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Campfire vs Zulip: catalog facts
Campfire	Zulip
Free No subscription; the code is published on GitHub.	Freemium The server and clients are free and open source and can be self-hosted at no cost. Zulip…
Web, Self-hosted	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android
Installs on your own server with one command Familiar layout for people coming from Slack or Teams	Topic-based threading inside channels, which makes catching up genuinely practical Self-hostable, or hosted, with free plans for open-source communities
You have to run and maintain the server yourself Covers chat basics rather than a large integration ecosystem	The topic model takes getting used to and needs team discipline to work The desktop client shares most of its code with the web app, so it inherits its quirks
Self-hosted	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: MIT	License: Apache-2.0
Not stated if an account is needed	Account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Needs internet
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 24, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.