Rocket.Chat
CommunicationA self-hostable team communications platform with chat, channels, and omnichannel customer messaging.
Open-source alternative to:
Slack
What the free edition leaves out
The free edition is genuinely usable, but some team or enterprise features need a paid plan. “Not confirmed” means the official pages we read did not say, so we do not guess.
| Feature | Free edition | Details | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSO / SAML | Paid | The SAML docs say that from Rocket.Chat 9.0.0, SAML requires a premium plan; Community workspaces must switch to another login method before upgrading. The pricing page lists SAML, OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect on paid plans. Which non-SAML methods stay free on Community was not confirmed. | Source ↗ |
| Role-based access control | Not confirmed | The pricing page lists role-based access controls and custom roles on the paid plans. Whether basic roles and custom roles are free on the Starter/Community workspace was not stated. | Source ↗ |
| Audit logs | Paid | The pricing page lists admin event logging and message/file/session audit trails on the paid plans. Free-tier availability not confirmed, so this is based on the paid listing only. | Source ↗ |
| Multi-user / teams | Not confirmed | The pricing page offers a free Starter self-managed workspace for evaluation, small businesses and non-profits. No user cap was found on the page read. | Source ↗ |
| Backups and restore | Not confirmed | The pricing page lists backup and recovery for cloud workspaces only. No self-managed backup tooling was found. | Source ↗ |
| API access | Not confirmed | The pricing page lists an open API and custom integrations on the Commercial plan. Free-tier availability not stated on the page read. | Source ↗ |
| Support SLA | Paid | Standard support is included with the paid Commercial plan, and mission-critical support is an add-on with prioritized response times. No SLA figures are published. | Source ↗ |
Best for
Organizations that must keep chat on their own infrastructure, including regulated or air-gapped environments, and are ready to run a Docker or Kubernetes deployment.
Why choose it over Slack
The core is MIT-licensed and can be self-hosted, including in air-gapped networks, with Docker, Kubernetes and other deployment options. There is a free Starter workspace for evaluation, small businesses and non-profits.
Where it falls short
It is open core: code under the ee folders needs a paid subscription in production, and the SAML docs say SAML needs a premium plan from version 9.0.0. Paid plan prices are not published; the pricing page directs you to sales. Backup and recovery is listed for cloud workspaces only. Self-managed deployment needs container or Kubernetes skills. The free tier's exact limits could not be confirmed.
Open-source alternative to
- Slack — Rocket.Chat is a team chat platform you can deploy on your own infrastructure, including air-gapped networks.
- Microsoft Teams — Rocket.Chat offers self-managed team messaging for organizations that need to keep data on their own servers.
Category
CommunicationTopics
Tech stack
TypeScript
DockerLanguages as reported by GitHub for the repository.
