SHSelfHostIndex

Mattermost vs Rocket.Chat

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted team chat options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
Mattermost Secure collaboration for developer teams VS Rocket.Chat Open-source team chat and collaboration platform
FeatureMattermostRocket.Chat
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score99 · Excellent100 · Excellent
CategoryTeam ChatTeam Chat
LicenseAGPL-3.0MIT
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM2,048 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, kubernetesdocker, snap, kubernetes
GitHub stars★ 39,167★ 46,160
First released20162015
ReplacesSlack, Microsoft TeamsSlack, Microsoft Teams

What are Mattermost and Rocket.Chat?

Mattermost

Mattermost is an open-source, self-hostable messaging platform focused on secure collaboration for technical teams. It targets organizations with privacy or compliance needs. It is deployed via Docker, packages, or Kubernetes.

  • Channels, threads and search
  • Strong DevOps integrations
  • Self-hosted and on-prem focus
  • Playbooks and boards

Read the full Mattermost guide →

Rocket.Chat

Rocket.Chat is an open-source team communication platform offering channels, direct messages, voice, video, and omnichannel support. It targets organizations wanting a self-hosted Slack alternative. It is deployed via Docker or Snap.

  • Channels, DMs and threads
  • Voice and video calls
  • Omnichannel customer support
  • Apps and integrations

Read the full Rocket.Chat guide →

Mattermost vs Rocket.Chat: key differences

Both projects are written in TypeScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Mattermost versus MIT for Rocket.Chat.

Why pick each one

Choose Mattermost if…

  • Great for technical teams
  • Strong security posture
  • Good integrations

Watch out for

  • Enterprise features gated
  • Needs a real database
Mattermost details

Choose Rocket.Chat if…

  • Feature-rich Slack alternative
  • Strong integrations
  • Self-hostable

Watch out for

  • Heavy resource use
  • Some features gated to paid plans
Rocket.Chat details

Frequently asked questions

Is Mattermost or Rocket.Chat better?

Neither is universally better. Rocket.Chat has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Mattermost and Rocket.Chat free and open-source?

Yes. Mattermost is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Rocket.Chat under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Mattermost and Rocket.Chat with Docker?

Mattermost: yes. Rocket.Chat: yes.

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