What is the difference between Rocket.Chat and Lark?

Rocket.Chat is best for Teams that want self-hosted chat with customer-facing features, while Lark is best for Teams wanting an all-in-one collaboration suite. Rocket.Chat starts at Free (self-hosted) and Lark starts at Free.

Is Rocket.Chat or Lark cheaper?

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

Is there a free alternative to Lark?

Both Rocket.Chat and Lark offer free tiers.

Rocket.Chat vs Lark

Rocket.Chat is open-source communication platform with team chat, video, and omnichannel customer engagement, while Lark is integrated workspace combining messaging, video, docs, and project management from ByteDance. 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 Lark targets teams wanting an all-in-one collaboration suite.

At a glance

	Rocket.Chat	Lark
Best for	Teams that want self-hosted chat with customer-facing features	Teams wanting an all-in-one collaboration suite
Starting price	Free (self-hosted)	Free
Free tier	✓	✓
Open source	✓	—
Free tier available	✓	✓
Open source	✓	—
Bots	✓	—
Calendar	—	✓
Docs	—	✓
Federation	✓	—
Messenger	—	✓
OKRs	—	✓
Omnichannel	✓	—
Self-Hosted	✓	—
Video	—	✓
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

Lark

Strengths

Includes Messenger as a core feature, purpose-built for team communication workflows
Includes Video as a core feature, purpose-built for team communication workflows
Free for up to 50 users — generous enough for most small teams to get real work done
Includes docs alongside the core feature set — fewer separate tools needed

Weaknesses

Free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade
Feature-rich interface takes time to learn — not the simplest option for quick adoption
Notification overload is a real problem as the number of channels grows
Mobile experience lags behind the desktop version in features and polish

Try Lark → Full review

The bottom line

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

Feature gaps: Rocket.Chat offers Bots, Federation and Omnichannel that Lark lacks. Lark brings Calendar, Docs and Messenger that Rocket.Chat does not have.

Team fit: Rocket.Chat is geared toward mid-size teams teams, while Lark 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: Rocket.Chat is open source, meaning you can self-host, audit the code, and avoid vendor lock-in. Lark 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. Lark's biggest strengths are: includes messenger as a core feature, purpose-built for team communication workflows. includes video 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 Lark, 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 Lark if...

Your profile matches its sweet spot: teams wanting an all-in-one collaboration suite
You specifically need Calendar and Docs
You care about includes video as a core feature, purpose-built for team communication workflows
Your team size fits the any size profile Lark is designed for
The free tier works for you: free for up to 50 users