COLLAB
Teable ships Scheduled Routines, a four-tier AI model system, and multi-model image generation — three sparks in five days
Alternatives · team collaboration tools
Zulip alternatives
The best Zulip alternatives in team collaboration tools, ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score.
Updated Sep 16, 2026
Looking for the best alternatives to Zulip? Sparkpulse tracks and ranks 12 alternatives in team collaboration tools by shipping velocity — how frequently each ships meaningful updates, verified from official changelogs. For reference, Zulip shipped 0 meaningful updates in the last 30 days and carries a velocity score of 5.0 out of 10 in 2026. The alternatives below are ranked the same way, so you're comparing real release momentum, not marketing claims.
About Zulip
Zulip donates itself to a nonprofit foundation as its founder joins Anthropic.
Two consequential moves landed inside three weeks. Tim Abbott, Zulip's longtime leader, is stepping back to join Anthropic along with three senior Kandra Labs engineers, and the for-profit company is being donated to a newly formed independent Zulip Foundation. In parallel, Zulip Server 12.0 shipped — roughly 5,500 commits, end-to-end encryption for mobile push notifications, a major Docker upgrade, and configurable image previews — alongside routine 11.x security patches and a self-hosted AI search integration via Atolio.
Velocity 5.0 · Last update 4mo ago
Top 12 alternatives to Zulip
Ranked by recent ship velocity. Tap any card for the full editorial breakdown, or pivot to a head-to-head.
DEVOPS
GitHub Copilot tightens enterprise governance while AI security scanning drops its CodeQL prerequisite
COLLAB
Softr ships MCP and embedded agents, making no-code apps AI-orchestratable
COLLAB
Document360 ships collaborative editing and API v3 with OAuth 2.0 in back-to-back releases.
COLLAB
Tana races toward ambient AI assistant — voice commands now execute silently without interrupting you
COLLAB
SiYuan v3.8.4 beta cycle adds agent-controlled database fields, MiniMax image gen, and skill file management
COLLAB
Joplin 3.7 ships AI chat, semantic search, and MCP integration — all off by default, all controllable by the user.
COLLAB
Wiki.js 3.0 beta closes enterprise auth and SEO gaps at sprint pace
PM
Asana embeds AI into Slack threads and closes the rich-text gap with Notion
COLLAB
Hive is building shared AI automation infrastructure into the core of its PM platform.
COLLAB
Double restructures AI pricing with a 93%-cheaper Standard tier, making Ask Double viable at full-book scale
COLLAB
Outline goes browser-native for AI agents with WebMCP, accelerating its bet on agentic knowledge management.
Zulip vs alternatives — shipping velocity at a glance
Velocity score (0–10) and meaningful releases shipped in the last 30 days, from official changelogs. Higher = shipping faster.
| Product | Velocity | Sparks · 30d | Focus areas | Latest release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zulip (baseline) | 5.0 | 0 | governance-transitionself-hosted-chatend-to-end-encryption | Announcing the Zulip Foundation |
| Teable | 10.0 | 3 | scheduled-ai-agentsmulti-modelautomation | Teable ships queued multi-model AI image generation with GPT, Gemini, Grok, and six other models |
| GitHub | 10.0 | 0 | copilotenterprise-governancesecurity | — |
| Softr | 7.5 | 2 | no-codemcpai-agents | A brand new way to build with Softr |
| Document360 | 7.5 | 1 | knowledge-basedocumentationcollaborative-editing | August 2026 - 12.8.4 |
| Tana | 7.5 | 2 | ambient-aivoice-agentmeeting-capture | Hey Tana just does it, a Calendar, and a new Home |
| SiYuan | 6.3 | 1 | local-firstknowledge-managementai-agent | SiYuan v3.8.4-beta.4: agent workspace control and MiniMax image generation |
| Joplin | 6.3 | 1 | note-takingai-integrationprivacy | What's new in Joplin 3.7 |
| Wiki.js | 6.3 | 1 | wikiself-hostedenterprise-auth | 3.0.0-beta.554 |
| Asana | 6.3 | 0 | project-managementai-integrationenterprise-compliance | 🎉 @mention Asana in Slack to create tasks and get answers |
| Hive | 6.3 | 0 | project-managementai-automationworkflow | — |
| Double | 6.3 | 1 | ai-accountingmodel-tieringagentic-workflows | Ask Double adds three-tier AI models: Standard 93% off, Auto routing, Expert on Claude Opus 5 |
| Outline | 6.3 | 1 | knowledge-managementmcpai-agents | WebMCP support |
The 12 best Zulip alternatives, in depth
1. Teable · velocity 10.0
Teable ships Scheduled Routines, a four-tier AI model system, and multi-model image generation — three sparks in five days.
Over the last 30 days Teable shipped 3 meaningful updates vs Zulip's 0, most recently “Teable ships queued multi-model AI image generation with GPT, Gemini, Grok, and six other models”. Its velocity score of 10.0/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Zulip leans on governance transition, self hosted chat and end to end encryption, Teable focuses on scheduled ai agents, multi model and automation.
Over the last 30 days Teable has been shipping faster than Zulip — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
2. GitHub · velocity 10.0
GitHub Copilot tightens enterprise governance while AI security scanning drops its CodeQL prerequisite.
Its velocity score of 10.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Zulip leans on governance transition, self hosted chat and end to end encryption, GitHub focuses on copilot, enterprise governance and security.
GitHub and Zulip have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
3. Softr · velocity 7.5
Softr ships MCP and embedded agents, making no-code apps AI-orchestratable.
Over the last 30 days Softr shipped 2 meaningful updates vs Zulip's 0, most recently “A brand new way to build with Softr”. Its velocity score of 7.5/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Zulip leans on governance transition, self hosted chat and end to end encryption, Softr focuses on no code, mcp and ai agents.
Over the last 30 days Softr has been shipping faster than Zulip — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
4. Document360 · velocity 7.5
Document360 ships collaborative editing and API v3 with OAuth 2.0 in back-to-back releases.
Over the last 30 days Document360 shipped 1 meaningful update vs Zulip's 0, most recently “August 2026 - 12.8.4”. Its velocity score of 7.5/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Zulip leans on governance transition, self hosted chat and end to end encryption, Document360 focuses on knowledge base, documentation and collaborative editing.
Over the last 30 days Document360 has been shipping faster than Zulip — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
Full Document360 trajectory → · Compare Zulip vs Document360 →
5. Tana · velocity 7.5
Tana races toward ambient AI assistant — voice commands now execute silently without interrupting you.
Over the last 30 days Tana shipped 2 meaningful updates vs Zulip's 0, most recently “Hey Tana just does it, a Calendar, and a new Home”. Its velocity score of 7.5/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Zulip leans on governance transition, self hosted chat and end to end encryption, Tana focuses on ambient ai, voice agent and meeting capture.
Over the last 30 days Tana has been shipping faster than Zulip — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
6. SiYuan · velocity 6.3
SiYuan v3.8.4 beta cycle adds agent-controlled database fields, MiniMax image gen, and skill file management.
Over the last 30 days SiYuan shipped 1 meaningful update vs Zulip's 0, most recently “SiYuan v3.8.4-beta.4: agent workspace control and MiniMax image generation”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Zulip leans on governance transition, self hosted chat and end to end encryption, SiYuan focuses on local first, knowledge management and ai agent.
Over the last 30 days SiYuan has been shipping faster than Zulip — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
7. Joplin · velocity 6.3
Joplin 3.7 ships AI chat, semantic search, and MCP integration — all off by default, all controllable by the user.
Over the last 30 days Joplin shipped 1 meaningful update vs Zulip's 0, most recently “What's new in Joplin 3.7”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Zulip leans on governance transition, self hosted chat and end to end encryption, Joplin focuses on note taking, ai integration and privacy.
Over the last 30 days Joplin has been shipping faster than Zulip — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
8. Wiki.js · velocity 6.3
Wiki.js 3.0 beta closes enterprise auth and SEO gaps at sprint pace.
Over the last 30 days Wiki.js shipped 1 meaningful update vs Zulip's 0, most recently “3.0.0-beta.554”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Zulip leans on governance transition, self hosted chat and end to end encryption, Wiki.js focuses on wiki, self hosted and enterprise auth.
Over the last 30 days Wiki.js has been shipping faster than Zulip — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
9. Asana · velocity 6.3
Asana embeds AI into Slack threads and closes the rich-text gap with Notion.
Its velocity score of 6.3/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “🎉 @mention Asana in Slack to create tasks and get answers”.
Where Zulip leans on governance transition, self hosted chat and end to end encryption, Asana focuses on project management, ai integration and enterprise compliance.
Asana and Zulip have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
10. Hive · velocity 6.3
Hive is building shared AI automation infrastructure into the core of its PM platform.
Its velocity score of 6.3/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Zulip leans on governance transition, self hosted chat and end to end encryption, Hive focuses on project management, ai automation and workflow.
Hive and Zulip have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
11. Double · velocity 6.3
Double restructures AI pricing with a 93%-cheaper Standard tier, making Ask Double viable at full-book scale.
Over the last 30 days Double shipped 1 meaningful update vs Zulip's 0, most recently “Ask Double adds three-tier AI models: Standard 93% off, Auto routing, Expert on Claude Opus 5”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Zulip leans on governance transition, self hosted chat and end to end encryption, Double focuses on ai accounting, model tiering and agentic workflows.
Over the last 30 days Double has been shipping faster than Zulip — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
12. Outline · velocity 6.3
Outline goes browser-native for AI agents with WebMCP, accelerating its bet on agentic knowledge management.
Over the last 30 days Outline shipped 1 meaningful update vs Zulip's 0, most recently “WebMCP support”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Zulip leans on governance transition, self hosted chat and end to end encryption, Outline focuses on knowledge management, mcp and ai agents.
Over the last 30 days Outline has been shipping faster than Zulip — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best alternatives to Zulip?
The top Zulip alternatives we currently track in team collaboration tools are Teable, GitHub, Softr, Document360, Tana, ranked by recent ship velocity.
How is this list of Zulip alternatives ranked?
Alternatives are ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score — release cadence + 30-day spark count + sector-relative ship rate.
Can I compare Zulip directly with one of these alternatives?
Yes — every card has a "Compare with Zulip" link to a side-by-side /compare page.