💬 CommunicationApache 2.0 22K+

Zulip

Topic-based team chat for productive async communication

Zulip is the open-source team chat with topic-based threading that makes async communication actually work. With 22K+ GitHub stars, it's the only modern chat app designed for both real-time and asynchronous conversations. Used by Fortune 500 companies and major open-source projects.

Min Memory2 GB
Min CPU2 cores
LicenseApache 2.0
Zulip screenshot

Why Zulip?

Slack's flat message streams don't scale. When you're offline, coming back to hundreds of messages is overwhelming. You can't follow one topic without reading everything. Remote teams and open-source projects need chat that supports async work—where you can catch up efficiently and maintain context.

How It Works

Zulip organizes conversations by topic within streams. Each topic is a mini-thread that keeps context together. When you return after being away, you can quickly scan topics and catch up on what matters. Mark topics as read, follow specific discussions, and participate at your own pace.

What Is Zulip?

Zulip is an open-source team communication platform with topic-based threading. It provides real-time chat with efficient async catch-up, full-text search, integrations, and self-hosting options. Apache 2.0 licensed.

Key Benefits

Why teams choose Zulip

📑

Topic-Based Threading

Every conversation has a topic. Context stays together.

Efficient Catch-Up

Scan topics, read what matters. No infinite scrolling.

🌍

Async-Friendly

Designed for remote teams across time zones.

💬

Real-Time Ready

Works for live chat too. Best of both worlds.

🏆

Open Source Leader

1,500+ contributors. Major OSS projects use it.

🏠

Self-Hosted Free

Full features available on self-hosted instances.

Features

Everything you need to build with Zulip

Topics

Organize conversations within streams by topic.

Full-Text Search

Find any message across your organization.

Integrations

Connect with GitHub, Jira, and hundreds more.

Mobile Apps

Native iOS and Android with full functionality.

Markdown Support

Rich formatting including code blocks and math.

Guest Access

Invite external collaborators with limited access.

Use Cases

What you can build with Zulip

Remote team communication
Open source project discussion
Academic collaboration
Community support
Async-first organizations
Technical teams

Technology Stack

PythonDjangoTypeScriptPostgreSQLDocker

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