What is the difference between Rocket.Chat and Flock?

Rocket.Chat is best for Teams that want self-hosted chat with customer-facing features, while Flock is best for Teams wanting messaging with built-in productivity tools. Rocket.Chat starts at Free (self-hosted) and Flock starts at Free.

Is Rocket.Chat or Flock cheaper?

Rocket.Chat starts at Free (self-hosted) and is free. Flock starts at Free with a free tier.

Is there a free alternative to Flock?

Both Rocket.Chat and Flock offer free tiers.

Rocket.Chat vs Flock

Rocket.Chat is open-source communication platform with team chat, video, and omnichannel customer engagement, while Flock is team messaging with built-in to-dos, polls, notes, and file sharing. Rocket.Chat is open source and can be self-hosted, giving you full control over your data. Rocket.Chat is built for teams that want self-hosted chat with customer-facing features, whereas Flock targets teams wanting messaging with built-in productivity tools.

At a glance

	Rocket.Chat	Flock
Best for	Teams that want self-hosted chat with customer-facing features	Teams wanting messaging with built-in productivity tools
Starting price	Free (self-hosted)	Free
Free tier	✓	✓
Open source	✓	—
Free tier available	✓	✓
Open source	✓	—
Bots	✓	—
Federation	✓	—
Notes	—	✓
Omnichannel	✓	—
Polls	—	✓
Self-Hosted	✓	—
To-Dos	—	✓
Video Calls	✓	✓

Rocket.Chat

Strengths

Self-hosted with full data ownership
Combines internal chat and customer-facing messaging
Active open-source community
Federation support for cross-organization chat

Weaknesses

UI feels dated compared to Slack
Self-hosting requires significant DevOps effort
Fewer integrations than mainstream alternatives
Can be resource-intensive to run

Try Rocket.Chat → Full review

Flock

Strengths

Lightweight to-do lists keep daily tasks front and center without project-management overhead
Includes Polls as a core feature, purpose-built for team communication workflows
Free for up to 20 users — generous enough for most small teams to get real work done
Established product with 12+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

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 Flock → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Both Rocket.Chat and Flock are free. You can try both without spending a dollar.

Feature gaps: Rocket.Chat offers Bots, Federation and Omnichannel that Flock lacks. Flock brings Notes, Polls and To-Dos that Rocket.Chat does not have. Both share Video Calls.

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

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

Where each tool shines: Rocket.Chat's biggest strengths are: self-hosted with full data ownership. combines internal chat and customer-facing messaging. Flock's biggest strengths are: lightweight to-do lists keep daily tasks front and center without project-management overhead. includes polls as a core feature, purpose-built for team communication workflows.

Watch out for: With Rocket.Chat, users commonly note that ui feels dated compared to slack. With Flock, the main complaint is that free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade.

Choose Rocket.Chat if...

Your profile matches its sweet spot: teams that want self-hosted chat with customer-facing features
You need self-hosting, data sovereignty, or the ability to audit source code
You specifically need Bots and Federation
You care about combines internal chat and customer-facing messaging
Your team size fits the mid-size teams profile Rocket.Chat is designed for

Choose Flock if...

Your profile matches its sweet spot: teams wanting messaging with built-in productivity tools
You specifically need Notes and Polls
You care about includes polls as a core feature, purpose-built for team communication workflows
Your team size fits the small teams profile Flock is designed for
The free tier works for you: free for up to 20 users