Team chat · replacement recipe

Go from Zulip to Zulip (free tier)

The job: Team chat (Channels and direct messages, Topic-based threading, Message history and search). Pick where you are today and where you want to land; the move below follows your pick.

From · what you pay for now
Zulip
Zulip Cloud Standard · $8/mo
Year one+$84modeled
To · your pickBest fit
Zulip (free tier)
Free plan · $0 a month
Change where you land

The money

$8/mo today $0/mo

Zulip Cloud Standard

Year one, net+$84
Pays back in1.5 months

Modeled from public list prices, with your time at $50 an hour. Show the math

Does it do the job? 2 of 3 covered

  • Channels and direct messages
  • Topic-based threading
  • Message history and search

The work

Setup
About 15 min
Upkeep
None
Watch out
Doesn't cover: Message history and search

Make the move in four steps

  1. Export from Zulip

    The organization's data other than private channel messages and direct messages (public data export); private data from members who allowed administrators to export it…

    Export steps

  2. Check what Free plan keeps

    Zulip Cloud Free: 10,000 messages of search history, 5 GB total file storage, hundreds of integrations, roles and guest accounts. Self-hosted Free: every feature…

    Details

  3. Switch to Free plan

    Change the plan in Zulip's billing settings before your renewal date.

  4. Check the next bill

    Your next Zulip invoice should show the lower price. Check that your data and links still work.

Open ZulipHow to cancel Zulip
Modeled, not measured. Savings use public prices and planning assumptions: the bill you stop paying, minus the new tool, your upkeep time and your setup time at $50/hour, over the first 12 months. Paths marked Tested by Stackcut were run end to end by us on our own products. They're our tests, not customer results. Check the must-haves in each recipe before you switch.

The whole recipe: 3 ways out, best first

What you use

  • Channels and direct messages
  • Topic-based threading
  • Message history and search

Not covered

  • Voice and video calls through Jitsi, Zoom or BigBlueButton
  • 130+ integrations, bots and API
  • Desktop and mobile apps
  • Full data export and import

Check before switching

  • You only rely on: Channels and direct messages, Topic-based threading, Message history and search
  • Export your data from Zulip before canceling

Agents: get_recipe("replace-zulip") on the Stackcut MCP server.

3 ways out, best first

Cheaper planZulip (free tier)Saves $84 in year one
$8/mo today → $0/mo · setup 0.25 h · then $96/yr · payback 1.5 mo
If your use fits the free tier (Zulip Cloud Free: 10,000 messages of search history, 5 GB total file storage, hundreds of integrations, roles and guest accounts. Self-hosted Free: every feature, but mobile push notifications for only 10 users unless the organization qualifies (communities, open source, research, small non-profits).).
Covers 67% of the core features (not: Message history and search)
Suits small teams that rarely search old messages: Zulip Cloud Free keeps 10,000 messages searchable and 5 GB of files in total.
How we got this
You pay now: Zulip Cloud Standard$8/user/mo × 1 user$8/mo
New cost: Zulip (free tier)free plan$0/mo
Difference each month$8 − $0+$8/mo
Over 12 months+$8 × 12+$96
Setup, once0.25 h × $50/h−$12
Year one+$96 − $12+$84
  • Not counting your time (0.25 h in year one): saves $96 in year one.

Year one = 12 × (what you pay now − the new cost − upkeep) − setup, with your time at $50/hour. Prices are public list prices; hours are Stackcut’s planning estimates. Price it for your team

Sources: zulip.com
Switch vendorDiscord (free tier)Saves $46 in year one
$8/mo today → $0/mo · setup 1 h · then $96/yr · payback 6.2 mo
If your use fits the free tier (Free to use: servers, text and voice channels, direct messages, video calls and screen sharing (up to 50 people sharing video or screen in a voice chat; streams up to 720p/30fps without Nitro); no admin data export, SSO or compliance controls).
Covers 67% of the core features (not: Topic-based threading)
Suits small informal teams that don't need topic threads: free channels, voice rooms and video calls, without admin export or SSO.
How we got this
You pay now: Zulip Cloud Standard$8/user/mo × 1 user$8/mo
New cost: Discord (free tier)free plan$0/mo
Difference each month$8 − $0+$8/mo
Over 12 months+$8 × 12+$96
Setup, once1 h × $50/h−$50
Year one+$96 − $50+$46
  • Not counting your time (1 h in year one): saves $96 in year one.

Year one = 12 × (what you pay now − the new cost − upkeep) − setup, with your time at $50/hour. Prices are public list prices; hours are Stackcut’s planning estimates. Price it for your team

Sources: zulip.comdiscord.comsupport.discord.com
Open sourceZulip (self-hosted)Costs $1,364 more in year one
$8/mo today → $5/mo + 2 h upkeep · setup 4 h
Covers 100% of the core features
Suits teams that can run a 2 GB server: every feature is free and Zulip moves data between Cloud and self-hosted, but mobile push is free for only 10 users (Basic at $3.50/user/month lifts it).
License: open_source
How we got this
You pay now: Zulip Cloud Standard$8/user/mo × 1 user$8/mo
New cost: Zulip (self-hosted)a small server (modeled)$5/mo
Your upkeep time2 h/mo × $50/h$100/mo
Difference each month$8 − $5 − $100−$97/mo
Over 12 months−$97 × 12−$1,164
Setup, once4 h × $50/h−$200
Year one−$1,164 − $200−$1,364
  • Not counting your time (28 h in year one): saves $36 in year one.

Year one = 12 × (what you pay now − the new cost − upkeep) − setup, with your time at $50/hour. Prices are public list prices; hours are Stackcut’s planning estimates. Price it for your team

Sources: zulip.comgithub.comzulip.readthedocs.io

More Team chat recipes

All 139 recipes · Savings leaderboard · Every vendor, with prices and cancel steps