Zulip is an open-source team chat that threads every message by topic. Free cloud plan, free self-hosting, Windows desktop app. Pros, cons and download.
Sign in to several Zulip servers in one desktop app
You can use Zulip Cloud or run your own server.
The free cloud plan includes 10,000 messages of search history and 5 GB of file storage in total, and many open-source projects, researchers and non-profits qualify for a free Standard plan.
Free cloud plan searches only the last 10,000 messages
Zoom Workplace Video Meeting App Video meetings, chat and whiteboards; the free Basic plan allows 40-minute meetings for 100 people.
Markdown with code syntax highlighting, LaTeX, polls and to-do lists.
Slack Team Chat App Team chat with channels, huddles and app integrations; the free plan keeps 90 days of messages.
Rocket.Chat Team Chat App Open-source desktop client for Rocket.Chat, a self-hosted team chat free for up to 50 users (where to read about Zulip).
Every message has a topic, so parallel discussions stay separate.
The software is fully open source and free to self-host; the free cloud plan limits searchable history to 10,000 messages.
Discord Voice and Chat App Voice, video and text chat for communities and gaming groups, with screen sharing.
Its main idea is topic-based threading: each channel is split into named topics, so you can catch up on one discussion without scrolling through everything else.
The Windows app connects to several organizations at once.
On first launch enter your organization URL, for example yourteam.zulipchat.com, or create a new organization on zulip.com.
Every message in a Zulip channel belongs to a topic, which works like a lightweight thread that you can read or mute separately.
Zulip is developed by Kandra Labs and released under the Apache License 2.0.
Zulip is the best fit for busy communities and teams that drown in fast-moving channels, because every message belongs to a named topic.
Teams that want built-in video calls without a separate call provider.
Mattermost Team Chat App Open-source desktop client for Mattermost, a self-hosted team chat with free editions for small teams.
Open-source communities, research groups and teams with many parallel discussions.
Webex Video Meeting App Cisco’s meetings and team messaging app; the free plan allows 40-minute meetings with up to 100 people.
Self-hosting is free with all features; mobile push notifications are limited to 10 users for most organizations on the free tier.
Jitsi Meet Video Meeting App Open-source video meetings: join meet.jit.si or your own Jitsi server from a desktop app.
Microsoft Teams Chat and Meeting App Microsoft’s chat and meeting app; the free plan allows 60-minute group calls for up to 100 people.
More than 130 native integrations plus webhooks and a REST API
Sponsored free Standard plan for many communities
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The direct link is Zulip’s small web installer, which downloads and installs the current version.
Start voice and video calls with Zoom, Jitsi or BigBlueButton.
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