zulip/docs/overview

Zulip overview

Zulip is a powerful, open source group chat application that combines the immediacy of real-time chat with the productivity benefits of threaded conversations. Zulip is used by open source projects, Fortune 500 companies, large standards bodies, and others who need a real-time chat system that allows users to easily process hundreds or thousands of messages a day. With over 300 contributors merging over 500 commits a month, Zulip is also the largest and fastest growing open source group chat project.

Getting started

Click on the appropriate link below. If nothing seems to apply, join us on the Zulip community server and tell us what's up!

You might be interested in:

• Contributing code. Check out our guide for new contributors to get started. Zulip prides itself on maintaining a clean and well-tested codebase, and a stock of hundreds of beginner-friendly issues.

• Contributing non-code. Report an issue, translate Zulip into your language, write for the Zulip blog, or give us feedback. We would love to hear from you, even if you're just trying the product out.

• Supporting Zulip. Advocate for your organization to use Zulip, write a review in the mobile app stores, or upvote Zulip on product comparison sites.

• Checking Zulip out. The best way to see Zulip in action is to drop by the Zulip community server. We also recommend reading Zulip for open source, Zulip for companies, or Zulip for working groups and part time communities.

• Running a Zulip server. Setting up a server takes just a couple of minutes. Zulip runs on Ubuntu 16.04 Xenial and Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty. The installation process is documented here. Commercial support is available; see https://zulipchat.com/plans for details.

• Using Zulip without setting up a server. https://zulipchat.com offers free and commercial hosting.

• Applying for a Zulip internship. Zulip runs internship programs with Outreachy, Google Summer of Code, and the MIT Externship program. Zulip also participates in Google Code-In. More information is available here.

You may also be interested in reading our blog or following us on twitter. Zulip is distributed under the Apache 2.0 license.