--- title: "Zulip Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra" description: "Is Zulip the right Team Communication 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" publication_date: "2026-10-21" --- 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 October 21st, 2026 # Reviews of Zulip Ease of use 4.6 Customer Service 4.8 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews 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. “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 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 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 Ryan S Associate ProfessorInformation Services, Self-employedUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “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.“ December 10, 2024 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 SW Sebastian W University ProfessorHigher Education, 1,001 - 5,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Moreover, proper and clean formatting using Markdown and full LaTeX formula support (like with Mathjax) makes this my preferred tool for coordinating research collaborations.“ December 9, 2024 KB Karin B Operations ManagerRetail, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “We place a high importance on a healthy work-life balance and do not want to message contractors who are not actively working, and Zulip is less than ideal for accomplishing that.“ December 6, 2024 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 196 available reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use JW Jacob W. Maintainer Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Fast, high quality team chat" February 10, 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. Review Source R Reviewer Software Engineer Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Finally! Threads, done right! Thank you Zulip!" November 18, 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. Review Source R Reviewer CEO Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Great product with great features and pricing" November 11, 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. Review Source R Reviewer CEO Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "A great Business application , would recommend. " November 6, 2025 5.0 Seamless experience. A great business centered application. Probably having some official videos about the usage of the application would have been nice. Pros \- Ability to create additional folders and topics under a channel. - Security and user assignment - Haven't used the bot but i can imagine the use of it. - Mobile APP for easy access. - Ability to invite user outside the organization. Cons \- Sometimes takes time to load on mac after inactivity. Have to restart to make it work. - Sound notification is not easy to setup on windows. Review Source R Reviewer Researcher Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Excellent framework for managing research groups" December 11, 2024 5.0 Pros Very simple and intuitive. Possibility to write latex and markdown. Free. Cons iPad app is the same of the mobile one. But I think that it deserves an app similar to the desktop. The mobile app is too simple, with many options not already available. Review Source R Reviewer Associate director Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Perfect chat for serious asynchronous collaboration " December 11, 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. Review Source R Reviewer Chief of Staff Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Great alternative to big name chat systems" November 3, 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 Review Source R Reviewer Associate Professor of Pediatrics Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Zulip for a 100% remote academic research group" November 4, 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. Review Source R Reviewer CTO Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Zulip at Yonderlabs" November 3, 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. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Tech Lead Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Highly recommended" December 13, 2024 5.0 We have been using it successfully at work for some years now, I'm very glad we chose Zulip instead of Slack or Teams. Pros Most organized communication/"chat" tool. Easy to catch up on conversations. Solves the problem of "cross-talking" in channels. Also the most programmer-friendly tool, the syntax highlighting, markdown and LaTeX support are extraordinary. Cons Doesn't have an integrated video meeting + screen sharing tool, but it can integrate with other tools. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Executive Director Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "We really like it!" December 12, 2024 5.0 Radically improved my team's communication. Pros You can move conversations between topics. Totally a game-changer for us. Cons This is a really small thing, but the "follow this topic" thing is something I'd like to turn off – I just want to follow all topics. Also, it would be nice if you could use check boxes to select message that you'd like to move (as opposed to just "all following" or "only this one"). Review Source R Reviewer CTO Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "A breath of fresh air after Slack, Telegram, Discord etc.!" December 16, 2024 5.0 I love Zulip and wish I never had to use Slack or Telegram again. Pros Zulip’s unique topic-based threading model is a complete game-changer in terms of being able to prioritize attention to discussions which matter the most. In contrast, Slack's anonymous threading model is about as sensible as if email was designed without any Subject header. Imagine if your email inbox was full of messages none of which you were able to know what they were about without opening up and reading each one individually! Being able to move messages between topics to keep conversation threads clean and easy to follow is magical. Furthermore, the fact that it's Open Source guarantees long-term freedom to use and enhance however anyone wants. Cons Zulip doesn't enjoy the same network effects as Slack and Discord, therefore there are a lot fewer third party integrations. Also there are one or two gaps in the keyboard shortcuts, e.g. switching between channels should be easier, but it should be easy to fix these. Review Source R Reviewer Owner Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Excellent Small Business Collaboration Tool" December 11, 2024 5.0 As a business owner, I have used Slack, Guilded, and other tools to communicate with my team, and once we switched to Zulip, we have never looked back. It feels like a glove on the hand - you know its there, but it is not in the way and you can focus on the work at hand. Pros Clean interface. Elegant UI decisions. Has every feature I'd want in a team collaboration tool. It is always available. Cons I honestly have no complaints about Zulip. I've had no issues with it, and it always performs as expected. It is rock-solid. Review Source R Reviewer Community member Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Zulip makes chat actually useful" December 12, 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. Review Source R Reviewer Open Source Program Manager Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Delightful, reliable, open source" December 23, 2024 5.0 Using Zulip has been a delightful experience, and its open source model makes it an even more compelling choice. Pros Zulip's unique threading model stands out as its strongest feature, making it easy to follow multiple conversations within a single channel without losing context. The ability to search across streams and topics with advanced filters is another highlight for me. Cons The mobile app occasionally lags behind in performance compared to the desktop version. Review Source R Reviewer Founder Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Slack, but Free and Superior" December 11, 2024 5.0 We've had a pretty seamless and positive experience with Zulip. Pros It's such high-quality software for it to be an open-source tool. Despite some advanced features requiring payment, you can get most of the fundamentals along with some really cool tools on the completely free plan. Cons It would be nice if you could attach your personal Zoom room to the "Start Meeting" button. This may already be a feature, or be a paid feature, but I'm not entirely sure that it's available. The channel structure of Zulip relying on topic threads does require slightly more manual organization than a continuously running channel. Review Source R Reviewer CEO Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Zulip ROCKS!" December 11, 2024 5.0 It is the best chat system. I've used Microsoft Teams, Slack, Discord, Google Chat (Hangouts) and many others. Zulip is the best. Pros The interface with Channels, Topics, and Private chats Cons It's missing a notes feature, but that's not its core function. Review Source R Reviewer Director of Programs Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Fantastic! A+++" December 18, 2024 5.0 Pros It's a wonderful, smooth, secure alternative to Slack - perfect for our growing community. Cons Nothing - all great! I only wish I had found it earlier. Review Source R Reviewer Chair and president Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "User friendly tech solution for most communication platform issues" December 11, 2024 5.0 We love it, its been great. Would highly recommend for any other not for profit, volunteer run organization, or otherwise! Pros The ease of everything. Organization, ease of access, emails with message details. Its all really great Cons For those less familiar with software like slack or teams, it can be a little bit challenging to learn. Review Source R Reviewer CEO Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Golden review from Warsaw Dynamics" November 3, 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 R Reviewer Researcher Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Zulip is great for researchers" November 3, 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 R Reviewer Associate Professor Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Zulip is great for communicating with students" December 12, 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. Review Source R Reviewer Assistant Professor Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Zulip is a logistical boost for new professors/research groups!" December 13, 2024 5.0 As a new professor, I thought it was a great way to stay organized with my growing/new lab members and also people who wish to collaborate with me, and I'm also on other folks' Zulips. I also like that it's easy to link in pages to other places that I use actively like Notion. Pros The easy ways to organize information and people on separate channels. Usually I think being hyper-compartmentalized on other platforms makes things worse, here I think it actually works. I really like breaking down projects/topics more and pulling in who I want on a channel. Cons The notifications on my browser aren't effective. 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. I also think visually when writing a reply in a channel, it gets messy so I often choose to start a new message than reply directly to one. Review Source R Reviewer Professor Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Zulip just works for Maths and Code" December 11, 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 R Reviewer Associate professor Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "It does things well, and it doesn't try to mess with your other tools (unless you want to)." December 11, 2024 5.0 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. Overall experience: 7 out of 5. Pros Simple, direct, integrated with the tools we use (GitLab and GitHu mainly). However, the thing I love the most is that it does its job and doesn't try to do everything (like managing my calendar and email). Cons Bots are not intuitive, especially if you're using the could version. Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Send me user reviews about this product ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.