Glue vs Zulip
We give Glue and Zulip the same GPA: 3.6 out of 4.0. They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Glue
Work chat organized into named threads, with AI agents built in
Zulip
Open-source team chat that organizes channels by topic
How we grade them
| 3.6GPAGlueExcellent | 3.6GPAZulipExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BStartup is $6 a user a month billed annually, or $7 monthly, once you pass 5 users. That's about the going rate for team chat. Business doubles it to $12, and that's where the premium AI models from Gemini, Anthropic and OpenAI are. | BCloud Standard is $6.67 a user a month billed annually, or $8 monthly, which is about the going rate. Hosting it yourself is cheaper, with Basic at $3.50. SAML single sign-on on Cloud means Plus at $10, with a 10-user minimum. |
| Free plan and trial | AThe first 5 users on Startup are free, with unlimited threads and message history, integrations, external users and API access. Five people or fewer could stay for good. It's capped at 5 groups and 1 admin, and the sixth person is billed. | AHost it yourself and every feature is free, with mobile notifications for up to 10 users. Zulip Cloud Free has no price either, but it only searches the latest 10,000 messages and gives 5 GB of storage in total. Open-source projects and academic research can apply for Standard free. |
| Features | ANamed threads you can close, a personal inbox, groups with their own chat and outside guests, and Glue AI answering from the threads you're allowed to see. Agents like Cursor can join a thread too, and MCP servers sit next to the regular apps. One gap on Startup: no data imports. | ATopics inside channels, with messages you can move between them and topics you can mark as resolved. Code highlighting, LaTeX, polls, to-do lists, scheduled sends and reminders. Tools to move between Cloud and your own server. Calls are the one thing handed off, to Zoom, Jitsi or BigBlueButton. |
| Ease of use | BNo App Store rating is on record, so a B is as high as we go. If you can write an email with a subject line, you can start a thread. The ones that involve you turn up in your own inbox, and you archive them when you're done. | BNo App Store rating is on record, so a B is as high as we go. On Zulip Cloud there's no server to run, just sign up and go. Naming a topic for each new conversation is a habit your team has to pick up. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android. GitHub, Linear, Jira, Notion and Google Drive plug in, and Zapier, webhooks and a public API are on every plan, the free one included. | AWeb, Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone and Android, and even a terminal app. More than 130 native integrations, a REST API, webhooks, and bridges to Slack, Microsoft Teams and Matrix. |
| Best for | teams tired of noisy channels | chat you can catch up on hours later |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Glue and Zulip. How we grade
Where they differ
- Glue starts at $6 per user / month, billed annually (Startup; first 5 users free). Zulip starts at $3.50 per user / month self-hosted (billed monthly); Cloud from $6.67 billed annually.
- Only Zulip lists a Linux app.
- Zulip is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Glue also covers AI agents.
- Zulip also covers file sharing.
At a glance
| Glue | Zulip | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $6 per user / month, billed annually (Startup; first 5 users free) | $3.50 per user / month self-hosted (billed monthly); Cloud from $6.67 billed annually |
| Free plan | The Startup plan is free for a workspace's first 5 users, with up to 5 groups and 1 admin, unlimited threads and message history, integrations, external users and API access. | Zulip Cloud Free: 10,000 messages of search history and 5 GB of file storage in total. Self-hosting is free with all features, with mobile notifications for up to 10 users. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of the Business plan with unlimited users, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Glue, Inc. | Kandra Labs, Inc. |
| Price read from | glue.ai | zulip.com |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Glue
- Teams that find channel-based chat noisy and want every topic in its own thread
- Teams that want an AI assistant and coding agents inside their chat threads
- Workspaces of five people or fewer, which can stay on the free Startup allowance
Zulip
- Distributed teams that prefer asynchronous, topic-organized conversations
- Open-source projects, research groups and communities seeking sponsored plans
- Organizations that want to self-host open-source chat
- Classes and schools, which get education pricing
Worth knowing
Glue
- Only a Startup workspace's first 5 users are free, and it is capped at 5 groups and 1 admin; Glue's docs say this is not a freemium plan.
- Premium AI models from Gemini, Anthropic and OpenAI need Business or Enterprise; Startup uses open-source models.
- Data imports are not part of the Startup plan; Business allows up to 100 MB and Enterprise is unlimited.
- The plan cards and docs put SAML SSO and SCIM on Enterprise only, though the pricing page's comparison table also ticks SAML SSO for Business.
Zulip
- Zulip Cloud Free searches only the most recent 10,000 messages and has 5 GB of file storage for the whole organization.
- SAML single sign-on and SCIM on Zulip Cloud need the Plus plan, which has a 10-user minimum; self-hosted Business has a 25-user minimum.
- Voice and video calls depend on an outside provider such as Zoom or Jitsi.
- Self-hosted Free limits mobile push notifications to 10 users unless the organization registers as an eligible community.
Key features
Glue
- Named threads
- Every conversation is a thread with a subject line, sent to any combination of groups and people. Any message can be turned into a new thread, and a finished thread can be closed.
- Personal inbox
- The threads that involve you are tracked in your own inbox, so you follow individual conversations instead of whole channels and archive them when you are done.
- Groups
- Groups collect people and threads for a department, team or project, and each has a group chat private to its members. Guests from outside the workspace can be added.
- Glue AI
- Mention @Glue AI in a thread to ask about a project's status or get a summary. It answers from the web and from the threads and groups the person asking is allowed to see.
- Agents and MCP servers
- Agents such as Cursor can be mentioned in a thread to work alongside the team, and the Apps section offers MCP servers next to the regular app integrations.
- Integrations and public API
- Pre-built integrations post updates and link previews from tools like GitHub and Linear. Zapier, webhooks and a public API cover custom integrations on every plan.
Zulip
- Topic-based threading
- A new conversation starts by giving it a brief topic inside a channel, and replies stay in that context. Messages can be moved between topics, and topics marked as resolved.
- Cloud or self-hosted
- The same 100% open-source software runs on Zulip Cloud or on your own server, and export and import tools let an organization move between them.
- Apps for every platform
- Zulip has a web app for any modern browser, desktop apps for Windows, Mac and Linux, mobile apps for iOS and Android, and a terminal app.
- Calls through a provider
- 1:1 and group voice and video calls open in a configurable call provider such as Zoom, Jitsi or BigBlueButton.
- Integrations and API
- More than 130 native integrations, thousands more through Zapier and IFTTT, custom webhooks, a REST API, and chat bridges to Slack, Microsoft Teams and Matrix.
- Formatting and lightweight workflows
- Messages support code syntax highlighting and LaTeX, plus polls and to-do lists, scheduled sends, reminders and extensive keyboard shortcuts.
Plans
Glue
Startup$0 up to 5 users, then $6
per user / month, billed annually ($7 billed monthly)
Up to 5 groups and 1 admin, unlimited threads, message history, apps, webhooks and external users, public API access and open-source AI models.
Business$12
per user / month, billed yearly ($14 billed monthly)
Everything in Startup plus unlimited groups, multiple admins, data imports up to 100 MB and premium AI models from Gemini, Anthropic and OpenAI.
EnterpriseCustom
Everything in Business plus unlimited data import, SAML and SCIM, priority support and guided onboarding.
Zulip
Free$0
On Zulip Cloud: 10,000 messages of search history and 5 GB of storage in total. Self-hosted: every feature, with mobile notifications for up to 10 users.
Self-hosted Basic$3.50
per user / month, billed monthly
Self-hosted server with all Zulip features and unlimited mobile notifications.
Cloud Standard$6.67
per user / month, billed annually ($8 billed monthly)
Unlimited search history, 5 GB of file storage per user, message retention policies, custom groups and priority commercial support.
Self-hosted Business$6.67
per user / month, billed annually ($8 billed monthly)
25 users minimum. Email and chat support for SAML and Entra ID single sign-on, AD/LDAP user sync, compliance exports and retention policies.
Cloud Plus$10
per user / month, billed annually ($12 billed monthly)
10 users minimum. Adds 25 GB of file storage per user, SAML single sign-on, SCIM user and group sync, and a custom domain.
Self-hosted EnterpriseCustom
Email, chat and phone support, OpenID Connect single sign-on, group sync, implementation consulting and custom feature development.
Ways to pay less
Glue
- Annual discount
About 14% less with annual billing
Glue's billing docs list Business at $12 per user / month on an annual plan against $14 monthly, and Startup at $6 against $7, a saving of about 14%.
Zulip
- Annual discount
About 17% less with annual billing
Cloud Standard and self-hosted Business cost $6.67 per user / month billed annually against $8 billed monthly, and Cloud Plus is $10 against $12.
- Other savings
$20 a month off self-hosted plans in year one
The plans page advertises $20 per month off the self-hosted Basic and Business plans for the first year.
- Nonprofit
Free Standard plan for eligible organizations
Open-source projects, academic research, non-profit events and non-profits with no paid staff are generally eligible for a free Zulip Cloud Standard plan, by application.
- Education
Education pricing from $0.67 per user
Standard for Education costs $0.67 per user / month for non-profit institutions and $1 for for-profit ones with annual billing, or $0.80 and $1.20 billed monthly.
