netbirdvsZulip
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| netbird | Zulip | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 81/100 | 82/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 56 in VPN | #1 of 110 in Chat |
| GitHub stars | 30 302 | 26 133 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +834 | +190 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 40 | 6 |
| Latest release | v0.81.5 · 26 Oct 2026 | 12.3 · 21 Sept 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Other | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Go | Python |
Which one should you pick?
Zulip scores 82/100 against 81/100 for netbird, so it is the safer default.
netbird ships more often: 40 stable releases in the past year, against 6 for Zulip.
netbird is growing faster right now (+834 stars in 30 days).
netbird details →Zulip details →
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