What is the difference between Chanty and Zulip?

Chanty is best for Small teams wanting simple, affordable team chat, while Zulip is best for Open-source communities and teams wanting threaded messaging. Chanty starts at Free and Zulip starts at Free.

Is Chanty or Zulip cheaper?

Chanty starts at Free with a free tier. Zulip starts at Free and is free.

Is there a free alternative to Zulip?

Both Chanty and Zulip offer free tiers.

Chanty vs Zulip

Chanty is simple team messaging with tasks, video calls, and unlimited message history on the free plan, while Zulip is open-source team chat with a unique topic-based threading model for organized conversations. Zulip is open source and can be self-hosted, giving you full control over your data. Chanty is built for small teams wanting simple, affordable team chat, whereas Zulip targets open-source communities and teams wanting threaded messaging.

At a glance

	Chanty	Zulip
Best for	Small teams wanting simple, affordable team chat	Open-source communities and teams wanting threaded messaging
Starting price	Free	Free
Free tier	✓	✓
Open source	—	✓
Free tier available	✓	✓
Open source	—	✓
Markdown	—	✓
Open Source	—	✓
Self-Hosted	—	✓
Tasks	✓	—
Threads	✓	—
Topic Threading	—	✓
Unlimited History	✓	—
Video Calls	✓	—

Chanty

Strengths

Unlimited message history on every plan — nothing gets lost or archived
Includes Tasks as a core feature, purpose-built for team communication workflows
Free for up to 5 members — generous enough for most small teams to get real work done
Includes video calls alongside the core feature set — fewer separate tools needed

Weaknesses

Free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Notification overload is a real problem as the number of channels grows
Limited team/admin features if your organization eventually scales up

Try Chanty → Full review

Zulip

Strengths

Open source and transparent
Topic-based threading keeps conversations organized by subject, not just time
Fully open-source — you can self-host, audit the code, and avoid vendor lock-in
The core product is free with no paywalled essentials

Weaknesses

May lack some advanced features
Self-hosting is free but requires server maintenance and DevOps knowledge
Self-hosting requires Linux admin skills and ongoing server maintenance
Notification overload is a real problem as the number of channels grows

Try Zulip → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Both Chanty and Zulip are free. You can try both without spending a dollar.

Feature gaps: Chanty offers Tasks, Threads and Unlimited History that Zulip lacks. Zulip brings Markdown, Open Source and Self-Hosted that Chanty does not have.

Team fit: Chanty is geared toward small teams teams, while Zulip is aimed at any size teams. Pick the one that matches where your team is today and where it is headed — migrating tools later is always painful.

Open source: Zulip is open source, meaning you can self-host, audit the code, and avoid vendor lock-in. Chanty is proprietary — you are trusting the vendor with your data and uptime.

Where each tool shines: Chanty's biggest strengths are: unlimited message history on every plan — nothing gets lost or archived. includes tasks as a core feature, purpose-built for team communication workflows. Zulip's biggest strengths are: open source and transparent. topic-based threading keeps conversations organized by subject, not just time.

Watch out for: With Chanty, users commonly note that free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade. With Zulip, the main complaint is that may lack some advanced features.

Choose Chanty if...

You need a tool built for small teams wanting simple, affordable team chat
You specifically need Tasks and Threads
You care about includes tasks as a core feature, purpose-built for team communication workflows
Your team size fits the small teams profile Chanty is designed for
The free tier works for you: free for up to 5 members

Choose Zulip if...

You need a tool built for open-source communities and teams wanting threaded messaging
You need self-hosting, data sovereignty, or the ability to audit source code
You specifically need Markdown and Open Source
You care about topic-based threading keeps conversations organized by subject, not just time
Your team size fits the any size profile Zulip is designed for