Zulip
Cloud
$6.67 × 10 seats$66.70
× 12 months$800.40
Per year
$6.67 per person / mo
$800
Zulip vs Element
Compare with for .
Zulip
70%
match · $800/yr
Element
45%
match · quote
Zulip is the better fit.
It publishes its prices; the other needs a sales quote.
How we work out the matchWhat matters most?
Fine-tune
What you'd pay
Entry plan for 10 people, billed yearly where offered. Prices checked Oct 2026.
Element
Sales quote
No public priceask sales
Per year
Quote
No public price
Zulip
From $6.67Free plan
G2 4.6 · 117 reviewsTeams that want fully open-source chat they can self-host with no feature gates, especially remote or async teams that prefer topic threads.
vs
Element
From FreeFree plan
G2 4.2 · 43 reviewsGovernments and organizations that need end-to-end encrypted, federated chat on an open standard, including air-gapped networks.
Side by side
| Zulip | Element | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free; Cloud from $6.67/user/month (annual) | Free Community edition; paid plans by quote |
| G2 Rating | 4.6 (117 reviews) | 4.2 (43 reviews) |
| Best For | Teams that want fully open-source chat they can self-host with no feature gates, especially remote or async teams that prefer topic threads. | Governments and organizations that need end-to-end encrypted, federated chat on an open standard, including air-gapped networks. |
Pros and cons
Zulip
Pros
- No open core: free self-hosted edition has every feature
- Public prices on every plan except Enterprise
- Topic threads make long, async discussions easy to follow
- Supports air-gapped hosting
Cons
- Free self-hosted mobile push covers only 10 users
- Topic model takes some getting used to after Slack
- Cloud Plus needs 10 users and self-hosted Business needs 25
Element
Pros
- End-to-end encrypted by default, including calls
- Matrix federation lets separate organizations talk directly
- Air-gapped Sovereign plan with its own push gateway
- Open source under AGPL
Cons
- No public prices, and Enterprise starts at 100 users
- Free Community edition is not meant for production use
- LDAP/AD and audit logs need a paid plan
Sarah Chen