Mattermost vs Zulip: what their users struggle with
Not a verdict and not a star rating: the problems users of Mattermost and Zulip describe in public, side by side, each one linked to its source (as of 2026-10-15).
Get started free with your email Open Mattermost on Friction
| Mattermost | Zulip | |
|---|---|---|
| Recent reports compared | 22 | 17 |
| Themes compared | 18 | 17 |
| Public source threads | 79 | 57 |
| Pain points | 18 | 9 |
| Feature requests | 3 | 8 |
| Workarounds | 0 | 0 |
| Switching reasons | 1 | 0 |
| Reports rated “Causes churn” | 0 | 0 |
Every count in this table is of open reports in the recent window (Mattermost since 2023-10, Zulip since 2023-10); older and fixed reports are not counted. The counts measure how much public discussion exists for each product, not which is better: a popular tool collects more reports.
Problems mostly raised about Mattermost
- GitLab SSO fails or needs workarounds · Permissions & security · Annoyance
- Self-hosted push notifications still go through vendor's central APNS proxy · Permissions & security · Annoyance
- Android web app native back button does not navigate back · Mobile · Blocks work
- Domain restrictions block shared-channel member synchronization · Integrations · Blocks work
- Disk-full startup can erase config.json and reset settings · Reliability & bugs · Blocks work
Problems mostly raised about Zulip
- Zulip communities hide discussion behind a login · Permissions & security · Annoyance
- Joining self-hosted Zulip orgs needs yet another account and SSO setup · Setup & onboarding · Annoyance
- Missing E2EE and push notification independence blocks some adopters · Permissions & security · Annoyance
Go further
Open Mattermost and Zulip in the compare tool to filter by area and severity, Mattermost alternatives, Zulip alternatives, or the state of team chat.
How the data is built. A theme is a group of reports about the same problem; unique means not matched to a theme on the other product.