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Wire vs Zulip: catalog facts
WireZulip
Freemium

A limited free personal tier is available. Business plans are paid.

Freemium

The server and clients are free and open source and can be self-hosted at no cost. Zulip…

Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Web Windows, macOS, Linux, Android
  • Encrypted group calls and guest rooms aimed at organisations
  • Clients are open source and the server can be self-hosted
  • Topic-based threading inside channels, which makes catching up genuinely practical
  • Self-hostable, or hosted, with free plans for open-source communities
  • The free personal tier is limited and the focus is on paid business plans
  • Requires an account tied to an email address or phone number
  • 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
Downloadable app, Hosted service Downloadable app
Open source Open source
License: GPL-3.0 License: Apache-2.0
Account needed Account needed
Not stated if it works offline Needs internet

Checked September 22, 2026

Checked September 21, 2026

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