Mattermost vs Tinode (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Mattermost grades higher than Tinode: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Mattermost grades higher on the free plan and platforms. Tinode grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Mattermost
Self-hosted team messaging with playbooks, calls and boards
Tinode
Open-source instant messaging server you host or rent
Which one is for you
Pick Mattermost if
- Fits if your chat has to stay on your own servers or on an air-gapped network
- Works for technical teams who can run and maintain their own server
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if nobody on the team wants to run a server, as it's self-hosted by design
- Not for you if you want to see a price before talking to anyone, because every paid license is quoted by sales
- Tight if you rely on the free Entry mode, which only shows the latest 10,000 channel messages and has community support
- Watch out: Team Edition has no single sign-on, and the vendor doesn't recommend it for sensitive work
- Pricey if you need workflow automation or boards, as both start on Enterprise, sold as prepaid annual seats
Pick Tinode if
- Fits if you want to own your chat server and its data
- Works for developers adding chat to their own app
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you do not want to run a server, as the free edition is self-hosted
- Tight if you grow, since free self-hosting stops near 500 push notifications a day
- Watch out: the stock apps' notifications will not reach your server without your own builds or the push gateway
- Watch out: Cloud is arranged through a contact form, and the site footer reads 2023
- Pricey if you want the admin tool and branded apps, which start at $50 a month
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAMattermostFair | 2.2GPATinodeFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo price is published. Professional, Enterprise and Enterprise Advanced are all quoted by sales and sold as prepaid annual seats, so there's nothing to set against the $7 a month team chat typically starts at. Nonprofits and open-source projects do get a 3-year Professional licence for $250. | BCloud is $1.50 a user a month, which would count as cheap, but it is arranged through a contact form. The free edition needs your own server. |
| Free plan and trial | BTwo free routes, both clipped. Entry gives you the Enterprise Advanced features but shows only the latest 10,000 channel messages, with community support. The MIT-licensed Team Edition covers under 250 users with no single sign-on, and the vendor doesn't recommend it for sensitive work. | CBasic is free to self-host, but capped at about 500 push notifications a day. You run the server. |
| Features | CChannels, threads, file sharing and search in 20 languages, plus playbooks for incident response and AI agents. The listing puts workflow automation and the Kanban boards on Enterprise and up, though, and group calls hold about 50 people per server. | CChat server, web and mobile clients, an extensible backend and chatbots over gRPC. Branding and the admin tool are paid. |
| Ease of use | DYou host it yourself: the only vendor-hosted option is a single-tenant cloud arranged through sales, so somebody runs and maintains a server before anyone says hello. The iPhone app has 4.8 from about 5,600 App Store ratings. | DNo rating on record. Self-hosting means installing and running a server yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android, plus a REST API with an OpenAPI 3.0 spec, webhooks, slash commands and a plugin platform, with Jira, GitHub, GitLab, ServiceNow, Zoom and Pexip ready-made. | BWeb, iPhone and Android clients, with gRPC for bots. No desktop app. |
| Best for | team chat kept on your own servers | a chat server you host for your own app |
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: Mattermost and Tinode. How we grade
Where they differ
- Mattermost also covers kanban boards, workflow automation and AI agents.
At a glance
| Mattermost | Tinode | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $1.50 per user / month (Cloud) |
| Free plan | Mattermost Entry is a free self-hosted mode limited to 10,000 viewable channel messages with community support. The open-source Team Edition is also free for under 250 users. | Basic self-hosted edition is free for small teams: no more than 500 push notifications a day, roughly 350 messages a day. |
| Free trial | 1-hour preview environment of Enterprise Advanced; a trial can also be activated on a self-hosted server. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Mattermost, Inc. | Tinode LLC |
| Price read from | mattermost.com | tinode.co |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Mattermost
- No prices are published: Professional, Enterprise and Enterprise Advanced are quoted by sales and sold as prepaid annual seat subscriptions.
- Entry shows only the latest 10,000 channel messages and has community support only; the vendor suggests it for teams of fewer than 50 users.
- It is self-hosted by design; the only vendor-hosted option described is single-tenant Mattermost Cloud Enterprise, arranged through sales.
- Team Edition has no single sign-on, and the vendor does not recommend it for government or sensitive commercial workloads.
Tinode
- Self-hosted mobile apps need either your own builds or the push gateway, because the stock apps' notifications will not reach your server otherwise.
- Free self-hosting is for small teams; above roughly 500 push notifications a day a paid plan applies.
- Support contracts exclude third-party integrations, remote administration and support for end users.
- The site's footer reads 2023, and the Cloud plan is arranged through a contact form.
Key features
Mattermost
- Channel-based messaging
- 1-1 and group messages, public and private channels, threaded discussions, file sharing and search across web, desktop and mobile, in 20 languages.
- Playbooks
- Repeatable playbooks for incident response, change management and compliance, with conditional checklists and escalation. The pricing page lists workflow automation from Enterprise.
- Calls and screen sharing
- 1:1 audio calls with screen sharing are in every paid package, and group calls support about 50 concurrent users per self-hosted server. A 40-minute call limit is planned for Entry.
- Boards
- Kanban, table, calendar and gallery boards for assigning and tracking tasks next to the conversation. The pricing page lists work management from Enterprise.
- AI agents
- Agents summarize conversations and take actions using an LLM provider the customer chooses, or a self-hosted model in air-gapped environments.
- Integrations and API
- A REST API with an OpenAPI 3.0 spec, webhooks, slash commands and a plugin platform, with prebuilt integrations for tools such as Jira, GitHub and GitLab.
Tinode
- Open-source clients and server
- The server is written in Go and can run as a cluster; the site says client software is under the Apache 2.0 license.
- Self-hosting tools
- TnAdmin gives a graphical console for looking up and suspending users, a push gateway handles mobile notifications and a Grafana dashboard is available for monitoring.
- Extensible backend
- Authentication schemes, database backends, file upload, push and credential validation are pluggable adapters, and bots can connect over gRPC.
- Mobile and web clients
- Android and iOS apps are listed in the stores, and a web client runs at web.tinode.co.
- Branded apps
- Paid plans can show your own name and logo in the mobile apps and configure the server connection automatically.
- Support contracts
- Named-contact email support with prioritized bug fixes is sold per installation, with an hourly rate for out-of-scope requests.
Plans
Mattermost
Entry$0
Free mode of the Enterprise Edition: Enterprise Advanced features with 10,000 viewable messages, community support, and no compliance or high availability.
Team Edition$0
Open-source, MIT-licensed edition for small teams and personal use under 250 activated users, without single sign-on.
ProfessionalCustom
For teams of up to 250 users: single sign-on, AD/LDAP sync, guest accounts and next-business-day support. Sold as prepaid annual seats.
EnterpriseCustom
Adds workflow automation, work management boards, compliance and data retention tools, federated communications and high availability.
Enterprise AdvancedCustom
Adds zero-trust attribute-based access controls, classification banners, burn-on-read messages and support for air-gapped environments.
Tinode
Basic$0
You install and run the server yourself. Includes the push gateway, production monitoring and community support.
Cloud$1.50
per user / month
Tinode runs it for you with 5 GB of file storage per user, custom-branded clients and gRPC access for chatbots. Arranged through the contact form.
Professional$50
per month, one self-hosted installation ($500 billed yearly)
Self-hosted. Adds the TnAdmin tool, auto-configured and custom-branded mobile apps and dedicated support. $25 a month per extra cluster node.
Enterprise$1,500
per year for a standalone installation
Everything in Professional plus assisted installation and email support; $2,500 a year for a 3-node cluster.
Ways to pay less
Mattermost
- Nonprofit
3-year Professional license for $250
Eligible nonprofit and open-source organizations can apply for a 3-year self-hosted Mattermost Professional subscription for up to 1,000 users for a $250 fee.
Tinode
- Annual discount
Annual billing for Professional
The self-hosting page lists $50 a month for a standalone installation, or $500 when billed annually.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Mattermost or Tinode?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Mattermost publishes no starting price, and Tinode starts at $1.50 per user / month (Cloud).
Which has a free plan, Mattermost or Tinode?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Mattermost and Tinode have a free plan.
Which platforms do Mattermost and Tinode run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Mattermost lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps. Both list a web app and iOS and Android apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.