Communication · paid tool
Slack alternatives
Team chat with channels, calls, and app integrations.
Free alternatives
Highest score first. The score weighs licence openness, repository activity, traction, feature coverage, and cost; factors without data are left out and the rest are reweighted.
Rocket.Chat
Ranking score 94.1/100
Team messaging platform with channels, video, and federation.
- Licence
- MIT
- Platforms
- web, macos, windows, linux, ios, android, self-hosted
- Self-hostable
- Yes
- Repo activity
- Last release October 5, 2026
- GitHub stars
- 46,331
- Last verified
- October 24, 2026
Why this rank
Score breakdown for Rocket.Chat Factor Points Weight Licence opennessMIT licence (open); self-hostable 25 25% Repository activityLast activity 0 day(s) before 2026-10-26 25 25% Popularity46331 GitHub stars 19.9 20% Feature coverage11 of 14 curated capability tags covered 15.7 20% Costopen-core pricing model 8.5 10% Points add up to the score. Factors without data are left out and the remaining weights are renormalised.
Mattermost
Ranking score 92.4/100
Self-hosted team chat with channels, calls, and integrations.
- Licence
- AGPL-3.0
- Platforms
- macos, windows, linux, ios, android, self-hosted
- Self-hostable
- Yes
- Repo activity
- Last release October 22, 2026
- GitHub stars
- 39,437
- Last verified
- October 24, 2026
Why this rank
Score breakdown for Mattermost Factor Points Weight Licence opennessAGPL-3.0 licence (open); self-hostable 25 25% Repository activityLast activity 0 day(s) before 2026-10-26 25 25% Popularity39437 GitHub stars 19.6 20% Feature coverage10 of 14 curated capability tags covered 14.3 20% Costopen-core pricing model 8.5 10% Points add up to the score. Factors without data are left out and the remaining weights are renormalised.
Element
Ranking score 91.8/100
Matrix client for encrypted team chat and community rooms.
- Licence
- AGPL-3.0
- Platforms
- web, macos, windows, linux, ios, android, self-hosted
- Self-hostable
- Yes
- Repo activity
- Last release October 16, 2026
- GitHub stars
- 13,613
- Last verified
- October 24, 2026
Why this rank
Score breakdown for Element Factor Points Weight Licence opennessAGPL-3.0 licence (open); self-hostable 25 25% Repository activityLast activity 0 day(s) before 2026-10-26 25 25% Popularity13613 GitHub stars 17.6 20% Feature coverage11 of 14 curated capability tags covered 15.7 20% Costopen-core pricing model 8.5 10% Points add up to the score. Factors without data are left out and the remaining weights are renormalised.