Element vs Zulip

Comparing two open source alternatives to Discord and Slack. Use the comparison below to decide which one fits your needs.

Element

AGPL-3.0

Open-source Matrix client for secure, decentralized messaging, voice, and video — runs on your own server.

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Zulip

Apache-2.0

Open-source team chat with a unique topic-based threading model that makes it easy to follow multiple conversations.

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Side-by-side comparison

	Element	Zulip
License	AGPL-3.0	Apache-2.0
Self-hostable	Yes	Yes
GitHub Stars	13,544	25,999
Forks	2,787	10,356
Open Issues	3,729	2,044
Last Commit	Oct 6, 2026	Oct 6, 2026
First Released	Jul 22, 2015	Sep 25, 2015
Categories	Team Chat & Messaging Tools	Team Chat & Messaging Tools
Tags	#chat #messaging #privacy #self hosted #voice chat	#chat #messaging #collaboration

GitHub stars over time

Element13,544

Zulip

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