# exo vs Zulip

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | exo | Zulip |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 76/100 | 82/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #6 of 25 in LLM Inference | #1 of 110 in Chat |
| GitHub stars | 48 074 ✓ | 26 134 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +439 ✓ | +184 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 ✓ | 6 |
| Latest release | v1.0.71 · 23 Apr 2026 | 12.3 · 21 Sept 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Python | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

Zulip scores 82/100 against 76/100 for exo, so it is the safer default.

exo ships more often: 7 stable releases in the past year, against 6 for Zulip.

If you want the quickest setup, exo is easier to run; Zulip needs more configuration.

exo is growing faster right now (+439 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [exo](https://selfhost.directory/project/exo) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/exo.md)
- [Zulip](https://selfhost.directory/project/zulip) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/zulip.md)

## Related comparisons

- [Discourse vs Zulip](https://selfhost.directory/compare/discourse-vs-zulip)
- [Rocket.Chat vs Zulip](https://selfhost.directory/compare/rocketchat-vs-zulip)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/exo-vs-zulip