Mastodon vs Zulip
Mastodon, Zulip compared on license, free-edition limits, deployment and project health. Change a project below to compare something else.
| Mastodon | Zulip | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Communication | Communication |
| License | GNU Affero General Public License v3.0Open source (OSI) | Apache License 2.0Open source (OSI) |
| Free edition | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Deployment | Self-hosted | Self-hosted · Cloud |
| Self-hosting setup | Multi-service setup | Multi-service setup |
| SSO / SAML | Free | Free |
| Role-based access control | Free | Free |
| Audit logs | Free | Free |
| Multi-user / teams | Not confirmed | Free |
| Backups and restore | Not confirmed | Free |
| API access | Not confirmed | Free |
| Support SLA | Not confirmed | Paid |
| GitHub stars | 50k | 26k |
| Last release | Oct 1, 2026 | Sep 21, 2026 |
| Alternative to | X | Slack |
In short
- Mastodon is licensed GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (open source (osi)). Free edition: not confirmed.
- Zulip is licensed Apache License 2.0 (open source (osi)). Free edition: not confirmed.
Each project page lists the official sources behind these answers. Where the official pages do not say, the table shows “Not confirmed”.