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Roundcube vs Rocket.Chat

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Roundcube and Rocket.Chat — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Roundcube vs Rocket.Chat: at a glance

FeatureRoundcubeRocket.Chat
SectorCommsComms
Velocity score5.06.3
Sparks · 30d00
Top themeswebmail, security, lts-maintenance, sieveteam-chat, licensing, self-hosted, performance
Last editorial update3d ago4d ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Roundcube?

Roundcube patches its Sieve filters and CSRF checks in a sixth paired security release

Roundcube shipped 1.7.6 and 1.6.21 on 9 November, three weeks after 1.7.5 and 1.6.20, again as an identical security pair. This round centres on the managesieve filter plugin (two script-injection paths and destructive actions triggerable cross-site via GET), plus CSRF bypasses, an open redirect, an SSRF bypass via nip.io and sslip.io hostnames and a disabled_actions bypass.

Read the full Roundcube trajectory →

What is Rocket.Chat?

Rocket.Chat 9.0 reaches rc.8 with a migration fix as candidates shrink to single patches.

The 9.0 candidate line opened on 27 October with a licensing change: LDAP, SAML and Custom OAuth now require a premium plan. Since rc.4 the candidates have been fixes, and rc.8 on 7 November carries a single one: servers that started during another server's database migration no longer keep stale settings until restart. On 6 November 8.9.1 LTS backported the 9.0 load fixes plus a security hotfix.

Read the full Rocket.Chat trajectory →

Roundcube vs Rocket.Chat: editorial side-by-side

R5.0

Roundcube patches its Sieve filters and CSRF checks in a sixth paired security release

◆ Current state

Roundcube shipped 1.7.6 and 1.6.21 on 9 November, three weeks after 1.7.5 and 1.6.20, again as an identical security pair. This round centres on the managesieve filter plugin (two script-injection paths and destructive actions triggerable cross-site via GET), plus CSRF bypasses, an open redirect, an SSRF bypass via nip.io and sslip.io hostnames and a disabled_actions bypass.

◆ Where it's heading

Security releases now arrive every three to five weeks, each with a dozen or more externally reported fixes, and the same research group is behind many of them. The project is in a sustained audit phase, and both branches move together every time.

◆ Prediction

Another paired 1.7.x and 1.6.x security release within about a month is the most likely next entry, given the cadence since June.

Rocket.Chat logo6.3

Rocket.Chat 9.0 reaches rc.8 with a migration fix as candidates shrink to single patches.

◆ Current state

The 9.0 candidate line opened on 27 October with a licensing change: LDAP, SAML and Custom OAuth now require a premium plan. Since rc.4 the candidates have been fixes, and rc.8 on 7 November carries a single one: servers that started during another server's database migration no longer keep stale settings until restart. On 6 November 8.9.1 LTS backported the 9.0 load fixes plus a security hotfix.

◆ Where it's heading

9.0 is in stabilization: each candidate is smaller than the last, and the load fixes are being carried to the LTS line rather than held for the major. Native LiveKit video is being promoted step by step, from alpha to beta and now as the named default provider option.

◆ Prediction

With rc.7 down to a handful of fixes, 9.0.0 GA is the next likely release, followed by further 8.9.x LTS patches carrying the same fixes.

Alternatives to Roundcube and Rocket.Chat

Other Comms products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Roundcube or Rocket.Chat.

See all Roundcube alternatives → · See all Rocket.Chat alternatives →

Recent activity from Roundcube and Rocket.Chat

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 4d agoRoundcubeRoundcube Webmail 1.7.6
  2. 4d agoRoundcubeRoundcube Webmail 1.6.21
  3. 7d agoRocket.Chat9.0 rc.8: settings refresh after concurrent migrations
  4. 8d agoRocket.Chat8.9.1 LTS: load fixes from 9.0 plus a security hotfix
  5. 8d agoRocket.Chat9.0 rc.7: client memory leak fixed, LiveKit video moves to beta
  6. 9d agoRocket.Chat9.0 rc.6: Matrix federation auth header fix
  7. 9d agoRocket.Chat9.0 rc.5: removed-license features shut off, OAuth codes redacted
  8. 10d agoRocket.Chat9.0 rc.4: notifications, presence and startup fixed under load
  9. 26d agoRoundcubeRoundcube Webmail 1.7.5
  10. 26d agoRoundcubeRoundcube Webmail 1.6.20
  11. 2mo agoRoundcubeRoundcube Webmail 1.7.4
  12. 2mo agoRoundcubeRoundcube Webmail 1.6.19

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Roundcube and Rocket.Chat?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Rocket.Chat is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is Roundcube better than Rocket.Chat?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Rocket.Chat is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Comms products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to Roundcube?

Top Roundcube alternatives in Comms are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Roundcube alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/roundcube for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to Rocket.Chat?

Top Rocket.Chat alternatives in Comms are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Rocket.Chat alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/rocketchat for the full list with editorial commentary on each.