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Comparison · Comms

Revolt vs Rocket.Chat

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Revolt and Rocket.Chat — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Shared themes:self-hosted

Revolt vs Rocket.Chat: at a glance

FeatureRevoltRocket.Chat
SectorCommsComms
Velocity score2.56.3
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesmessaging, open-source, self-hosted, gifsteam-chat, licensing, self-hosted, performance
Last editorial update4mo ago4d ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Revolt?

Revolt swaps Tenor for its own Gifbox, pulling GIF delivery in-house.

Revolt is an open-source, self-hostable chat platform competing in the Discord-alternative space. The one visible release, v0.13.8, replaces Tenor (Google's GIF service) with Gifbox, a GIF platform the project now runs itself. With only a single changelog entry available, the broader release cadence isn't observable from this data.

Read the full Revolt trajectory →

What is Rocket.Chat?

Rocket.Chat 9.0 reaches rc.8 with a migration fix as candidates shrink to single patches.

The 9.0 candidate line opened on 27 October with a licensing change: LDAP, SAML and Custom OAuth now require a premium plan. Since rc.4 the candidates have been fixes, and rc.8 on 7 November carries a single one: servers that started during another server's database migration no longer keep stale settings until restart. On 6 November 8.9.1 LTS backported the 9.0 load fixes plus a security hotfix.

Read the full Rocket.Chat trajectory →

Revolt vs Rocket.Chat: editorial side-by-side

R
Revolt
COMMS
2.5

Revolt swaps Tenor for its own Gifbox, pulling GIF delivery in-house.

◆ Current state

Revolt is an open-source, self-hostable chat platform competing in the Discord-alternative space. The one visible release, v0.13.8, replaces Tenor (Google's GIF service) with Gifbox, a GIF platform the project now runs itself. With only a single changelog entry available, the broader release cadence isn't observable from this data.

◆ Where it's heading

Owning the GIF layer instead of leaning on Tenor fits the pattern of a self-hosting-first project reducing third-party and Google dependencies. It points toward more of the messaging stack being brought under the project's own control over time.

◆ Prediction

Expect follow-up work hardening Gifbox (search quality, content moderation, self-host configuration). With only one entry visible, anything beyond that is unclear from the available data.

Rocket.Chat logo6.3

Rocket.Chat 9.0 reaches rc.8 with a migration fix as candidates shrink to single patches.

◆ Current state

The 9.0 candidate line opened on 27 October with a licensing change: LDAP, SAML and Custom OAuth now require a premium plan. Since rc.4 the candidates have been fixes, and rc.8 on 7 November carries a single one: servers that started during another server's database migration no longer keep stale settings until restart. On 6 November 8.9.1 LTS backported the 9.0 load fixes plus a security hotfix.

◆ Where it's heading

9.0 is in stabilization: each candidate is smaller than the last, and the load fixes are being carried to the LTS line rather than held for the major. Native LiveKit video is being promoted step by step, from alpha to beta and now as the named default provider option.

◆ Prediction

With rc.7 down to a handful of fixes, 9.0.0 GA is the next likely release, followed by further 8.9.x LTS patches carrying the same fixes.

Alternatives to Revolt 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 Revolt or Rocket.Chat.

See all Revolt alternatives → · See all Rocket.Chat alternatives →

Recent activity from Revolt and Rocket.Chat

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 7d agoRocket.Chat9.0 rc.8: settings refresh after concurrent migrations
  2. 8d agoRocket.Chat8.9.1 LTS: load fixes from 9.0 plus a security hotfix
  3. 8d agoRocket.Chat9.0 rc.7: client memory leak fixed, LiveKit video moves to beta
  4. 9d agoRocket.Chat9.0 rc.6: Matrix federation auth header fix
  5. 9d agoRocket.Chat9.0 rc.5: removed-license features shut off, OAuth codes redacted
  6. 10d agoRocket.Chat9.0 rc.4: notifications, presence and startup fixed under load
  7. 4mo agoRevoltReplaces Tenor with in-house Gifbox GIF platform

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Revolt and Rocket.Chat?

Both compete on the same themes — self-hosted — within Comms. Rocket.Chat is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 2.5), with 0 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 Revolt 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 2.5), with 0 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 Revolt?

Top Revolt alternatives in Comms are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Revolt alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/revolt 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.