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Comparison · Comms
Mailu vs Rocket.Chat
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Mailu and Rocket.Chat — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Mailu vs Rocket.Chat: at a glance
What is Mailu?
Mailu ships one pinned release per issue, and most of them are Roundcube's.
The 2024.06 branch releases on demand: an issue or PR comes in, a pinned version goes out, and the changelog is one or two lines. Four of the six most recent releases are webmail-driven — three Roundcube bumps in this window alone, the latest to 1.6.18 clearing a TLS-configuration warning, an earlier one to 1.6.17 closing two CVEs. The remainder are Mailu's own code: an X-Forwarded-By header fix tied to a published advisory, sieve field escaping that repaired autoreplies and closed an injection path, and two admin-UI form flow corrections.
What is Rocket.Chat?
Rocket.Chat finishes the 8.8 calling work while the licence wall for SSO gets a date.
The 8.8 candidate line is winding down. rc.2 is a bare Meteor version bump with no user-visible change, following rc.1 which promoted Voice Call Screen Sharing to stable and turned on the in-room call interface for every call, screen sharing available or not, alongside repairs to a message list that could quietly load a whole room's history in the background. The release that still defines the line is rc.0: LDAP and SAML deprecated on non-Premium workspaces with 9.0.0 named as the cutoff, forced end-to-end encryption for new private rooms, classification banners for ABAC-managed rooms, and the apps-engine default runtime moved from Deno to Node.
Mailu vs Rocket.Chat: editorial side-by-side
Mailu
5.0COMMS
Mailu ships one pinned release per issue, and most of them are Roundcube's.
◆ Current state
The 2024.06 branch releases on demand: an issue or PR comes in, a pinned version goes out, and the changelog is one or two lines. Four of the six most recent releases are webmail-driven — three Roundcube bumps in this window alone, the latest to 1.6.18 clearing a TLS-configuration warning, an earlier one to 1.6.17 closing two CVEs. The remainder are Mailu's own code: an X-Forwarded-By header fix tied to a published advisory, sieve field escaping that repaired autoreplies and closed an injection path, and two admin-UI form flow corrections.
◆ Where it's heading
This is a maintenance branch behaving exactly as a maintenance branch should, and the pinned-version model is the product: operators get upstream security work packaged and tagged without tracking Roundcube themselves. The security items divide cleanly — most arrive from bundled components, a minority from Mailu's own code, and the project patches both on the same cadence. Nothing in this window suggests new capability is being developed on this branch.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release to follow the same trigger: a Roundcube advisory or a client compatibility report producing a single-line changelog and a new pinned tag. Any feature work would be happening on the main version, which this feed does not cover.
Rocket.Chat
6.3COMMS
Rocket.Chat finishes the 8.8 calling work while the licence wall for SSO gets a date.
◆ Current state
The 8.8 candidate line is winding down. rc.2 is a bare Meteor version bump with no user-visible change, following rc.1 which promoted Voice Call Screen Sharing to stable and turned on the in-room call interface for every call, screen sharing available or not, alongside repairs to a message list that could quietly load a whole room's history in the background. The release that still defines the line is rc.0: LDAP and SAML deprecated on non-Premium workspaces with 9.0.0 named as the cutoff, forced end-to-end encryption for new private rooms, classification banners for ABAC-managed rooms, and the apps-engine default runtime moved from Deno to Node.
◆ Where it's heading
Two threads run at once and point in different directions. The calling stack keeps maturing on its own — voice, then screen sharing, now a consistent in-room surface for both — which is Rocket.Chat absorbing functions its users would otherwise reach for a separate tool to get. Against that, the 9.0 licence requirement for LDAP and SAML sorts the install base: regulated and government deployments that will pay, and unlicensed self-hosted workspaces that were there for the absence of a per-seat bill. The rc train itself has settled into a familiar shape, one substantive rc.0 followed by bumps and fixes.
◆ Prediction
Expect 8.8 to go final once the message-list fixes settle, with the LDAP and SAML licence requirement, not any calling feature, as the story of 9.0. The open question is whether the Deno-to-Node runtime switch surfaces app compatibility reports before then.
Alternatives to Mailu and Rocket.Chat
Other Comms products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Mailu or Rocket.Chat.
Krisp
Krisp adds deepfake detection and expands Voice Translation as its Call Center AI platform deepens enterprise compliance tools.
Netcore Cloud
Netcore's recent entries are blog content, not product releases — the signal is a BFSI and ecommerce vertical sales push.
Canary Mail
Canary Mail ships AI chat history while sustaining a cross-platform bug fix cadence.
Superhuman
Superhuman is becoming the email layer for AI agents, not just the fastest email client.
Salesmsg
Salesmsg now runs the entire sales-to-NPS loop in one thread — outbound, AI reply, booking, survey, and routing.
See all Mailu alternatives → · See all Rocket.Chat alternatives →
Recent activity from Mailu and Rocket.Chat
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 14d agoRocket.Chat8.8.0-rc.2: Meteor version bump only
- 16d agoRocket.ChatScreen sharing goes stable; in-room call UI for every call
- 24d agoRocket.Chat8.8.0-rc.0: LDAP/SAML go Premium in 9.0, forced private-room E2EE ⚡
- 1mo agoMailuRoundcube 1.6.18 bump clears a TLS-config warning
- 1mo agoRocket.Chat8.7.0-rc.6: Meteor version bump only
- 1mo agoRocket.Chat8.7.0-rc.5: Meteor version bump only
- 1mo agoRocket.Chat8.7.0-rc.4: audio attachments become seekable again
- 1mo agoMailuAutoconfig fix for modern K-9 Mail
- 1mo agoMailuRoundcube 1.6.17 closes two CVEs
- 1mo agoMailuSets X-Forwarded-By in response to a GHSA advisory
- 2mo agoMailuAdmin UI keeps form values on failed submit
- 2mo agoMailuEscapes sieve fields, fixing autoreplies with special characters
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Mailu and Rocket.Chat?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Rocket.Chat is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Mailu better than Rocket.Chat?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Rocket.Chat is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Comms products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Mailu?
Top Mailu alternatives in Comms are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Mailu alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/mailu for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Rocket.Chat?
Top Rocket.Chat alternatives in Comms are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Rocket.Chat alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/rocketchat for the full list with editorial commentary on each.