# Slack vs Zulip (2026)

By Noah — last updated & pricing verified October 23, 2026.

> **Verdict:** Choose Slack if you want the largest integration ecosystem, built-in Huddles for calls, Canvas and Lists, and Slackbot AI, with a low learning curve. Choose Zulip if you want topic-threaded chat for distributed or asynchronous teams, open-source Apache 2.0 code you can self-host free with no user cap, or SAML SSO at $10/user/month billed annually. The deciding factor is ecosystem versus ownership and price: Slack connects to 1.7 million weekly active apps, while Zulip costs less at every paid tier and puts SSO on a self-serve plan.

**Choose Slack if:** You want built-in Huddles for audio and video calls without a separate meeting tool; You depend on a huge integration ecosystem: 1.7 million third-party apps are actively used with Slack each week; You want Slackbot, a personal AI agent, plus Claude and Agentforce integrations; Your team expects a low learning curve and does not want to adjust to topic threading; You need legal holds, data loss prevention, and information barriers on an Enterprise+ contract

**Choose Zulip if:** You run a distributed or asynchronous team that needs many parallel conversations per channel, each under a named topic; You want to self-host for free with the complete feature set and no per-user cap; You want open-source Apache 2.0 code you can audit on GitHub; You need SAML SSO and SCIM without an enterprise sales call: Zulip Cloud Plus costs $10/user/month billed annually; You want a cheaper paid plan: $6.67/user/month billed annually for unlimited history, versus Slack Pro at $7.25

## At a glance

|  | Slack | Zulip |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pricing | Free tier · paid from $8.75/mo | Free tier · paid from $3.50/mo |
| License | Freemium | Open source |
| Best for | teams that need organized, searchable chat with channels, quick huddles, and workflow automation, from small teams on the free tier up to large enterprises needing compliance controls | distributed and remote teams, open-source projects, and research groups who need many parallel conversations to stay organized without a flat, scrolling chat feed |
| Ratings | Capterra 4.7/5 (24,182 reviews) | Capterra 4.9/5 (196 reviews) |

## Feature comparison

| Feature | Slack | Zulip |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | Yes (90-day message history, up to 10 integrations) | Yes (Cloud Free with 10,000-message search history and 5GB; self-hosted free with full features) |
| Cheapest paid plan | Yes ($7.25/user/mo billed annually, $8.75 monthly (Pro)) | Yes ($6.67/user/mo billed annually, $8 monthly (Cloud Standard)) |
| Top self-serve plan | Yes ($15/user/mo billed annually, $18 monthly (Business+)) | Yes ($10/user/mo billed annually, $12 monthly (Cloud Plus, 10-user minimum)) |
| SAML SSO | Yes (Enterprise+ only (custom pricing)) | Yes (with SCIM from $10/user/mo billed annually (Cloud Plus)) |
| Platforms | Yes (web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android) | Yes (web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android) |
| Open source | No (freemium, owned by Salesforce) | Yes (Apache 2.0, 25,700+ GitHub stars) |
| Self-hosting | No | Yes (free, full feature set, no user cap) |
| Conversation structure | Yes (persistent topic-based channels) | Yes (every channel split into named topics by default) |
| Audio and video calls | Yes (Huddles; 1:1 on Free, group meetings from Pro) | Unknown |
| Docs and task lists | Yes (Canvas and Lists) | Unknown |
| Workflow automation and AI | Yes (Workflow Builder; Slackbot agent and AI workflows from $15/user/mo (Business+)) | Unknown |
| Integrations | Yes (1.7M weekly active third-party apps; Free capped at 10) | Yes (hundreds, including on Cloud Free) |
| External collaboration | Yes (1:1 external messages on Free, group from Pro) | Yes (guest accounts on Cloud Free) |
| Compliance controls | Yes (DLP, information barriers, legal holds on Enterprise+) | Partial (message retention policies from $6.67/user/mo (Standard)) |
| Learning curve | Yes (low) | Partial (moderate; topic threading takes adjustment) |
| External rating (Capterra) | Yes (4.7/5 from 24,182 reviews) | Yes (4.9/5 from 196 reviews) |

## Slack vs Zulip pricing: which costs less?

Zulip costs less at every paid tier, at $6.67/user/month billed annually for Cloud Standard against $7.25 for Slack Pro, and $10 for Cloud Plus against $15 for Slack Business+, and the self-hosted Zulip edition is free with no user cap.

Monthly billing widens the gap: Zulip Standard is $8/user/month and Plus $12, against $8.75 for Slack Pro and $18 for Slack Business+. Zulip Cloud Plus carries a 10-user minimum, and Self-Hosted Business a 25-user minimum. On free plans, Slack keeps 90 days of message history and up to 10 integrations, while Zulip Cloud Free keeps 10,000 messages of search history with hundreds of integrations. Self-hosted Zulip caps mobile push notifications at 10 users unless you pay $3.50/user/month for Basic or qualify for Zulip's free program.

## Which is better for distributed teams, Slack or Zulip?

Zulip is built for distributed, asynchronous teams, because every Zulip message belongs to a channel and a named topic, so people can catch up on one discussion without reading unrelated messages in the same channel.

Zulip positions this model as better suited to async teams than flat-stream chat. The tradeoff is habit change: teams moving from Slack or Microsoft Teams often need a deliberate adjustment period, which is why Zulip carries a moderate learning curve against Slack's low one. Slack organizes work into persistent channels and adds Huddles for quick audio and video calls without leaving a channel.

## Can you self-host Slack or Zulip?

Zulip can be self-hosted for free with the complete feature set and no per-user cap under the Apache 2.0 license, while Slack is a hosted service owned by Salesforce.

Self-hosted Zulip's paid tiers add services rather than core chat features: Basic at $3.50/user/month adds unlimited mobile push notifications, Business at $6.67/user/month billed annually (25-user minimum) adds support for SSO, AD/LDAP, guests, and exports, and Enterprise adds OpenID Connect, SCIM, and phone support. Self-hosting does mean ongoing server maintenance to match the reliability of Zulip Cloud. Slack's compliance controls, including DLP, information barriers, and legal holds, sit on the custom-priced Enterprise+ plan.

## Which has more integrations, Slack or Zulip?

Slack has the far larger ecosystem, with 1.7 million third-party apps actively used each week, including Google Drive, Asana, Workday, and Salesforce's CRM, while Zulip offers hundreds of integrations, even on its free plan.

Slack's Free plan caps integrations at 10, and Slack Pro removes the cap. Slack also adds Workflow Builder for no-code automation and AI through Slackbot, Claude, and Agentforce integrations.

## Strengths and weaknesses

### Slack

- Pro: Organized, searchable channel-based messaging that scales better than a flat group-chat model.
- Pro: Huge third-party integration ecosystem, including native Salesforce CRM and Google Drive integration.
- Pro: Built-in Huddles provide quick audio/video calls without a separate meeting tool.
- Pro: AI-powered search, summarization, and workflow automation available on Business+.
- Con: Free tier's 90-day message history is limiting for active teams.
- Con: Advanced compliance features (SAML, DLP, legal holds) require the custom-priced Enterprise+ tier.
- Con: Per-user pricing adds up for larger teams, especially at the $18/user/month Business+ tier.
- Con: Some advanced AI features are gated behind Business+ rather than included in Pro.

### Zulip

- Pro: Self-hosted edition is fully open source (Apache 2.0) and free with the complete feature set and no user cap.
- Pro: Topic-based threading keeps many parallel conversations organized within a single channel.
- Pro: Cloud Free plan includes hundreds of integrations and guest accounts, not just a stripped demo.
- Pro: Apps available on web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android.
- Con: Topic-based threading is a different mental model from flat-stream chat and requires teams to adjust their habits.
- Con: Cloud Free caps search history at 10,000 messages, which active teams can hit quickly.
- Con: Cloud Plus and Self-Hosted Business both carry 10- and 25-user minimums, respectively, so small teams pay a per-seat floor.
- Con: Self-hosting requires ongoing server maintenance to get the same reliability as the managed Zulip Cloud.

## Which fits your use case?

| Use case | Pick | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Open-source project or research group running its own chat server | Zulip | Zulip's self-hosted edition is free under Apache 2.0 with the complete feature set and no per-user cap; Slack has no self-hosted option. |
| Startup that lives in Google Drive, Asana, and Salesforce | Slack | Slack connects to 1.7 million weekly active third-party apps, including native Google Drive and Salesforce CRM integrations. |
| Remote team that works asynchronously across many parallel discussions | Zulip | Zulip splits every channel into named topics, so people can follow one discussion without scrolling a merged feed. |
| 50-person company that needs SAML SSO | Zulip | Zulip Cloud Plus includes SAML SSO and SCIM at $10/user/month billed annually, or $500/month for 50 users; Slack puts SAML on the custom-priced Enterprise+ tier. |
| Team that wants quick voice and video calls inside chat | Slack | Slack Huddles start audio and video calls without leaving a channel; the Zulip listing does not mention calls. |
| Regulated enterprise that needs legal holds and DLP | Slack | Slack Enterprise+ includes data loss prevention, information barriers, and legal holds; Zulip lists message retention policies. |

## Migration FAQ

### Should I use Slack or Zulip?

Use Slack if you want the biggest integration ecosystem, Huddles for calls, and Slackbot AI with a low learning curve. Use Zulip if you want topic-threaded chat for async teams, a free self-hosted open-source edition, or SAML SSO at $10/user/month billed annually.

### Is Slack cheaper than Zulip?

No — Slack Pro costs $7.25/user/month billed annually against $6.67 for Zulip Cloud Standard, and Slack Business+ costs $15 against $10 for Zulip Cloud Plus. Zulip's self-hosted edition is also free with no user cap.

### Can Zulip replace Slack?

Yes for team messaging, search, integrations, and SSO, at a lower price and with a self-hosting option. The Zulip listing does not cover Slack's Huddles, Canvas, Lists, or Slackbot AI, and topic threading takes teams time to adjust to.

### Is Zulip free?

Yes — Zulip's self-hosted edition is free with the complete feature set and no per-user cap, though mobile push notifications are capped at 10 users unless you qualify for Zulip's free program or pay for Basic. Zulip Cloud Free includes 10,000 messages of search history and 5GB of file storage.

### How long does Slack's free plan keep messages?

Slack's Free plan keeps 90 days of message history and allows up to 10 app integrations. Slack Pro, at $7.25/user/month billed annually, unlocks unlimited history and apps.

## Neither a match?

- 5 alternatives to Slack: https://findalternative.to/slack
- 5 alternatives to Zulip: https://findalternative.to/zulip

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