Twist vs Zulip

Twist

• Distributed teams that reply across time zones rather than in real time
• Teams that want written discussions kept findable by topic
• Working with clients or contractors: single-channel guests are free
• Teams already using Todoist, which has several Twist integrations

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

Twist

• Twist's own What's New page says development is on hiatus: no new features and no fixes for small bugs for the time being. Its last entry is from May 2023.
• The Free plan shows and searches only the last month of comments and messages; older content is kept but hidden until the team upgrades.
• Free teams are limited to 5 integrations and 5 GB of file storage.
• On Unlimited every member and multi-channel guest is billed, so a team cannot mix free and paid members.

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.

Twist

Threads

Each conversation in a channel is a titled thread with its own comments. Threads can be closed, pinned, muted or moved to another channel.

Public and private channels

Channels group threads by team, project, topic or client, and can be public to the whole team or private to invited members.

Inbox

The inbox lists every thread a member has been notified about across channels, with Active, Done and Saved views for working through them.

Direct and group messages

Messages sit alongside threads for one-on-one or small-group exchanges, with file attachments, GIFs and emoji reactions.

Search with filters

Search covers threads and messages and can be narrowed by author, channel, thread title and date range.

Integrations and API

The directory covers tools such as GitHub, Google Calendar, Jira Software and Todoist, plus Zapier, Make and n8n, and a developer API for custom automations.

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.

Twist

• Free$0

  Up to 1 month of comment and message history, 5 integrations, 5 GB of file storage, 500 member accounts and 500 guest accounts.

• Unlimited$6

  per user / month, billed yearly ($8 billed monthly)

  Full history, unlimited integrations and file storage, unlimited members and guests, priority support, custom groups and Google sign-in.

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.

Twist

• Annual discount

  25% less with yearly billing

  Twist Unlimited costs $6 per user / month billed annually against $8 billed monthly. Doist's help center says no other discounts are currently offered.

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.