Microsoft Teams vs. Zulip

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft Teams
Score 7.8 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Teams combines video conferencing software with team collaboration tools. The communications platform allows MS Office users to conduct conference calls and share files via SharePoint, and join or initiate a group chat.
$4.80
per month per user
Zulip
Score 7.0 out of 10
N/A
Zulip is a team chat app that is designed for both live and asynchronous conversations. Zulip topics create a separate space for each discussion, so different conversations will never get in each other's way. Teams of all sizes can use Zulip, and Zulip is 100% open-source enterprise-grade software, self-hosted or in the cloud.
$0
per month per user
Pricing
Microsoft TeamsZulip
Editions & Modules
Microsoft Teams Essentials
$4.80
per month per user
Microsoft Teams Enterprise
$5.25
per month (paid yearly) per user
Microsoft Teams Enterprise
$5.25
per month per user
Microsoft 365 Business Basic
$7.20
per month per user
Microsoft 365 Business Standard
$15
per month per user
Zulip Cloud Free
$0
per month per user
Zulip Free
$0
per month per user
Zulip Basic
$3.50
per month per user
Zulip Cloud Standard
$8
per month per user
Zulip Business
$8
per month per user
Zulip Cloud Plus
$12
per month per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft TeamsZulip
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsDiscounts are available for non profit organizations.Discount available for annual pricing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft TeamsZulip
Features
Microsoft TeamsZulip
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Teams
5.2
Ratings
39% below category average
Zulip
10.0
Ratings
26% above category average
Task Management5.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Gantt Charts4.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Scheduling4.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow Automation4.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Access6.40 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Search5.10 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Visual planning tools5.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Communication
Comparison of Communication features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Teams
6.5
Ratings
20% below category average
Zulip
10.0
Ratings
23% above category average
Chat6.80 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Notifications6.10 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Discussions6.60 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Surveys5.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Internal knowledgebase5.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Integrates with GoToMeeting6.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Integrates with Gmail and Google Hangouts5.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Integrates with Outlook9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
File Sharing & Management
Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Teams
5.8
Ratings
30% below category average
Zulip
10.0
Ratings
24% above category average
Versioning6.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Video files5.30 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Audio files6.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Document collaboration7.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Access control6.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Advanced security features4.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Integrates with Google Drive5.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Device sync5.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Microsoft TeamsZulip
Small Businesses
Stackby
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Score 9.0 out of 10
Stackby
Stackby
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Troop Messenger
Troop Messenger
Score 9.8 out of 10
Troop Messenger
Troop Messenger
Score 9.8 out of 10
Enterprises
HCL Connections
HCL Connections
Score 9.0 out of 10
HCL Connections
HCL Connections
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Microsoft TeamsZulip
Likelihood to Recommend
6.5
(0 ratings)
7.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
3.7
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
6.5
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft TeamsZulip
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft Teams is ideal for organizations where employees regularly collaborate by sharing files, working on the same documents, updating the progress, etc. This is because different file formats are supported for online editing and collaboration with the help of Microsoft Teams. Additionally, for every file which is shared among the team members, emails are not sent again and again which helps in easily managing and organizing files. It is less appropriate where the team members have to instantly reply to an urgent task as sometimes the notifications are not sent properly which may lead to a delay in the work.
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Zulip is great at what it does, and I enjoy using this product every day, but to me it serves as an alternative to the bigger names in instant communication. If they had more features and offered a simpler profile layout that was easier to look at, my rating would be higher.
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Pros
  • Video calls are great with Microsoft Teams. They've made big improvements over the last year and I rarely have issue with getting on. It's nice when things just work.
  • The most used functionality is, of course, the chat feature. It does what it's supposed to do and you can create chat groups from whoever you'd like. We use it a lot when there is a special project and a team from various groups get together for a short period of time to get things done.
  • An overlooked function is the ability to search anything within Microsoft Teams. Any photo, document, or chat can be searched and found pretty easily. I can't tell you how many times this has saved me from having to rewrite something or start over.
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  • Letting you send direct messages
  • Letting you customize each message like adding bullet points and hyperlinks
  • Keeping each thread organized
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Cons
  • I sometimes have a hard time viewing both the meeting screen and chat window at the same time.
  • There have been times when someone in a meeting will totally lose their connection.
  • At times the sound quality is not what it should be which makes it hard to hear each other.
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  • It would be nice to see a person's title under their name when you click their profile
  • It would be nice to see a person's direct report when you click their profile
  • Including more personalized information in the quick view of a profile would be nice
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Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft Teams is included with our Office 365 subscription and we have no intention of migrating off of Office 365 and Microsoft products. Since Microsoft Teams is included for free with our Office 365 subscription, and since we enjoy all the features, benefits, and functionality, there is no question that our team will continue to use the product
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No answers on this topic
Usability
The overall functionality of the product is incredible in that it provides a one-stop solution for organization and communication. The product is also very well integrated into Microsoft Outlook and other Office apps. Visually pleasing and very easy to use interface. New features are constantly being added to enhance the user experience.
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Again, I would like to see more personalized features pertaining to the quick view you get when you click on someone's profile within the software. I do like how it offers a desktop app as well as web browser support. I also like the customizing of notification sounds, there's a lot to choose from which is ideal.
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Reliability and Availability
Rare, but outages do happen
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No answers on this topic
Performance
Sometimes about once a week I get a message that says "Sorry, there seems to be something wrong". But it goes away in a few minutes.
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
I think Microsoft Team is overall good application for communication, track Project work inter the teams and also intra teams. I have 7 out of 10 because it needs improvements in certain features like video sharing call, call drop, audio quality and connecting problems even after having good internet connection.
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No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
I find everything I need for my day-to-day work.
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
We chose primarily because of the promised integration with the Microsoft Business Suite - which it mostly delivers on. That does give Teams an obvious advantage over competitors. IMHO Teams has a richer, more mature feature set, and the experience is more reliable and stable. Although like any of there there is room for imporvement.
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I did not have a say in my company choosing Zulip as their main communication channel, but I can understand why they chose Zulip over any other program. It does house different discussion topics better than Teams does in my opinion, and you're able to easily add subtopics underneath them.
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Scalability
It does not appear to have a limit to how many teams and employees we can have using it
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No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • User experience has been much better than the previous Skype for Business app. It has an easy-to-use interface with persistent chats. The search feature is very fast and useful.
  • MS Teams has mostly focused on Collaboration and team building features which are very useful for organisational communications. This in turn has a positive impact on the overall business outcome.
  • Scheduling meetings have never been so easy in the past. We can schedule meetings on the go without any hassles
  • Since Teams is accessible from multiple platforms like Laptop, Desktop, Mobile phones, etc it has been very convenient from a Mobility perspective.
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  • I don't feel suited to answer this as I have been with my organization for less than 2 months.
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ScreenShots