Zulip

Excellent framework for managing research groups

Vorteile:

Very simple and intuitive. Possibility to write latex and markdown. Free.

Nachteile:

iPad app is the same of the mobile one. But I think that it deserves an app similar to the desktop. The mobile app is too simple, with many options not already available.

A serious tool for research and education

Kommentare: I have used it in small research groups around five people to coordinate joint writing and programming projects, in university courses I teach with a larger number of students, and in a large research community with thousands of members.

Vorteile:

Zulip is an efficient and tool for communication and coordination in groups of any size. It encourages users to structure discussions into topics so that chat messages naturally evolve into knowledge bases. And if users are not systematic at the start then as a moderator one gets excellent tools to restructure topics, move them to different channels etc. Zulip is fast and efficient. Compared to MS Teams or Slack it uses a lot less resources and the application reacts quickly/instantly. This holds for the desktop and the mobile app. Last not least, Zulip is stable both in the sense that it basically never crashed for me, and in the sense that the interface has looked the same for a couple of years now. It is a pleasure that the developers are NOT changing things for the sake of changing.

Nachteile:

There are minor bugs sometimes, my favorite one is that the go-back mouse button in the desktop app is broken. (This issue is tracked on GitHub and shall eventually be fixed.) The strong focus on topics can also irritate new users, and the user interface can be overwhelming for users who are more used to being hand-held by competing systems.

Perfect chat for serious asynchronous collaboration

Kommentare: Wonderful. Makes me feel like I’m flying at 30000 feet.

Vorteile:

Ease of use; intelligent threading. Ideal for detailed asynchronous discussion. I use it for math-heavy work with teams of 100 or so. And great, fast support!

Nachteile:

Hard to clone old orgs to make new orgs. I’d like to duplicate some channels.

An organized and fun workspace

Kommentare: I used to be a teacher and I now manage the maths teachers in a French region (2000 math teachers) with 5 other colleagues. I have been using Zulip for years with different work groups (teachers and education managers). Each time I join a new group I present Zulip and it often gets adopted. I currently have three Zulip groups, in each group I have many projects to work on with collaborators. It's very simple to create a Zulip space with a custom name. I can easily switch accounts on my phone and get alerts for each group. I mostly work on my computer, and always have Zulip tabs open, it's really an efficient way of interacting on several projects. For some projects only a sub-group follows the thread so it doesn't anoy the other members of the group. I'm a big fan of markdown and often use the 'spoiler' function. It allows to paste a long mail or text without ruining the experience of short message chats. Thanks to the threads and discussions, we can also use Zulip for some fun small talk on some subjects like we did on WhatsApp (gif and emojis) without cluttering the serious work space. As a bonus we can write maths using LaTeX :)

Vorteile:

Free, simple, with markdown. Allows my team to be much more organized than when we just had a WhatsApp group and a cloud ! Even non-geeks manage to use it properly.

Nachteile:

I'd like to have a place with folders and enough space to save files on Zulip instead of using a cloud. I could link to a file directly in Zulip and comment on it.

Good alternative for remote communication among independent contractors

Kommentare: Our small business needed a remote communication solution for a collaborative team of independent contractors. We were looking for an app that stood independently of other software systems to eliminate a need for the contractors to need to use their personal accounts and allow them to communicate freely and privately without corporate oversight since they are not employees. We also wanted something that would allow for voice and video calling and file sharing, and the ability to post your status so that each user can see at a glance who is available. The biggest negative feedback we receive using the product is that it is up to the user to manually update a custom status, and custom statuses cannot be saved as a preset. The short list of presets do not include a "lunch" status, for example. And, it's difficult to see who is on or off duty unless they remember to specifically post that. We place a high importance on a healthy work-life balance and do not want to message contractors who are not actively working, and Zulip is less than ideal for accomplishing that. Closing out the app does not change the status. When a user is invisible we don't know if they are not currently working or whether they are just immersed in work in another window and the Zulip app has gone idle. We would prefer it if closing the app automated an "off-duty" status to make it easy to tell who is OK to disturb or not. We love that it works across PC and Mac and across all desktop and mobile devices our contractor team uses, perfect for remote work.

Vorteile:

Open source and cross-platform functionality

Nachteile:

Can't save customized status posts and does not automate an off-duty status when user closes app.

Zulip is fantastic, but has some painpoints

Kommentare: I love Zulip, it is lightweight and functional and has all the essential features. I would love for it to be easier to organise larger teams, e.g. with documents and/or a clearer and more concise overview of chats and channel data.

Vorteile:

LaTeX support, markdown editing, Free hosting, simple yet functional.

Nachteile:

It is hard to keep channels and chats organized. Replying on messages copies the entire message -- this should be some kind of expandable I think. The delay in image uploads behaves strangely. If sending a message with an image, it is possible to send the message before the image is uploaded, but then the image will never appear in the message. The final thing I am missing is a better setup for customizing the UI, and integrating addons. A calendar function and/or a todo-list support would be great!

Safe and Reliable - Zulip is invaluable

Kommentare: Our overall experience with Zulip has been amazing. During Covid we were suddenly forced into a situation where teens who had been seeing each other on a regular basis were isolated and we needed a safe reliable way for them to communicate. We started using Zulip at that point, and even when restrictions were lifted have continued to use it - it's a fabulous tool, great for communication, keeping users safe and apart from unwelcome external influences.

Vorteile:

Zulip is safe and secure for all users - especially for minors who need to contact each other in a safe environment, without the worry of external influences Zulip has been invaluable. For both for administrators and users the desktop product is easy to manage and the layout is intuitive and attractive. Being able to customize it is an added bonus. Users can create individual discussions, or join together easily.

Nachteile:

The mobile app is less intuitive, but still useable.

Excellent all around

Kommentare: Excellent, zero complaints. I recommend it to anybody who needs a chat client for work.

Vorteile:

Huge fan of the customisation options, the very functional UI and especially the topics system makes information way better organised than my time on Slack and Teams.

Nachteile:

Not much to hate. I had a few features I missed from Slack when we moved but I put feature requests on GitHub and they were all implemented.

Highly recommended

Kommentare: We have been using it successfully at work for some years now, I'm very glad we chose Zulip instead of Slack or Teams.

Vorteile:

Most organized communication/"chat" tool. Easy to catch up on conversations. Solves the problem of "cross-talking" in channels. Also the most programmer-friendly tool, the syntax highlighting, markdown and LaTeX support are extraordinary.

Nachteile:

Doesn't have an integrated video meeting + screen sharing tool, but it can integrate with other tools.

We really like it!

Kommentare: Radically improved my team's communication.

Vorteile:

You can move conversations between topics. Totally a game-changer for us.

Nachteile:

This is a really small thing, but the "follow this topic" thing is something I'd like to turn off – I just want to follow all topics. Also, it would be nice if you could use check boxes to select message that you'd like to move (as opposed to just "all following" or "only this one").

Our organisation can't lvie without it anymore!

Kommentare: I first tried to install it myself on an ARM64 system, but I couldn't get it to work. Then went for the hosted version and our organization was up and running with Zulip in no time!

Vorteile:

The fact that it's free for small companies... It's an ideal way to try out and see whether it is a good fit for our organization. Zulip is very intuitive: all our 9 employees were able to start working with it without any training or instruction.

Nachteile:

There's nothing I don't like about Zulip.

Best opensource IM app for team communication

Kommentare: I switched to zulip from slack!
I use zulip to manage communication with a team of 30+ interns. Zulip met my requirements for team communication

Vorteile:

Threaded/Topic View. It is a good mix of email and IM

Nachteile:

Nothing. The application met all my requirements.

Great for research groups

Kommentare: Great for research groups! The free tier is sufficient for us and all alternatives would be very costly

Vorteile:

The threading model works very well, the native support of LaTeX is also super helpful

Nachteile:

The android app works but looks very outdated. Many of my colleagues post into "(no topic)" when using it by accident.

Without a doubt, the best option

Kommentare: I've been using Zulip for two years and it was, without a doubt, the only application that was as easy to use as I found. I undoubtedly recommend it

Vorteile:

its versatility, ease of use and quality of service provided.

Nachteile:

Not being a very negative detail in itself, perhaps the design of the application. If it were a little more appealing, it could have more advantages

Recommendation

Kommentare: We are highly satisfied with Zulip and recommend it to others.

Vorteile:

Zulip is a user-friendly communicator with many features.

Nachteile:

We are satisfied and have no comments. Thank you.

Using Zulip for Education staff

Kommentare: Our team has been using it successfully, and we like it. The limited messages based on volume rather than on time is great, and it is overall easy to use. Notifications could be more intuitive, and a feature to pin messages would be desirable.

Vorteile:

Free and open-source is a big plus, and easy to setup.

Nachteile:

Notification settings across channels and topics were unintuitive.

a game-changer for team coordination

Kommentare: Zulip keeps everyone in sync without feeling like a chore, it is a game-changer for team coordination

Vorteile:

I loved the intuitive interface and how effortlessly it allows to communicate, the entire team together or sub-teams in parallel organized sessions

Nachteile:

I haven't find any cons up to now, really

Zulip enabled seamless 500x growth for our community

Kommentare: The app seems to be run by a dedicated team who really care about getting things right at a high level. Again and again we saw very responsive reactions from the devs to even the smallest queries/suggestions for improvement.

Vorteile:

In six years our community grew from 20 users to 10,000 and Zulip scaled effortlessly. The thread/channel set-up enables many different conversations to happen simultaneously. Extremely fast and efficient technical support. Ability by admins to move threads around to new threads ensures conversations remain coherent even if they split and go off on a tangent. Very powerful linkifier system which we put to extensive use.

Nachteile:

Search on the Android app is not as powerful as on the desktop app. It is also a great shame that our chat is not indexed by Google because it is by far the largest and most important resource for my community.

Great instant messenger

Kommentare: Great. It's the best instant messenger application I've used and preferred within the company

Vorteile:

Easy to use, allows you to organize instant messages with teams. Self hosting option is great, we wouldn't be as productive and quick active as we do without zulip. WWE also have Teams, Slack, Zoom, and zulip is by far the best and everyone's preference. Mobile app works great to

Nachteile:

None. We haven't found any issues with it. We don't have it integrated with video calls, but I know that's something we can do easily with a plug-in.

Zulip just works for Maths and Code

Kommentare: I learnt of Zulip because of its use by the Lean community, where it has been superb. Over the years I have seen software communities (mainly scala earlier) move between various discussion forums, always trying to tradeoff. With Zulip everything is essentially as it should be, allowing asynchronous coordination of workflows involving code and mathematics in an intuitive and clean fashion. Except for the phase when Gitter was well maintained, Zulip is the first forum which just works.

Vorteile:

* It has excellent support for code and mathematics, and also images. * Its markdown-based composition support is also excellent, including nice features like timezone independent times. * It has a very convenient streams and threads model, allowing for focussed discussions over time. * The apps are good, especially the desktop app. * The developers are responsive to feature requests and issues raised.

Nachteile:

I have not faced any real issues with Zulip.

Productive Workspace + Knowledge Management

Kommentare: Self-hosting knowledge management, onboarding working and learning community.

Vorteile:

Fast and simple! A complete delight to use.

Nachteile:

Still some opportunities to make self-hosting cleaner... but amazing docs and process. And the search could be improved. We've fixed ours with an integration to Danswer.

Simplicity and Power

Vorteile:

Zulip provides excellent flexibility to structure the communications in an organization, thanks to its channel/topic perspective. This is so good, but what is even better is that this structure is not enforced. You can use as much detailed structure as needed. Therefore, you have a simplicity and power at the same time.

Nachteile:

It would have been great if Zulip allowed to edit the messages in an external editor of choice with seamless integration.

A Powerful and Efficient Team Communication Tool

Kommentare: Zulip has benefited me significantly improving our communication and collaboration processesIt has made it easier to manage our projects, communicate effectively, and locate critical information quickly.

Vorteile:

Zulip enables the categorization of discussions into specific topics, ensuring that conversations remain laser-focused and easy to track. This feature improves productivity and reduces the clutter often associated with group chats. If you're seeking for a communication platform that improves productivity and simplifies teamwork, Zulip is undoubtedly the way to go.It's easy to navigate, and the organized conversation threads (called "streams") and topics help to keep discussions structured and accessible.our experience with Zulip has been exceptionally positive. the organization of messages helps us to stay on top of things in times when there's a lot to handle at the same time.

Nachteile:

While Zulip's interface is generally user-friendly, the concept of streams and topics may require a bit of a learning curve, especially for new users. Complex to use for non daily users It may take some time for teams to fully adapt to the platform.

Zulip - Works for handling large groups.

Kommentare: Overall, I find myself using Zulip for large teams, club discussions ans orchestrating multiple groups.

Vorteile:

It is very fast and has nice interfaces for building interactive bots.

Nachteile:

I would like to be able to send stickers in chats. And, the UI for replies could be better (I am used a thread like interface)

Microcks is using Zulip for is open source community collaboration

Vorteile:

Great thread and stream management, in a single view you know the message and updates you need to take care of.

Nachteile:

Maybe fewer integration possibilities than some competitors (enterprise products) but it is fine for our usages and we will check some integration using Zulip's API and/or Zappier.