If you're a Rocket.Chat user (of course you are, or else why are you here?) and you loved it in the beginning but hate the features you love being trimmed away now? Then read on, because in this article we'll show you the best Rocket.Chat alternatives available today.
Over 80% of remote teams use messaging apps for daily communication and 70% of businesses report improved team collaboration after adopting a unified communication platform. Finding the right communication tool is key for operating effectively, but if Rocket.chat isn't hitting the mark, you have other options.
We get it, choosing a chat solution is no small feat—especially when you’re looking for something as slick as Rocket.Chat but different enough to meet your unique needs. So let's make this journey easier by exploring options that tick all boxes: security, user experience, and advanced features for seamless collaboration.
The Need for Rocket.Chat Alternatives
People have been loving Rocket.Chat for it's slick features and simple interface. But as the company has grown over time, they have left many of their users feeling...well, let's just keep it polite and say, dissatisfied. While Rocket.Chat is a robust and flexible chat solution for many teams, there are various reasons why individuals or teams need alternatives:
Complex Setup and Maintenance: For those without a strong technical background, setting up and maintaining a Rocket.Chat server can be challenging. The requirement for ongoing management, updates, and troubleshooting can lead organizations to look for simpler, more managed solutions.
Performance Issues: In scenarios with a large number of users or high message volumes, some users may experience performance issues, including slow response times or increased server load. Businesses requiring high scalability might seek more robust solutions.
And some users report problems with customer service, too.
As shared by Leonardo in a G2 review about Rocket.chat:
Technical support is very slow, especially in urgent situations.. I updated this my review on november/2023, because I have a big problem: messages by dialog360 (meta) to my rocketchat is duplicated/triplacated randomly.. This problem already has more 1 month and not fixed by RocketChat Staff. I open a ticket but staff is very bad. I use Enteprise solution and had a poor support, I already searching for another solution and will cancel with rocketChat soon.
User Interface and Experience: Although Rocket.Chat offers a customizable interface, some users may find the default user experience less intuitive or engaging compared to other chat applications. Preferences for cleaner, more user-friendly interfaces can drive the search for alternatives.
Feature Set and Integrations: While Rocket.Chat boasts an extensive set of features and integrations, specific needs may not be fully met. For example, organizations requiring advanced collaboration tools, deeper integrations with their existing tech stack, or more sophisticated AI-powered functionalities might explore other options.
Cost of Scaling: Despite being open-source, the cost of self-hosting and scaling Rocket.Chat (including servers, bandwidth, and maintenance) can become significant as organizations grow. Companies might seek cloud-based alternatives with more predictable pricing models.
What Features Are Must Haves in a Rocket.Chat Alternative?
When you're looking for an alternative to Rocket.Chat, it's crucial to consider features that align with your organization's communication needs, scalability, and integration requirements. Every person and team is different. Here are some of the most important features to look for:
1. Easy to Use With an Intuitive Interface
A user-friendly interface ensures quick adoption by your team. Look for software that is intuitive for both administrators and users, reducing the learning curve and increasing productivity.
2. Can Grow With You As You Grow
Choose a platform that can easily scale with your organization's growth, handling an increasing number of users and a higher volume of messages without significant performance degradation.
3. Comprehensive Security and Compliance
Ensure that the alternative offers robust security features, including end-to-end encryption, two-factor authentication, and compliance with regulations (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA) relevant to your industry. Make sure you feel like your data will stay secure.
4. Has Smooth Integration With Your Current Tools
The ability to integrate with existing tools and services (like CRM systems, project management tools, and file storage solutions) is crucial for streamlining workflows and maintaining efficiency.
5. Customization and Extensibility
Look for a platform that allows customization of the user interface and can be extended through plugins, bots, or API integrations to meet specific business needs.
6. Real-time Collaboration Tools
Beyond basic messaging, features like video conferencing, screen sharing, and real-time document collaboration can enhance team communication and project management.
7. Budget Friendly
Consider the total cost of ownership, including setup, subscription, and maintenance costs. An alternative should offer a pricing model that aligns with your organization's size and budget constraints.
8. Data Migration Support
If you're switching from Rocket.Chat or another platform, look for alternatives that provide tools or services to help migrate your data smoothly, ensuring no loss of historical messages or files.
9. Performance Monitoring and Analytics
Features that allow you to monitor usage patterns, user engagement, and other analytics can help you optimize the platform for your team's needs.
What Are The Best Rocket.Chat Alternatives For 2024?
1. Magical
Features: Magical uses the power of AI to automate your chat and customer support tasks like drafting and sending messages easily. You can even personalize your messages with details like your customer's name or ticket number. You can save all your messages in one place and call them up with one click. No more copying and pasting!
According to Lacie's G2 review:
I am utilizing this extension to save time documenting. It saves so much time.
2. Slack
Features: Slack is known for its user-friendly interface, robust integration ecosystem with over 2,000 apps, and powerful search capabilities. It supports real-time messaging, voice and video calls, file sharing, and channel-based organization for team communication. Slack also offers extensive customization options, including custom emojis and app integrations.
User Altharva says in a G2 review:
Slack offers real time messaging. It has very clean and user interface. It improves the team productivity. It has has very good integration capability because of which it can support various third party applications.
3. Microsoft Teams
Features: Integrated with Microsoft 365, Teams provides a comprehensive collaboration platform with chat, video conferencing, and file storage. It offers excellent integration with Office applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, as well as a growing list of third-party apps. Teams also features extensive meeting and collaboration tools, including meeting recording, live captioning, and background blur.
As one G2 user remarked:
Very user friendly and integrated very well from beginning to advanced
4. Discord
Features: Originally designed for gamers, Discord has become popular among communities and teams for its high-quality voice, video, and text chat. It offers server-based organization with robust permission settings, direct messaging, and integration with gaming and social platforms. Discord is known for its minimal latency in voice communication and has been adopting more features for non-gaming contexts.
As Rafael says in a Capterra review:
I highly recommend discord when communicating with friends while playing online games. Pros: its free and easily accessible, and you can communicate with various amounts of people with an internet persona.
5. Mattermost
Features: As an open-source platform, Mattermost offers high customizability and self-hosting capabilities, making it appealing for teams with specific privacy and security requirements. It includes features like one-on-one and group messaging, file sharing, and screen sharing. Mattermost also supports integration with popular tools like Jira, GitHub, and over 700 other applications via Zapier.
As Yashvi says in a G2 review:
It is a Mattermost is an open-source, self-hostable. It has a great UI for chatting and meeting. We can able to create a different Chanel for different projects. Also, it has a mobile version which is also helpful we can access it from anywhere
6. Zulip
Features: Zulip stands out with its unique topic-based threading model, which helps keep conversations organized and easy to follow. It's open source, offering self-hosting options as well as a hosted service. Zulip integrates with over 90 external services and provides features like powerful search, code syntax highlighting, and Markdown support.
As one user says in a G2 review:
It is a great tool for having communication within the team. It works on cloud platform and a seperate space can be created for each new discussion. It is absolutely free to use and and enterprise support at a low cost.
7. Flock
Features: Flock is a team communication app offering messaging, video and audio calls, file sharing, and productivity tools. It features to-do lists, reminders, and polls to facilitate project management. Flock also integrates with popular services like Google Drive, Slack, Asana, and Trello, aiming to streamline workflows within teams.
As G2 reviewer Bhanu says:
Easy to use, anyone can use with minimum training and guidance
8. Chanty
Features: Chanty is marketed as a simple AI-powered team chat designed to improve team collaboration. It offers unlimited message history, task management features, and easy-to-use voice and video calls. Chanty supports integration with popular tools like Trello, Asana, Zapier, and others, facilitating smooth workflows.
As G2 reviewer Mahanni says:
It makes it seamless to communicate via group, 1:1 audio and video calls via external web conferencing tools integration.
9. Element
Features: Element steps up by committing to the protection of conversations, guaranteeing that chats remain strictly confidential between those involved. This is largely thanks to its implementation of cutting-edge end-to-end encryption technology right out of the box.
It caters particularly well to anyone whose top priority remains secure communications, no matter what industry they operate within. Whether for private individuals or groups alike, both find refuge knowing there exists such an option available in the marketplace today dedicated to preserving confidentiality above all else.
As Mahinma says in a G2 review:
I use it on a daily basis at work and it has a great and simple interface both in android and windows. Encryption has been guaranteed and all features required for workspaces are available.
Automate Your Chat Support Tasks
Scouting the best Rocket.Chat alternatives is more than a hunt; it's finding your team's communication backbone. Making sure your communications with your customers are not only effective but secure should be your top priority. Your team will be and should be the ones who ultimately help you with your decision of which of the best Rocket.Chat alternatives to choose.
The best on this list is Magical (yes, we're biased). You can automate your customer support tasks saving you and your team 7 hours a week on average. Try it yourself and find out how over 40,000+ teams across 20,000+ companies are automating their repetitive customer support tasks.
