# Page 2 | Zulip Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Page 2 - 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: https://www.capterra.com/p/197945/Zulip/reviews --- 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 March 13th, 2026 # Page 2 - Reviews of Zulip ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 26-50 of 196 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use FB Felipe B. CEO Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Great alternative to $lack" November 1, 2025 5.0 It's a great alternative to Slack, but cheaper and more stable, and it scale with you if you are a startup Pros The possibility to organize the different conversation based on topics and channels, so you never missed anything. Cons The UI isn't beautiful but really functional. All the rest I think is well though and offers what's needed. Alternatives considered [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Reason for choosing Zulip Zulip covers all our needs in its free version. Switched from [Huly](https://www.capterra.com/p/10022383/Huly/) We were not able to organize the different conversation happening. Review Source MC Madison C. Parts Manager Automotive Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Highly Recommended" October 31, 2025 5.0 It's been great! Teams crashed, wouldn't open properly and had to manually boot up the "old" version for it to work, it would randomly close in the middle of the work day or fail to show a notification so messages were missed. Zulip has none of these issues. Pros Easy to set up and easy to use. Microsoft Teams was giving me and my coworkers nothing but headaches until I found Zulip as an alternative. UI is great and straightforward, and works seamlessly with my phone. The search function is great and saves me a lot of time when looking for a specific keyword. I would recommend Zulip to anyone! Cons No cons from me. Works exactly how I hoped it would and has made internal communications simple and reliable. Switched from [Microsoft Teams](https://www.capterra.com/p/168668/Microsoft-Teams/) Teams was unreliable; would close itself or fail to display notifications leading to missed communications. Review Source WT William T. Scientific Researcher Education Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Improve my scientific communication" November 2, 2025 5.0 Pros I find very useful to group all possible topics that currently I'm working on with my team and mark as resolved the ones which seem to be done. For the latter it is quite nice that one can always revisit what was done in the past, even if it was resolved. Likewise, typing of equations using LaTex commands works pretty well! Cons When discussing various topics, it would be nice to be able to reply comments in a separated box. At the moment, I reply comments by using the option "quote". Probably, the Zulip team could improve in that. Review Source TK Toby K. Engineer Computer & Network Security Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Simple, effective and not overloaded" October 31, 2025 5.0 Pros Simple, effective, and not overloaded. Zulip is the perfect solution for us with a lot of control, while keeping it easy to organize. The self-hosting options are great if you want more control. Cons Creating bots might be a bit confusing at first as there are many different options and docs. But ultimately it worked great. Review Source RK Rudo K. Director, Indigenous Guardianship Program Environmental Services Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Excellent threaded communications app" October 31, 2025 5.0 We started to use Zulip to have threaded conversations about many different subjects after finding that things were getting lost on Chat, and it worked super well for our purposes. Highly recommended for dynamic remote teams. Pros Intuitive UI to have threaded conversations. Searchability and findability. Ease of use, minimal onboarding. Cons Nothing comes to mind, really! It's a great application (both web and mobile), and it does exactly what it needs to. Switched from [Google Chat](https://www.capterra.com/p/175800/Chat/) Threaded conversations and findability / indexing Review Source MM Marius M. Personal Entertainment Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "The best collaboration platform" May 6, 2025 5.0 It's always been fantastic, from documentation to the community chat and open-source code, as well as implementing integrations. Pros Ease of use, mature and stable software, attentive support team, high quality code and experienced developer/product team! Cons A few nice-to-have features have not matured, such as widgets. Switched from [Discord](https://www.capterra.com/p/240238/Discord/)[Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Switched for better privacy, easier integration, and simpler yet more effective features. Review Source NS Nazmus S. CEO Information Technology and Services Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "A great Business application , would recommend. " November 5, 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. Switched from [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Open source, Cost effective, more advanced than slack. Review Source MC Meredith C. Director of Learning and Administration Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Safe and Reliable - Zulip is invaluable" December 6, 2024 5.0 Our overall experience with Zulip has been amazing. During Covid we were suddenly forced into a situation where teens who had been seeing each other on a regular basis were isolated and we needed a safe reliable way for them to communicate. We started using Zulip at that point, and even when restrictions were lifted have continued to use it - it's a fabulous tool, great for communication, keeping users safe and apart from unwelcome external influences. Pros Zulip is safe and secure for all users - especially for minors who need to contact each other in a safe environment, without the worry of external influences Zulip has been invaluable. For both for administrators and users the desktop product is easy to manage and the layout is intuitive and attractive. Being able to customize it is an added bonus. Users can create individual discussions, or join together easily. Cons The mobile app is less intuitive, but still useable. Alternatives considered [Google Chat](https://www.capterra.com/p/175800/Chat/)[Discord](https://www.capterra.com/p/240238/Discord/)[Microsoft Teams](https://www.capterra.com/p/168668/Microsoft-Teams/) Reason for choosing Zulip The other products were managed by large commercial companies, and did not allow the same customization, and concerns for privacy. Also, there were ads placed, the content and images of which the admins had no control over, meaning you wouldn't know what is going to be displayed next to your messages. Review Source AG August G. CEO Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Zulip is fantastic, but has some painpoints" December 6, 2024 4.0 I love Zulip, it is lightweight and functional and has all the essential features. I would love for it to be easier to organise larger teams, e.g. with documents and/or a clearer and more concise overview of chats and channel data. Pros LaTeX support, markdown editing, Free hosting, simple yet functional. Cons It is hard to keep channels and chats organized. Replying on messages copies the entire message -- this should be some kind of expandable I think. The delay in image uploads behaves strangely. If sending a message with an image, it is possible to send the message before the image is uploaded, but then the image will never appear in the message. The final thing I am missing is a better setup for customizing the UI, and integrating addons. A calendar function and/or a todo-list support would be great! Switched from [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Slack was too corporate and lacked good markdown support. Particularly, it had no LaTeX support! Review Source VP Vincent P. Inspector Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "An organized and fun workspace" December 6, 2024 5.0 I used to be a teacher and I now manage the maths teachers in a French region (2000 math teachers) with 5 other colleagues. I have been using Zulip for years with different work groups (teachers and education managers). Each time I join a new group I present Zulip and it often gets adopted. I currently have three Zulip groups, in each group I have many projects to work on with collaborators. It's very simple to create a Zulip space with a custom name. I can easily switch accounts on my phone and get alerts for each group. I mostly work on my computer, and always have Zulip tabs open, it's really an efficient way of interacting on several projects. For some projects only a sub-group follows the thread so it doesn't anoy the other members of the group. I'm a big fan of markdown and often use the 'spoiler' function. It allows to paste a long mail or text without ruining the experience of short message chats. Thanks to the threads and discussions, we can also use Zulip for some fun small talk on some subjects like we did on WhatsApp (gif and emojis) without cluttering the serious work space. As a bonus we can write maths using LaTeX :) Pros Free, simple, with markdown. Allows my team to be much more organized than when we just had a WhatsApp group and a cloud ! Even non-geeks manage to use it properly. Cons I'd like to have a place with folders and enough space to save files on Zulip instead of using a cloud. I could link to a file directly in Zulip and comment on it. Switched from [WhatsApp](https://www.capterra.com/p/180345/WhatsApp/) Older discussions were lost in a unique thread. Light chats cluttered the work discussions. Review Source SK Sebastian K. Lead dev Program Development Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Best tool to manage non-trivial projects." December 6, 2024 5.0 I have been using Zulip to manage https://github.com/pdf-rs/pdf and related projects for many years now. By far the best tool available to manage medium and large projects efficiently. Pros It is a very effective tool to manage and track many concurrent conversations with specific topics each. Cons My only complaint is that people are not using it enough. One reason I heard for a company to not use it, was problems with data retention certification. Switched from [Discord](https://www.capterra.com/p/240238/Discord/)[Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Discord is unusable. Totally inefficient screen space usage. Conversations get lost quickly. Slack is conversations without threads are not powerful enough. And with threads they are just confusing. Review Source MG Malvin G. Assistant professor Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "A serious tool for research and education" December 6, 2024 5.0 I have used it in small research groups around five people to coordinate joint writing and programming projects, in university courses I teach with a larger number of students, and in a large research community with thousands of members. Pros Zulip is an efficient and tool for communication and coordination in groups of any size. It encourages users to structure discussions into topics so that chat messages naturally evolve into knowledge bases. And if users are not systematic at the start then as a moderator one gets excellent tools to restructure topics, move them to different channels etc. Zulip is fast and efficient. Compared to MS Teams or Slack it uses a lot less resources and the application reacts quickly/instantly. This holds for the desktop and the mobile app. Last not least, Zulip is stable both in the sense that it basically never crashed for me, and in the sense that the interface has looked the same for a couple of years now. It is a pleasure that the developers are NOT changing things for the sake of changing. Cons There are minor bugs sometimes, my favorite one is that the go-back mouse button in the desktop app is broken. (This issue is tracked on GitHub and shall eventually be fixed.) The strong focus on topics can also irritate new users, and the user interface can be overwhelming for users who are more used to being hand-held by competing systems. Alternatives considered [Microsoft Teams](https://www.capterra.com/p/168668/Microsoft-Teams/)[Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Reason for choosing Zulip Faster, less chaotic, more efficient. Open source. Review Source KB Karin B. Operations Manager Retail Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Good alternative for remote communication among independent contractors" December 6, 2024 4.0 Our small business needed a remote communication solution for a collaborative team of independent contractors. We were looking for an app that stood independently of other software systems to eliminate a need for the contractors to need to use their personal accounts and allow them to communicate freely and privately without corporate oversight since they are not employees. We also wanted something that would allow for voice and video calling and file sharing, and the ability to post your status so that each user can see at a glance who is available. The biggest negative feedback we receive using the product is that it is up to the user to manually update a custom status, and custom statuses cannot be saved as a preset. The short list of presets do not include a "lunch" status, for example. And, it's difficult to see who is on or off duty unless they remember to specifically post that. 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. 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. We would prefer it if closing the app automated an "off-duty" status to make it easy to tell who is OK to disturb or not. We love that it works across PC and Mac and across all desktop and mobile devices our contractor team uses, perfect for remote work. Pros Open source and cross-platform functionality Cons Can't save customized status posts and does not automate an off-duty status when user closes app. Alternatives considered [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Reason for choosing Zulip open source, private messaging and independent of other means of communication Switched from [Othership](https://www.capterra.com/p/266602/Othership/) Other - not listed - ICQ. ICQ is no longer available, we were forced to make a change Review Source JG Jon G. Developer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Excellent all around" December 9, 2024 5.0 Excellent, zero complaints. I recommend it to anybody who needs a chat client for work. Pros Huge fan of the customisation options, the very functional UI and especially the topics system makes information way better organised than my time on Slack and Teams. Cons Not much to hate. I had a few features I missed from Slack when we moved but I put feature requests on GitHub and they were all implemented. Alternatives considered [Microsoft Teams](https://www.capterra.com/p/168668/Microsoft-Teams/) Reason for choosing Zulip I trust open source software over Microsoft generally and Teams in particular has been awful every time I've been forced to use it. Switched from [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Massive price increase prompted us to look at other options. Review Source JC Jean-Noël C. Creative and Tech cofounder Computer Games Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Best chat app for remote and async teams" December 12, 2024 5.0 Colleagues who were skeptical at first are now convinced by how Zulip is structured regarding threads. Pros How discussions are structured, it allows me to navigate between multiple subjects / teams without being lost. It simplifies async work between team members. Basically it's an hybrid between a forum and a chat. Cons Onbaording colleagues can be hard because of the UX a bit different from other apps. For instance the lack of a WYSIWYG message editor. Also lacks the ability to create categories to put channels in it. Alternatives considered [Rocket.Chat](https://www.capterra.com/p/161575/Rocket-Chat/)[Discord](https://www.capterra.com/p/240238/Discord/) Reason for choosing Zulip Thread model, No vendor lock-in, open source Switched from [Discord](https://www.capterra.com/p/240238/Discord/)[Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Slack too confusing (lack of proper thread model) and too pricey. Discord is a very bad text chat if you need to do actual work / async work and go back to old threads. Review Source JF Jeff F. Producer Media Production Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great Long-term Service " December 6, 2024 4.0 Our group has had nothing but good experiences with Zulip, and the consistent upgrades and updates make us confident that it's a good long-term product/service for us. Pros Their ties to the open source community and secure, private servers. Cons The interface still has a few elements that aren't simple or elegant. Alternatives considered [Microsoft Teams](https://www.capterra.com/p/168668/Microsoft-Teams/)[Basecamp](https://www.capterra.com/p/56808/Basecamp/) Reason for choosing Zulip Price, security, dissociation from the sketchy behaviors of big tech Switched from [Google Chat](https://www.capterra.com/p/175800/Chat/)[Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) We used Google Allo for years, until Allo ended, and then switched to Slack. When Slack began to get negative press regarding security issues, we decided to go elsewhere Review Source AS Adam S. CTO Political Organization Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "A breath of fresh air after Slack, Telegram, Discord etc.!" December 7, 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. Alternatives considered [Telegram](https://www.capterra.com/p/180347/Telegram/)[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/) Reason for choosing Zulip Zulip’s unique topic-based threading model makes communication much more efficient and stress-free. Switched from [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Zulip’s unique topic-based threading model makes communication much more efficient and stress-free. Review Source DJ Dirk J. Owner Computer Software Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Excellent Small Business Collaboration Tool" December 6, 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. Alternatives considered [Discord](https://www.capterra.com/p/240238/Discord/) Reason for choosing Zulip Discord is not really focused on small businesses. Switched from [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Slack was too expensive and Guilded changed their policies so I could not use it any more. Review Source KB Kevin B. Professor of pure mathematics Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Zulip enabled seamless 500x growth for our community" December 7, 2024 5.0 The app seems to be run by a dedicated team who really care about getting things right at a high level. Again and again we saw very responsive reactions from the devs to even the smallest queries/suggestions for improvement. Pros In six years our community grew from 20 users to 10,000 and Zulip scaled effortlessly. The thread/channel set-up enables many different conversations to happen simultaneously. Extremely fast and efficient technical support. Ability by admins to move threads around to new threads ensures conversations remain coherent even if they split and go off on a tangent. Very powerful linkifier system which we put to extensive use. Cons Search on the Android app is not as powerful as on the desktop app. It is also a great shame that our chat is not indexed by Google because it is by far the largest and most important resource for my community. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Tech Lead Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Highly recommended" December 11, 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. Switched from [Rocket.Chat](https://www.capterra.com/p/161575/Rocket-Chat/) Rocket chat was getting "old" and harder to maintain. Review Source CP Christina P. Assistant Professor Research Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The best there is!" January 8, 2025 5.0 I have used Zulip for 7 years and whenever I have to use another platform it always results in frustration. I always use Zulip for groups and organizations needing an online infrastructure to communicate. Pros I use and recommend Zulip for all organizations and groups. The organization and storage of messages has enhanced the productivity of myself and colleagues for years. Cons There isn't anything I would change about Zulip. Switched from [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) It was too expensive to view messages, Zulip storing messages for free is wonderful. 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 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 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 AL Ash L. Founder Computer Software Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Slack, but Free and Superior" December 6, 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. Switched from [Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/) Slack is too expensive and not really worth the investment, especially for small teams. It also has a clunky design. Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Related categories [Team Communication](https://www.capterra.com/team-communication-software/)[Internal Communications](https://www.capterra.com/internal-communications-software/)[Collaboration](https://www.capterra.com/collaboration-software/) ## 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.