulip free and open source?
Yes. Zulip is open-source software released under the Apache-2.0 license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.
Can I run Zulip with Docker?
Zulip does not list an official Docker image. It installs natively (Python), so follow the install steps in its README or look for a community-maintained container.
What are the best alternatives to Zulip?
Popular self-hosted alternatives to Zulip include Rocket.Chat, Novu and Mattermost. Zulip itself is a self-hosted alternative to Slack and Discord.
Is Zulip actively maintained?
The most recent commit to Zulip was on Oct 26, 2026 with 5,095 commits in the past twelve months. The latest release is 12.3, published Sep 21, 2026. It had 1,169 open issues on GitHub. appsgit's project-health label for it is "Active" as of Oct 26, 2026.