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
| Feature | Mattermost | Rocket.Chat |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Team Chat | Team Chat |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, kubernetes | docker, snap, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 38,708 | ★ 45,947 |
| First released | 2016 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Slack, Microsoft Teams | Slack, Microsoft Teams |
Why pick each one
Choose Mattermost if…
- Great for technical teams
- Strong security posture
- Good integrations
Choose Rocket.Chat if…
- Feature-rich Slack alternative
- Strong integrations
- Self-hostable
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.