FreeSWITCHvsZulip
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| FreeSWITCH | Zulip | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 69/100 | 82/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 16 in VoIP | #1 of 110 in Chat |
| GitHub stars | 5 263 | 26 134 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +80 | +184 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 4 | 6 |
| Latest release | v1.11.3 · 28 Aug 2026 | 12.3 · 21 Sept 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes |
| License | Other | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | C | Python |
Which one should you pick?
Zulip scores 82/100 against 69/100 for FreeSWITCH, so it is the safer default.
Zulip ships more often: 6 stable releases in the past year, against 4 for FreeSWITCH.
If you want the quickest setup, Zulip is easier to run; FreeSWITCH needs more configuration.
Zulip is growing faster right now (+184 stars in 30 days).
FreeSWITCH details →Zulip details →