---
title: "Deploy Zulip | Open Source Team Chat, Slack Alternative with Topics"
description: "Self-host Zulip. Async chat for distributed teams with 120+ integrations"
category: "Other"
url: https://railway.com/deploy/zulip
---

# Deploy Zulip | Open Source Team Chat, Slack Alternative with Topics

Self-host Zulip. Async chat for distributed teams with 120+ integrations

**[Deploy Zulip | Open Source Team Chat, Slack Alternative with Topics on Railway](https://railway.com/template/zulip)**

- **Creator:** Heimdall
- **Category:** Other
- **Total deploys:** 3

## Template content

### Redis https://cdn.sanity.io/images/sy1jschh/production/0ce0bfdcfbdbf69662b1116671f97c2dd788b655-157x157.svg

- **Image:** redis:8.2.1
- **Start command:** `/bin/sh -c "rm -rf $RAILWAY_VOLUME_MOUNT_PATH/lost+found/ && exec docker-entrypoint.sh redis-server --requirepass $REDIS_PASSWORD --save 60 1 --dir $RAILWAY_VOLUME_MOUNT_PATH"`

### PostgreSQL https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/homarr-labs/dashboard-icons/svg/postgres.svg

- **Image:** zulip/zulip-postgresql:14

### Zulip https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/homarr-labs/dashboard-icons/svg/zulip.svg

- **Image:** ghcr.io/zulip/zulip-server:11.6-1
- **Public domain:** Yes

### Memcached https://cdn.worldvectorlogo.com/logos/memcached.svg

- **Image:** memcached:alpine
- **Start command:** `/bin/sh -c 'echo "mech_list: plain" > "$SASL_CONF_PATH" && echo "zulip@zulip:$MEMCACHED_PASSWORD" > "$MEMCACHED_SASL_PWDB" && echo "zulip@localhost:$MEMCACHED_PASSWORD" >> "$MEMCACHED_SASL_PWDB" && exec memcached -S'`

### RabbitMQ https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/homarr-labs/dashboard-icons/svg/rabbitmq.svg

- **Image:** rabbitmq:4.0

## Documentation

![Zulip logo](https://openalternative.co/cdn-cgi/image/width=1024,quality=75,format=avif,metadata=none/https%3A%2F%2Fassets.openalternative.co%2Ftools%2Fzulip%2Fscreenshot.webp%3Fv%3D1738071695582)

# Deploy and Host Zulip on Railway

[![Deploy on Railway](https://railway.com/button.svg)](https://railway.com/deploy/zulip?referralCode=QXdhdr)

Deploy Zulip on Railway to get a production-ready, self-hosted team chat server with topic-based threading that keeps conversations organized at scale. Self-host Zulip with full control over your data, no per-user fees, and the same powerful features used by open-source communities and distributed teams worldwide.

![Zulip Railway architecture](https://res.cloudinary.com/asset-cloudinary/image/upload/v1776787582/da00755b-ab8b-4d61-91dc-e6c702a789fc.png)

## Getting Started with Zulip on Railway

Once the template deploys, all five services start automatically. Zulip runs database migrations on first boot, which takes 1-2 minutes. **Before creating your first organization, configure SMTP** — set `SETTING_EMAIL_HOST_USER`, `SECRETS_email_password`, and `SETTING_NOREPLY_EMAIL_ADDRESS` on the Zulip service with your SMTP credentials (Gmail app password, SendGrid API key, Mailgun, or Amazon SES). Without SMTP, the email confirmation sent after /new/ signup will never arrive. Once SMTP is live, navigate to `/new/` (enabled by default via `SETTING_OPEN_REALM_CREATION=True`), submit your organization name and email, click the confirmation link in your inbox, and set your admin password. After creating the realm, consider setting `SETTING_OPEN_REALM_CREATION=False` to prevent strangers from creating additional realms on your server.

## About Hosting Zulip

Zulip is an open-source (Apache 2.0) team communication platform that uniquely combines the immediacy of real-time chat with the organization of threaded discussions. Unlike Slack or Microsoft Teams where conversations flow chronologically in channels, every Zulip message belongs to a named topic within a channel — making it possible to follow, catch up on, or mute individual conversations without losing context.

**Key features of Zulip:**
- **Topic-based threading** — every message has a topic, so parallel conversations stay organized
- **120+ native integrations** — GitHub, Jira, Sentry, PagerDuty, Jenkins, and more via webhooks
- **Full-text search** — powered by custom PostgreSQL with pgroonga extensions
- **Rich API** — incoming/outgoing webhooks, bot framework, REST API, Slack-compatible webhook format
- **Mobile and desktop apps** — native clients for iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux
- **60+ languages supported** — full internationalization

The architecture uses PostgreSQL for persistent data, Redis for caching, Memcached for Django session/cache storage with SASL auth, and RabbitMQ for background task queuing (email delivery, push notifications, webhook dispatch).

## Why Deploy Zulip on Railway

- **Zero per-user fees** — Apache 2.0 licensed, 100% free to self-host with no feature restrictions
- **Data sovereignty** — all messages, files, and user data stay on your infrastructure
- **Async-first design** — topic threading is objectively better for distributed/remote teams across time zones
- **Production-ready** — runs the same codebase trusted by thousands of organizations including open-source communities with 10,000+ users

## Common Use Cases for Self-Hosted Zulip

- **Remote engineering teams** replacing Slack to reduce information overload with topic-based organization
- **Open-source project communities** needing persistent, organized public discussion (Zulip offers free Community plans)
- **Academic research groups** collaborating across time zones where async catch-up is essential
- **Security-conscious organizations** requiring on-premises chat with full data control and audit logs

## Dependencies for Zulip on Railway

- **Zulip Server** — `ghcr.io/zulip/zulip-server:11.6-1` — main application (Django, Nginx, Tornado, supervisord)
- **PostgreSQL** — `zulip/zulip-postgresql:14` — custom image with hunspell dictionaries and pgroonga for full-text search
- **Redis** — Railway-managed Redis — caching layer
- **Memcached** — `memcached:alpine` — Django session/cache backend with SASL authentication
- **RabbitMQ** — `rabbitmq:4.0` — async task queue for email, push notifications, webhooks

### Deployment Dependencies for Zulip

- **Runtime:** Docker (all services run as containers)
- **GitHub:** [github.com/zulip/zulip](https://github.com/zulip/zulip) (29,000+ stars)
- **Docker Hub:** [zulip/zulip-postgresql](https://hub.docker.com/r/zulip/zulip-postgresql)
- **Container Registry:** `ghcr.io/zulip/zulip-server`
- **Docs:** [zulip.readthedocs.io](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/production/requirements.html)

## Hardware Requirements for Self-Hosting Zulip

| Resource | Minimum | Recommended |
|----------|---------|-------------|
| CPU | 2 cores | 4 cores |
| RAM | 4 GB (across all services) | 8 GB |
| Storage | 10 GB SSD | 50 GB SSD |
| Runtime | Docker with 5 containers | Docker with 5 containers |

Zulip's 5-service architecture (app + PostgreSQL + Redis + Memcached + RabbitMQ) requires more baseline RAM than simpler chat servers.

## Self-Hosting Zulip with Docker

The quickest way to self-host Zulip with Docker Compose:

```
services:
  zulip:
    image: ghcr.io/zulip/zulip-server:11.6-1
    environment:
      DISABLE_HTTPS: "True"
      SETTING_EXTERNAL_HOST: "chat.example.com"
      SETTING_REMOTE_POSTGRES_HOST: "database"
      SECRETS_secret_key: "your-64-char-secret-key"
    ports:
      - "80:80"
    volumes:
      - zulip-data:/data
    depends_on:
      - database
      - memcached
      - rabbitmq
      - redis

  database:
    image: zulip/zulip-postgresql:14
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: zulip
      POSTGRES_DB: zulip
    volumes:
      - postgresql-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
```

To run Zulip directly with Docker:

```
docker run -d --name zulip \
  -e DISABLE_HTTPS=True \
  -e SETTING_EXTERNAL_HOST=chat.example.com \
  -e SETTING_REMOTE_POSTGRES_HOST=db-host \
  -e SECRETS_secret_key=$(openssl rand -hex 32) \
  -v zulip-data:/data \
  -p 80:80 \
  ghcr.io/zulip/zulip-server:11.6-1
```

## Is Zulip Free to Self-Host?

Zulip is 100% open-source under the Apache 2.0 license with no paid-only features for self-hosted deployments. Every feature — topic threading, search, integrations, mobile push notifications — is available for free. Optional paid plans ($3.50-$8/user/month) provide commercial support and mobile push notification relay through Zulip's servers. On Railway, your only cost is infrastructure — typically $5-20/month depending on usage and storage.

## Zulip vs Mattermost vs Rocket.Chat on Railway

| Feature | Zulip | Mattermost | Rocket.Chat |
|---------|-------|------------|-------------|
| Threading | Topic-based (unique) | Slack-style optional threads | Slack-style optional threads |
| Services required | 5 (app+PG+Redis+MC+RMQ) | 2 (app+PG) | 2 (app+MongoDB) |
| Min RAM | 4 GB | 2 GB | 2 GB |
| License | Apache 2.0 | MIT (Team Edition) | MIT |
| Native integrations | 120+ | 60+ | 50+ |
| Best for | Async teams, open-source | Slack replacement | Omnichannel support |

Zulip's topic-based model is unmatched for async-first teams, but requires more infrastructure than Mattermost's simpler stack. Choose Mattermost if your team prefers Slack-style UX; choose Zulip if conversation organization matters more than familiarity.

## FAQ

**What is Zulip and why self-host it?**
Zulip is an open-source team chat platform with a unique topic-based threading model that organizes conversations within channels. Self-hosting gives you full data control, no per-user fees, and the ability to customize and integrate with internal tools.

**How do I create an admin account on self-hosted Zulip?**
After deployment, visit `/new/` on your Zulip URL to create your first organization. The email you use becomes the admin account. You can also use the Zulip management CLI inside the container: `manage.py generate_realm_creation_link` to create a realm invitation link.

**Can I migrate from Slack to self-hosted Zulip on Railway?**
Yes. Zulip includes a Slack data import tool that preserves channels, messages, and user accounts. Export your Slack workspace data, then use Zulip's `manage.py convert_slack_data` followed by `manage.py import` to bring everything over, including message history and file attachments.

**How do I set up incoming webhooks in Zulip on Railway?**
Navigate to your Zulip organization settings, go to the Integrations page, and select from 120+ pre-built integrations (GitHub, Jira, Sentry, etc.). Each integration provides a unique webhook URL in the format `https://your-domain/api/v1/external/INTEGRATION_NAME?api_key=API_KEY`. Zulip automatically routes webhook messages to the appropriate channel and topic.

**Why am I not receiving the confirmation email from self-hosted Zulip on Railway?**
Zulip requires SMTP credentials to send email — the template ships with placeholder values for `SETTING_EMAIL_HOST_USER`, `SECRETS_email_password`, and `SETTING_NOREPLY_EMAIL_ADDRESS`. Replace them with real SMTP credentials (Gmail app password, SendGrid API key, Mailgun, or Amazon SES) on the Zulip service, wait for Railway to auto-redeploy, then click "Resend" on the confirmation page. Without valid SMTP, all confirmation emails, password resets, invites, and notifications silently drop.

**How do I configure Gmail SMTP for Zulip on Railway?**
Use `SETTING_EMAIL_HOST=smtp.gmail.com`, `SETTING_EMAIL_PORT=587`, `SETTING_EMAIL_USE_TLS=True`, set `SETTING_EMAIL_HOST_USER` to your full Gmail address, and generate a [Gmail App Password](https://myaccount.google.com/apppasswords) (not your regular password — Gmail blocks basic-auth SMTP) for `SECRETS_email_password`. Set `SETTING_NOREPLY_EMAIL_ADDRESS` to your Gmail address as well.


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