Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Zulip VS Tinode

Compare Zulip VS Tinode and see what are their differences

Zulip logo Zulip

Chat for distributed teams. Zulip combines the immediacy of real-time chat with an email threading model. With Zulip, you can catch up on important conversations while ignoring irrelevant ones.

Tinode logo Tinode

Tinode Instant Messaging
  • Zulip Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-21
  • Tinode Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-11-01

Zulip features and specs

  • Threaded Conversations
    Zulip's unique approach to messaging allows users to conduct separate threaded conversations within the same channel, making it easier to follow and manage multiple discussions simultaneously.
  • Open Source
    Zulip is open-source software, meaning you can modify and self-host it, providing greater flexibility and control over your communication environment.
  • Powerful Search
    Zulip offers a robust search functionality that allows users to quickly find messages, files, and details across channels and threads, improving efficiency.
  • Integrations
    Zulip supports a wide variety of integrations with other tools and services, enhancing productivity and ensuring seamless workflows.
  • Cross-Platform
    Zulip is available on multiple platforms, including web, desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux), and mobile (iOS, Android), ensuring accessibility and convenience.
  • Granular Notification Settings
    Users have comprehensive control over notification settings, allowing them to manage their time and focus better by receiving only the alerts they need.
  • Scalability
    Zulip is designed to handle a large number of users and messages, making it suitable for organizations of all sizes.
  • Security
    Zulip offers robust security features, including end-to-end encryption, two-factor authentication, and compliance with various industry standards.

Possible disadvantages of Zulip

  • Steeper Learning Curve
    New users may find the interface and the concept of threaded conversations initially challenging to grasp compared to more traditional chat apps.
  • Limited Market Adoption
    Zulip is not as widely adopted as other chat platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams, which might limit its support ecosystem and community resources.
  • Less Familiar UX
    Users accustomed to mainstream chat applications may find Zulip's user experience less intuitive, requiring time to adapt.
  • Integration Complexity
    While integrations are a strong point, implementing and managing these integrations can sometimes be complex and require additional technical expertise.
  • Mobile App Experience
    Some users report that the mobile app experience is less polished compared to the desktop or web versions, which can be frustrating for heavily mobile-dependent users.
  • Feature Volume
    The abundance of features can sometimes be overwhelming for users who only need basic chat functionality, potentially leading to a cluttered interface.

Tinode features and specs

  • Open Source
    Tinode is open source, which allows developers to inspect, modify, and enhance the source code as needed for their specific use cases.
  • Feature-Rich
    It offers a comprehensive set of messaging features including real-time messaging, presence, typing indicators, and message history, making it suitable for developing full-fledged chat applications.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    Tinode provides client support for multiple platforms including web, Android, and iOS, facilitating development of applications across different devices.
  • Scalability
    The architecture of Tinode is designed to scale efficiently to handle large numbers of users and messages, suitable for both small projects and enterprise-level applications.
  • Extensible
    Tinode allows for customization and extension, enabling developers to adapt the system to meet specific needs and integrate it with other systems.

Possible disadvantages of Tinode

  • Complex Setup
    Setting up Tinode can be complex for beginners due to its requirements and the need for a good understanding of its architecture and configurations.
  • Limited Community Support
    Being less popular than some established alternatives, Tinode may have limited community support and resources compared to other chat solutions like Firebase or Socket.io.
  • Maintenance Overhead
    As an open-source project, the responsibility for maintenance, updates, and bug fixes falls on the user's development team.
  • Learning Curve
    Developers may face a learning curve when first adopting Tinode due to its unique architecture and feature set.
  • Documentation
    While there is documentation available, some users might find it lacking in certain areas or not as comprehensive as desired for more complex integrations.

Zulip videos

Zulip - a Free, Open Source, Self Hosted Alternative to Slack and Microsoft Teams Chat.

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Tinode videos

No Tinode videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Zulip and Tinode)
Communication
90 90%
10% 10
Group Chat & Notifications
Messaging
86 86%
14% 14
Instant Messaging
88 88%
12% 12

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Zulip and Tinode

Zulip Reviews

7 best Mattermost alternatives for secure business messaging
Zulip is a team chat and communication tool that allows business teams to collaborate efficiently. It is an open-source tool and offers a unique thread-based model that allows topic-based discussions internally. So, it is easy to coordinate multiple projects and hold virtual discussions with cross-functional teams.
Source: www.rocket.chat
12 Best Self-hosted Chat Platforms For Team Communication
Zulip’s team chat platform acts like a moderator in sending in only relevant messages and ignoring the spamming ones. It follows a threading model and hence topic-based chats are seamlessly possible.
Zulip 5.0: Threaded open-source team chat
Zulip for Education. We have seen more and more educators using Zulip as the communication hub for their classes. Zulip’s threading model makes it a great fit for posting lecture notes and announcements, answering students’ questions, and coordinating with teaching staff all in one place. In response to interest from educators, we have launched a dedicated Zulip for...
Source: blog.zulip.com
Top 10 Team Chat Software for a Self-Hosted environment specifically designed for Large Enterprises
Catch upon only important conversations and ignore irrelevant ones, is what Zulip says. Open-Source software that was built by hundreds of developers across the globe. The self-hosted delivery model specifically designed for Large Entities provides an excellent production installation guide that lets users deploy it on their networks. Besides its 90 native integrations,...
Zulip Comparisons
Frequently Asked Questions Do you have special plans for open source projects, non-profits, groups of friends, and other non-commercial entities? Does Zulip scale to a large number of users? Can I pay by credit card and/or invoice? Can I start on Zulip Cloud and later move to On-Premise? How are guest users billed? Who can I contact if I have further questions?
Source: zulipchat.com

Tinode Reviews

We have no reviews of Tinode yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Zulip seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 58 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Zulip mentions (58)

  • Discord co-founder and CEO Jason Citron is stepping down
    Https://zulip.com/ is good but videoconferencing has to be a 3d party. - Source: Hacker News / 24 days ago
  • Ask HN: User communities that aren't Discord?
    Zulip is a pretty nice option https://zulip.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 10 months ago
  • Slack updates retention policy for free workspaces
    Https://zulip.com is one of the better alternatives with an option for self-hosting. - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
  • Slack wants to become the 'long-term memory' for organizations
    > A customer of mine would like a mix between a chat and a forum software Zulip is closer to that I think https://zulip.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
  • Slack AI Training with Customer Data
    To all the people asking about self-hosted alternatives, I can recommend zulip[0], and this article[1] explaining why. [0] https://zulip.com/ [1] https://monadical.com/posts/how-to-make-remote-work-part-two-zulip.html#. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
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Tinode mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Tinode yet. Tracking of Tinode recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Zulip and Tinode, you can also consider the following products

Slack - A messaging app for teams who see through the Earth!

WhatsApp - WhatsApp Messenger: More than 1 billion people in over 180 countries use WhatsApp to stay in touch with friends and family, anytime and anywhere.

Telegram - Telegram is a messaging app with a focus on speed and security. It’s superfast, simple and free.

Element.io - Secure messaging app with strong end-to-end encryption, advanced group chat privacy settings, secure video calls for teams, encrypted communication using Matrix open network. Riot.im is now Element.

Signal - Fast, simple & secure messaging. Privacy that fits in your pocket.

Mattermost - Mattermost is an open source alternative to Slack.