Kitsmith / Compare / Mattermost vs Zulip
MacMattermost vs Zulip
Mattermost vs Zulip: verdict, pricing, and specs compared, so you can pick the right one for your Mac.
At a glance
Mattermost
Free limited-use evaluation edition (“Mattermost Entry”) for self-hosting; Professional, Enterprise, and Enterprise Advanced plans are all “contact sales” — no public per-seat price listed on the official pricing pageOpen-source, self-hosted team chat — Homebrew’s own listing calls it exactly that: a “Slack-alternative.”
Zulip
Free (Zulip Cloud: 10,000 messages of history, 5GB storage; self-hosted: every feature, unlimited history, no cost); paid Cloud and self-hosted tiers exist but list no public per-seat price on the official pricing pageOpen-source, thread-based team chat — free to self-host with every feature included, or a managed Zulip Cloud plan with a real free tier.
Spec comparison
Mattermost
- Price
- Free limited-use evaluation edition (“Mattermost Entry”) for self-hosting; Professional, Enterprise, and Enterprise Advanced plans are all “contact sales” — no public per-seat price listed on the official pricing page
- Pricing model
- Freemium
- License
- Open source
- Placement
- Screen
- Channels
- Homebrew · Direct
- Category
- Utilities
Zulip
- Price
- Free (Zulip Cloud: 10,000 messages of history, 5GB storage; self-hosted: every feature, unlimited history, no cost); paid Cloud and self-hosted tiers exist but list no public per-seat price on the official pricing page
- Pricing model
- Freemium
- License
- Open source
- Placement
- Screen
- Channels
- Homebrew · Direct
- Category
- Utilities
The verdict
Both are open-source Slack alternatives that stay quiet about paid pricing — neither publishes a per-seat number, so you contact sales once you outgrow the free option. Where they differ is how complete that free option actually is. Zulip’s self-hosted edition ships with every feature, unlimited history, and no user cap, and Zulip Cloud adds a genuinely hosted free tier (10,000 messages of history, 5GB storage) that needs no server of your own. Mattermost’s only free path is a limited-use technical-evaluation edition for self-hosting — real production use means contacting sales for Professional or Enterprise. The two also organize conversations differently: Zulip tags every message with a topic inside a channel so parallel discussions don’t collapse into one feed, while Mattermost attaches replies to a thread inbox but keeps the main channel as one scrolling stream. Pick Zulip for the more complete free tier and topic-based organization; pick Mattermost if its enterprise/government hardening or native cross-platform apps are what you actually need.
Which one should you pick?
Pick Mattermost if…
- Pick Mattermost if you want native desktop apps across Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android alongside the web client
- Pick Mattermost if government-grade hardening — FedRAMP, STIG-hardened images, air-gapped installs — is something your team actually needs
- Pick Mattermost if built-in 1:1 calls with screen sharing (Professional tier) matter to you, not just messaging
- Pick Mattermost if you’re fine starting on its free evaluation edition and contacting sales directly once you’re ready to deploy for real
Pick Zulip if…
- Pick Zulip if you want the more complete free option — self-hosted Zulip includes every feature, unlimited history, and no user cap, at no cost
- Pick Zulip if you want a genuinely hosted free tier — Zulip Cloud Free needs no server of your own, unlike Mattermost’s free option, which is self-hosted only
- Pick Zulip if topic-threading — tagging every message so parallel conversations don’t collapse into one feed — is the organizing principle you want
- Pick Zulip if you want the flexibility to move between Zulip Cloud and self-hosting later, using Zulip’s own export/import tools
Mattermost vs Zulip — questions people ask
Is Mattermost or Zulip cheaper?
Neither publishes a per-seat price for its paid tiers — both require contacting sales once you outgrow the free option. The free options themselves differ: Zulip’s self-hosted edition is fully featured at no cost for any team size, while Mattermost’s only free option is a limited-use evaluation edition.
Do I need my own server for either?
Not for Zulip — Zulip Cloud Free is a genuinely hosted option with no server required. Mattermost’s free tier is self-hosted only; a free hosted Mattermost plan isn’t listed.
Are Mattermost and Zulip both open source?
Yes — both are open source and self-hostable, though Mattermost’s higher tiers (Enterprise, Enterprise Advanced) are quote-based commercial editions on top of the open-source base.