Zulip
Zulip is a powerful, open source group chat application.
- Team Chat
- Python
- Apache-2.0
- Actively maintained
GitHub stats
- GitHub stars
- 25,998
- Forks
- 10,353
- Open issues
- 1,173
- Commits, last 12 months
- 4,853
- Last commit
- Oct 6, 2026
- Latest release
- 12.3Sep 21, 2026
- Created
- Sep 25, 2015
Data from the GitHub API, refreshed daily.
About Zulip
Zulip is a powerful, open source group chat application. Zulip is open source under the Apache-2.0 license and written mainly in Python, so you can read the code, run it on your own hardware and keep full control of your data.
The project has 25,998 stars and 10,353 forks on GitHub, with 4,853 commits over the last year. It installs natively rather than through an official Docker image, so plan for a short manual setup.
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.
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What is Zulip?
Zulip is a free, open-source app you can host on your own server, listed in our Team Chat category. Zulip is a powerful, open source group chat application. The source code lives at github.com/zulip/zulip, where it has 25,998 stars.
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 open-source 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 6, 2026 with 4,853 commits in the past twelve months. The latest release is 12.3, published Sep 21, 2026. Check the open issues on GitHub to gauge how quickly maintainers respond.