--- title: "Zulip Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra" description: "Is Zulip the right Internal Communications solution for you? Explore 196 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/197945/Zulip/reviews/" page_type: "reviews" language: "en" --- Zulip 4.9 (196) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/197945/Zulip/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated September 16th, 2026 # Reviews of Zulip Ease of use 4.6 Customer Service 4.8 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews JM Jessica M CEOFinancial Services, 201 - 500 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Zulip is exactly the right structure -- each topic is its own conversation thread -- to make the chat history easy to review and retrieve information from even at high conversation volume.“ October 31, 2025 KB Karin B Operations ManagerRetail, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Closing out the app does not change the status. When a user is invisible we don't know if they are not currently working or whether they are just immersed in work in another window and the Zulip app has gone idle.“ December 6, 2024 TP Tommaso P Associate professorHigher Education, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “We use Zulip for discussions between devs and maintainers, and to offer support for users. Since ns-3 is made by many models, I love that the discussions can be organised by channels and threads. Plus, Zulip gives us a simple way to check at a glance the status of issues and merge requests on GitLab, which is great.“ December 6, 2024 KB Karin B Operations ManagerRetail, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Can't save customized status posts and does not automate an off-duty status when user closes app.“ December 6, 2024 NC Niels C CEOBiotechnology, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Great value for money, Opinionated and strictly sorted in topics, New stable mobile app, Secure, Custom emojis are fun, Simple user management“ October 31, 2025 RR Roxanne R Assistant ProfessorResearch, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “It could be user error but I'm supposed to get desktop notifications and they don't appear, on my bookmarks bar the red # showing messages is very delayed.“ December 12, 2024 SG Stefano G ResearcherResearch, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “Everything works smoothly, you can create channels, manage private messages, share files, organize meetings, be notified of what you care about“ December 9, 2024 KB Krzysztof B CEOComputer Software, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Search does not always work, looking for a "youtube" do not find links to youtube.“ October 31, 2025 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 196 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Ryan S. Associate Professor Information Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Zulip is great for communicating with students" December 10, 2024 5.0 Zulip is fantastic software written by people who clearly use it themselves. Pros I use Zulip to communicate with classes of 25–40 students. It is far more efficient than using the communication tools in Canvas, and the mobile app is great for students and for me. Plus there is fantastic support for Markdown, code blocks, images and videos, etc. Cons There is really nothing I find lacking about this software. Switched from [Canvas](https://www.capterra.com/p/127214/CANVAS/) Zulip’s far superior communication tools Review Source RL Rasmus L. CEO Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great product with great features and pricing" November 10, 2025 5.0 We have been using Zulip for more than 5 years, and it just grows on you. It works really well, and the more you use it, the better it seems. For many products this is the other way around. We are a company of 30 and have around 70 users including guests. Zulip is our main communication channel - we barely use e-mail any longer. We chose Zulip over Slack (and many other alternatives) after an extensive research period. Zulip is not perfect, but we have never regretted our choice. Pros It's threaded by default, efficient and feature-rich. Love the structure of it all. Reasonable priced. Guests are free (hosted version). Search actually works, and there are many notification settings. Cons Some media, such as embedded images/video, could be displayed nicer. Some notification settings are missed, e.g.: "don't disturb in these hours" etc. Design and UX polish is getting better, but it still seems a bit lagging compared to other competitors. Alternatives considered [Google Chat](https://www.capterra.com/p/175800/Chat/)[Rocket.Chat](https://www.capterra.com/p/161575/Rocket-Chat/)[Discord](https://www.capterra.com/p/240238/Discord/)[Mattermost](https://www.capterra.com/p/170524/Mattermost/)[Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Reason for choosing Zulip Better pricing. Better feature set for us (threading enforced). Open Source - possible to self-host. Review Source PZ Paul Z. Associate director Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Perfect chat for serious asynchronous collaboration " December 6, 2024 5.0 Wonderful. Makes me feel like I’m flying at 30000 feet. Pros Ease of use; intelligent threading. Ideal for detailed asynchronous discussion. I use it for math-heavy work with teams of 100 or so. And great, fast support! Cons Hard to clone old orgs to make new orgs. I’d like to duplicate some channels. Alternatives considered [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Reason for choosing Zulip Better and was easier to use and it has better math features and markdown integration Review Source JC Jen C. Chief of Staff Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great alternative to big name chat systems" October 30, 2025 5.0 We use it as our primary channel of comms at our company and it's been easy to use, everybody uses it, and we really appreciate the ability to host it on our own internal hardware and control the privacy settings Pros It's easy to use, I like the color-coding and ability to create channels & topics. If you've used any other type of group chat you'll pick it up Cons if you have a lot of channels & topics it can take a while to scroll through relevant ones or sometimes it's hard to find what I'm looking for, especially when it auto-collapses between DM and channels Switched from [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) my boss didn't like slack and wanted to use a non corporate platform Review Source YS Yorgos S. Software Engineer Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Finally! Threads, done right! Thank you Zulip!" November 17, 2025 5.0 Pros Zulip is like a breath of fresh air after working with slack / discord and the like for so many years and struggling with their "threads" implementation. In Zulip, you can - wait for it - \*\*move messages\*\* to the right topic! Once a thread goes off-topic, it's so easy to spin off a different discussion and just move all the messages to the right place. With Zulip, you can finally have \*\*on-topic\*\*, organised, discussions in an instant messaging app! So, not only does Zulip improve on the UX of instant messaging, but it's also Open Source and can be self-hosted. What more to ask for ? Cons Not much. There was a little bit of a learning curve with streams / topics, but it's one of those things that makes it worth it so much that there's no going back. Switched from [Discord](https://www.capterra.com/p/240238/Discord/)[Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Improved UX plus the important option of self-hosting and owning your data. Review Source JW Jacob W. Maintainer Computer Software Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Fast, high quality team chat" January 31, 2026 5.0 Pros Zulip's interface is very fast, and both the web and mobile apps work well. When we reported a bug in Zulip, the team responded extremely quickly with both a fix and deploying the updated code. There's a wealth of options for private and public channels, types of notifications and their behavior, and robust permissions. Cons Zulip has some unique preferences about threading in channels, where every post is intended to be associated with a "topic". It makes sense once you are used to it, but it requires a little relearning. Switched from [Element](https://www.capterra.com/p/214578/Element/) I found Element/Matrix to be slow and we had issues getting support for issues from the main homeserver. Notifications frequently misbehaved and the banner feature for us, the IRC bridge, was shut down. Review Source CB Cole B. Associate Professor of Pediatrics Research Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Zulip for a 100% remote academic research group" November 3, 2025 5.0 Zulip has been a game changer for our group’s collaboration. It combines the immediacy of chat with the structure of email, allowing complex projects and parallel discussions to stay organized without chaos. We no longer lose context between meetings; every idea, file, and decision is easy to find and build on. It has fundamentally improved how we communicate, document, and coordinate our research. Pros Zulip has been an exceptional tool for our research group. Its threaded messaging makes it far easier to follow multiple topics at once compared to chat platforms that collapse everything into one stream. The search and navigation features are excellent; messages are easy to retrieve months later, which has made it ideal for keeping track of discussions and shared resources between meetings. The value for money is outstanding, especially for an academic setting (academic sponsorship FTW!). The integration and automation options (bots/webhooks, GitHub/Zoom integrations) have streamlined our workflow. It’s also an excellent way to organize knowledge between meetings, so important context doesn’t get lost. Cons The learning curve can be a bit steep for new users unfamiliar with streams and topics, but this is rare in the real-world. The mobile app interface feels less fluid than the desktop or web versions, but is still a great convenience. A few minor integrations require manual setup or API familiarity. Alternatives considered [GitHub](https://www.capterra.com/p/129067/GitHub/)[Microsoft Teams](https://www.capterra.com/p/168668/Microsoft-Teams/)[Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Reason for choosing Zulip MS Teams is just awful; GitHub didn't have all the features we needed; Slack doesn't have the features we needed Review Source LC Luca C. CTO Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Zulip at Yonderlabs" October 31, 2025 5.0 Pros Ease to use. Customizable. Transparent. Fair. Moreover, they have a responsive and competent customer support, for the one time we needed it. Cons Channel threading is a great option, until you don't need it. The UI is less polished, compared to other competitors, but in the end this turned out to be a plus: We are here for the functionalities, not for the gifs. Alternatives considered [Discord](https://www.capterra.com/p/240238/Discord/)[Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Reason for choosing Zulip Because its more open and fair, and they don't try to sell you the greatest experience ever ever, it's an honest product that does its job well. Switched from [Microsoft Teams](https://www.capterra.com/p/168668/Microsoft-Teams/) (Skype could not be chosen in the menu above...) Skype was discontinued, but honestly, it was about time. Review Source Response from Kandra Labs November 3, 2025 Hi Luca, I'd like to make sure you're aware of the relatively new option to disable topics in a channel. https://zulip.com/help/general-chat-channels I hope that helps! NC Niels C. CEO Biotechnology Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Better than slack" October 31, 2025 5.0 Does the job at a great price! Have been using it on our 12 ppl team for more than 3 years now. Better than slack, that we used before. Pros Great value for money, Opinionated and strictly sorted in topics, New stable mobile app, Secure, Custom emojis are fun, Simple user management Cons Slow to implement new features. Would love to get a proper "archiving option for topics, not just adding a checkmark. Alternatives considered [Basecamp](https://www.capterra.com/p/56808/Basecamp/) Reason for choosing Zulip Basecamp is much more geared towards pure software development Switched from [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) slack was too messy................ ..... Review Source JM Jessica M. CEO Financial Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Zulip: business chat for teams that want to review and retrieve information from even at high conversation volume" October 31, 2025 5.0 Pros I know most businesses use Slack, but the problem with Slack is that there's not enough structure to the conversations, which all get interleaved, which makes it impossible to get information out of them retrospectively. Zulip is exactly the right structure -- each topic is its own conversation thread -- to make the chat history easy to review and retrieve information from even at high conversation volume. Cons Because Zulip is a less common platform, most folks haven't used it before and have a bit of a learning curve to get fluent in it. I especially recommend that folks invest the time in learning the basic keyboard shortcuts. Alternatives considered [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Reason for choosing Zulip Zulip is better for high-volume internal chat. Review Source R- Rihards -. Community member Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Zulip makes chat actually useful" December 10, 2024 5.0 Pros The chat functionality in the web client is awesome for distributed teams - well, for any team, actually. Splitting in topics, all the formatting options, integration of automation really great. If somebody has only used, let's say, MSTeams chat, Zulip will blow them out of water. From excitement. Cons The mobile app didn't seem to be as polished - for example, the recent topic view could not be found anywhere. Alternatives considered [Telegram](https://www.capterra.com/p/180347/Telegram/)[Discord](https://www.capterra.com/p/240238/Discord/)[Microsoft Teams](https://www.capterra.com/p/168668/Microsoft-Teams/)[Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Reason for choosing Zulip Other solutions were much worse functionally or very closed, proprietary. Switched from [Discord](https://www.capterra.com/p/240238/Discord/)[Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Ease of access, great organisation in topics, very easy to follow conversations in real time and jumping in every now and then, public archive, opensource. Review Source DF Dušica F. Professor Higher Education Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great tool for organizing team work (topics within streams!)" December 6, 2024 5.0 I am very content with this application. I have organised my team not only in separate projects, but also topics within projects, and stored all the content for unlimited time. Now I have everything in one place which makes life much easier. Pros It is an open (free) platform that allows users to store their content for unlimited time. I particularly like having topics within streams, which enables me to group content within projects. Cons I can not think of anything... Maybe not having the possibility to have topics within topics... Alternatives considered [Pumble](https://www.capterra.com/p/218055/Pumble/) Reason for choosing Zulip Zulip has the possibility of organizing the content in topics within streams Switched from [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) they started charging the unlimited time storage of content (messages) Review Source JP Joshua P. Practice Manager Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Zulip is Great!" December 6, 2024 5.0 Excellent. Thank you to \[sensitive content hidden\] & the Team @ Zulip Pros Functionality. Communication well organized in one place. Efficiency with team communication. Cons Slack has a more crisp UI. The interface for Zulip doesn't look great. The backend is good though. Alternatives considered [Discord](https://www.capterra.com/p/240238/Discord/)[Microsoft Teams](https://www.capterra.com/p/168668/Microsoft-Teams/)[Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Reason for choosing Zulip It's better. It's free. I like the company's ethos. Slack burnt another business I worked with their 90d history change. I like that Zulip have said they won't do this kind of thing. That was what prompted me to recommend Zulip over competitors, when I saw it had all the functionality we needed and a good team behind it. Without me recommending and pushing for it though, and implementing it, training people and encouraging them to use it, without that impetus it would not have happened, and we'd be doing many more meetings and meeting minutes. Zulip has saved us money and time. Review Source MM Manuel M. CEO Airlines/Aviation Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Genius tool at the core of our internal communication" December 6, 2024 5.0 Zulip is that nerdy, super-smart friend who might take a minute to warm up to, but you're impressed once you get to know them. It's not trying to be like every other messaging app out there but taking a new approach to internal communications. It might take a little patience to get started, but trust me, it's worth the effort. Think of it like learning to use a sophisticated coffee machine - once you get the hang of it, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it! Pros The way they organize conversations into streams and topics is genius. I don´t have to search the conversations; I know exactly where everything is. This avoids turning everything into a chaotic mess. What sold me is that it's open-source. It's like the Swiss Army knife of team communication. Cons Zulip has a short learning curve, but you must change how you manage conversations as a company. The streams and topics take some getting used to. The GUI isn´t the prettiest, but it is very functional. Switched from [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) The functionality at free tier is crazy different, just the fact that you can search beyond 1 month in the past makes it a no brainer. Review Source EH Edgar H. Frontend Developper Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Zulip's top features are named threads" December 6, 2024 5.0 Pros Zulip's top feature is the ease with which you create named threads, you just type in the thread title, and then start a conversation. By using named threads, conversations are way easier to search, and feel less like a chat, more live a live forum. Cons Everything was great for me, I have recommended Zulip to my past employer and there are still using it, and I'm now using it in my team as well. Alternatives considered [Microsoft Teams](https://www.capterra.com/p/168668/Microsoft-Teams/) Reason for choosing Zulip Because threads are way easier to follow on Zulip Switched from [Mattermost](https://www.capterra.com/p/170524/Mattermost/) Because we found out about threads that are way easier to manage Review Source ED Eduard D. EUDR Specialist - FSC and PEFC auditor Environmental Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Our organisation can't lvie without it anymore!" December 10, 2024 5.0 I first tried to install it myself on an ARM64 system, but I couldn't get it to work. Then went for the hosted version and our organization was up and running with Zulip in no time! Pros The fact that it's free for small companies... It's an ideal way to try out and see whether it is a good fit for our organization. Zulip is very intuitive: all our 9 employees were able to start working with it without any training or instruction. Cons There's nothing I don't like about Zulip. Alternatives considered [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Reason for choosing Zulip Well, Slack is very expensive and for the functionality we need, Slack also seemed overkill. Review Source JG Jan G. Assistant Professor Research Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great for research groups" December 8, 2024 5.0 Great for research groups! The free tier is sufficient for us and all alternatives would be very costly Pros The threading model works very well, the native support of LaTeX is also super helpful Cons The android app works but looks very outdated. Many of my colleagues post into "(no topic)" when using it by accident. Switched from [Microsoft Teams](https://www.capterra.com/p/168668/Microsoft-Teams/)[Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Slack is too expensive and doesn't have LaTeX support + the threading model in Zulip is better. MS Teams does not allow for easy outside collaboration with people who need to be logged in to Teams at their own organization. Review Source JR Jan R. CEO Computer Networking Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Recommendation" December 9, 2024 5.0 We are highly satisfied with Zulip and recommend it to others. Pros Zulip is a user-friendly communicator with many features. Cons We are satisfied and have no comments. Thank you. Switched from [Rocket.Chat](https://www.capterra.com/p/161575/Rocket-Chat/) Because our friends liked Zulip more and that is why is better for us. Review Source KB Krzysztof B. CEO Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Golden review from Warsaw Dynamics" October 31, 2025 5.0 I like UI, channels/topics organization. Please to use it. Totally would recommend to other software teams/companies. Pros Zulip comes at reasonable price. Whenever we contacted Zulip support we received response in timely manner. People familiar with Slack do not have problem with switching to Zulip. Web version works great. I love plain and simple markdown. Bots integration works well. Cons Notifications on phone do not work. Not a problem for me because after work I do not need notifications. Search does not always work, looking for a "youtube" do not find links to youtube.Often content of code snippets are excluded from search. Review Source SD Stefano D. Researcher Research Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Zulip is great for researchers" November 2, 2025 5.0 Very, very positive. I use it for my research activity, where I share news with my collaborators across the globe. Pros The platform is free for researchers, works on every OS, and allows you to type in markdown. It’s well-structured for multi-directional conversations. Cons It has a few bugs when refreshing, and often I have to restart the application. When this happens, I miss messages for my collaborators. Review Source ES Eric S. Senior Manager Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great instant messenger" December 6, 2024 5.0 Great. It's the best instant messenger application I've used and preferred within the company Pros Easy to use, allows you to organize instant messages with teams. Self hosting option is great, we wouldn't be as productive and quick active as we do without zulip. WWE also have Teams, Slack, Zoom, and zulip is by far the best and everyone's preference. Mobile app works great to Cons None. We haven't found any issues with it. We don't have it integrated with video calls, but I know that's something we can do easily with a plug-in. Alternatives considered [Microsoft Teams](https://www.capterra.com/p/168668/Microsoft-Teams/) Reason for choosing Zulip Usability, price, simplicity, efficiency Review Source SG Siddhartha G. Professor Research Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Zulip just works for Maths and Code" December 6, 2024 5.0 I learnt of Zulip because of its use by the Lean community, where it has been superb. Over the years I have seen software communities (mainly scala earlier) move between various discussion forums, always trying to tradeoff. With Zulip everything is essentially as it should be, allowing asynchronous coordination of workflows involving code and mathematics in an intuitive and clean fashion. Except for the phase when Gitter was well maintained, Zulip is the first forum which just works. Pros \* It has excellent support for code and mathematics, and also images. \* Its markdown-based composition support is also excellent, including nice features like timezone independent times. \* It has a very convenient streams and threads model, allowing for focussed discussions over time. \* The apps are good, especially the desktop app. \* The developers are responsive to feature requests and issues raised. Cons I have not faced any real issues with Zulip. Review Source AS Adam S. Director Research Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Productive Workspace + Knowledge Management" December 9, 2024 5.0 Self-hosting knowledge management, onboarding working and learning community. Pros Fast and simple! A complete delight to use. Cons Still some opportunities to make self-hosting cleaner... but amazing docs and process. And the search could be improved. We've fixed ours with an integration to Danswer. Review Source PK Peter K. Developer Telecommunications Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Zulip is great for structured discussion" December 6, 2024 5.0 Currently the best chat system that I know and we have tried matrix/element, discord, Slack and Twist. Pros It is a stable chat with all the features I currently expect. And I prefer Zulip over other systems because of its nicely working topic-based chat. Other systems call this also "threads". It sounds like a small thing but this can make discussions much more structured and searchable. Although it also requires a tiny bit more understanding e.g. how to move comments into other topics or similar but is mostly self-explanatory. Cons The design is a bit old fashioned, but I still prefer this "clean UI" over other solutions. I'm also not sure about the state of the video conferencing for zulip (I think they offered it via jitsi?), but I do not expect this from a chat system at the moment. Also it seems that zulip chats are not e2e encrypted, but not my highest priority. Alternatives considered [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Reason for choosing Zulip Topic-based ("threads") works much better Review Source JLG Juan Luis G. Vice-President Research Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Excellent app" December 7, 2024 5.0 Pros Open source Flexibility Diversity of functions Improvement over time Great desktop app Cons The smartphone app could be improved, in particular the handling of several organizations simultaneously Alternatives considered [Discord](https://www.capterra.com/p/240238/Discord/)[Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Reason for choosing Zulip It's open source. It has no ads. It's free. 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