Communication · alternatives
Alternatives to Rocket.Chat
23 communication tools sit alongside Rocket.Chat in this directory. Below is what separates each from Rocket.Chat on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 23
- With a free tier
- 19
- Cheaper to start
- -
- Rocket.Chat starts at
- On request
Why people look past Rocket.Chat
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Rocket.Chat entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is no free tier
The record for Rocket.Chat carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 19 of the 23 alternatives below can be used without paying.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Video conferencing that's easy, reliable, and secure
- Can be used without paying; Rocket.Chat cannot.
- Publishes an entry price of $14.99/month, where Rocket.Chat does not.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than quote.
Meet, chat, call, and collaborate in just one place
- Can be used without paying; Rocket.Chat cannot.
- Publishes an entry price of $4/month, where Rocket.Chat does not.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than quote.
Record instantly, share anywhere
- Can be used without paying; Rocket.Chat cannot.
- Publishes an entry price of $18/month, where Rocket.Chat does not.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than quote.
Connected cloud communications
- Can be used without paying; Rocket.Chat cannot.
- Publishes an entry price of $39/month, where Rocket.Chat does not.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than quote.
Messaging app that dominates Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, now run by LY Corporation under joint SoftBank and Naver ownership
- Can be used without paying; Rocket.Chat cannot.
- Sold on a Free to download, paid stickers and business messaging tiers model rather than quote.
Chinese super-app combining messaging, payments, mini programs and identity, effectively required infrastructure in mainland China
- Can be used without paying; Rocket.Chat cannot.
- Sold on a Free to download, transaction fees on payments model rather than quote.
Every Rocket.Chat alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocket.Chat (this page) | On request | Quote | - | |
| ZoomVideo conferencing that's easy, reliable, and secure | Free, then $14.99/month | Subscription | 4 | vs Rocket.Chat |
| Microsoft TeamsMeet, chat, call, and collaborate in just one place | Free, then $4/month | Subscription | 4 | vs Rocket.Chat |
| LoomRecord instantly, share anywhere | Free, then $18/month | Freemium | 3 | vs Rocket.Chat |
| RingCentral VideoConnected cloud communications | Free, then $39/month | Subscription | 4 | vs Rocket.Chat |
| Line | Free | Free to download, paid stickers and business messaging tiers | 1 | vs Rocket.Chat |
| Free | Free to download, transaction fees on payments | 1 | vs Rocket.Chat | |
| Messenger | Free | Free, funded by Meta's advertising business | 1 | vs Rocket.Chat |
| Viber | Free | Free to download, paid business messaging and out calls to landlines and mobiles | 1 | vs Rocket.Chat |
| KakaoTalk | Free | Free to download, paid emoticons, gifting and business messaging | 1 | vs Rocket.Chat |
| Sessions | Free | Per user per month | 4 | vs Rocket.Chat |
| Naver Works | Free, then 3000/month | Per user per month | 4 | vs Rocket.Chat |
| Kakao Work | Free, then 2400/month | Per user per month | 4 | vs Rocket.Chat |
| Novu | Free, then $30/month | Freemium | 3 | vs Rocket.Chat |
| Courier | Free | Usage-based | 3 | vs Rocket.Chat |
| Textline | Free | Freemium | 3 | vs Rocket.Chat |
| Telegram | Free, then $4.99/month | Freemium | 2 | vs Rocket.Chat |
| Twist | Free, then $6/month | Freemium | 2 | vs Rocket.Chat |
| Vowel | Free, then $16.49/month | Subscription | 3 | vs Rocket.Chat |
| Disciple | £599/month | Per month, flat fee with no transaction charge | 3 | vs Rocket.Chat |
| Gupshup | $0.001/message | Per message sent | 1 | vs Rocket.Chat |
| Mattermost | On request | Quote | - | vs Rocket.Chat |
| Google Chat | On request | Subscription | - | vs Rocket.Chat |
| LINE WORKS | Free, then 450/month | Per user per month | 3 | vs Rocket.Chat |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Rocket.Chat badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (19)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Zoom , Free, then $14.99/month
- Microsoft Teams , Free, then $4/month
- Loom , Free, then $18/month
- RingCentral Video , Free, then $39/month
- Line , Free
- WeChat , Free
- Messenger , Free
- Viber , Free
What you would be giving up
Rocket.Chat is most often brought in for deploying hipaa-compliant messaging for healthcare team communication, meeting data sovereignty requirements for government and defense agencies, federating secure channels with external partners without shared infrastructure, maintaining finra and mifid ii compliance for financial services, supporting classified network communications in air-gapped environments. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Rocket.Chat is broadly right and the question is cost, the Rocket.Chat pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Communication category lists everything the directory holds, and best communication tools ranks them.
Rocket.Chat runs on not recorded. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Rocket.Chat alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Rocket.Chat?
- 23 other communication tools are listed in this directory, led by Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Loom, RingCentral Video. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Rocket.Chat?
- 19 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Loom, RingCentral Video, Line.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Rocket.Chat?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is no free tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Rocket.Chat?
- Rocket.Chat is most often brought in for deploying hipaa-compliant messaging for healthcare team communication, meeting data sovereignty requirements for government and defense agencies, federating secure channels with external partners without shared infrastructure, maintaining finra and mifid ii compliance for financial services, supporting classified network communications in air-gapped environments. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Rocket.Chat?
- None of the communication tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Rocket.Chat alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Communication, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Rocket.Chat against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Rocket.Chat covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every communication tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Communication category, 23 tools beside Rocket.Chat. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.