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Comparison · Collab
SOGo vs Rocket.Chat
A side-by-side editorial comparison of SOGo and Rocket.Chat — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
SOGo vs Rocket.Chat: at a glance
What is SOGo?
SOGo's 5.12 line has become a CVE conveyor belt while the team's attention sits on SOGo 6.
Six releases in three months, and the majority exist to fix vulnerabilities: XSS via crafted mail, SQL injection, JavaScript injection through hint and theme query parameters, impersonation when OpenID is paired with a non-matching user source, and two CVEs affecting PostgreSQL user sources. Releases 5.12.6 and 5.12.9 exist purely to undo regressions the security fixes introduced.
What is Rocket.Chat?
All the substance lands in rc.0 — this cycle it's phishing-resistant MFA
Rocket.Chat publishes a release candidate per patch, and the shape is consistent: rc.0 carries the actual changes and every candidate after it is a Meteor version bump with dependency updates. In the 8.7 cycle, rc.0 introduced phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication via a server-side OAuth flow, plus a current field on DeviceManagementSession so the sessions endpoint can flag the caller's own active session. The 8.6 candidates in this window carry nothing but version bumps. Engine versions are pinned across the line at Node 22, Deno 2.3 and MongoDB 8.
SOGo vs Rocket.Chat: editorial side-by-side
SOGo
0.0COLLAB
SOGo's 5.12 line has become a CVE conveyor belt while the team's attention sits on SOGo 6.
◆ Current state
Six releases in three months, and the majority exist to fix vulnerabilities: XSS via crafted mail, SQL injection, JavaScript injection through hint and theme query parameters, impersonation when OpenID is paired with a non-matching user source, and two CVEs affecting PostgreSQL user sources. Releases 5.12.6 and 5.12.9 exist purely to undo regressions the security fixes introduced.
◆ Where it's heading
Alinto declared a feature freeze on 5.12 to concentrate on SOGo 6, and the changelog reflects it — the one new capability in the window, a REST API in 5.12.2, was explicitly a pre-committed sponsored deliverable the team felt obliged to honour. What is left is a hardening cycle on a large groupware surface, with each fix carrying real regression risk into webmail and calendar.
◆ Prediction
Expect the 5.12.x line to keep producing security releases with regression follow-ups, and no new functionality until SOGo 6 surfaces.
Rocket.Chat
6.3COLLAB
All the substance lands in rc.0 — this cycle it's phishing-resistant MFA
◆ Current state
Rocket.Chat publishes a release candidate per patch, and the shape is consistent: rc.0 carries the actual changes and every candidate after it is a Meteor version bump with dependency updates. In the 8.7 cycle, rc.0 introduced phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication via a server-side OAuth flow, plus a current field on DeviceManagementSession so the sessions endpoint can flag the caller's own active session. The 8.6 candidates in this window carry nothing but version bumps. Engine versions are pinned across the line at Node 22, Deno 2.3 and MongoDB 8.
◆ Where it's heading
The work visible here is identity and session control rather than messaging features — who is authenticated, how strongly, and which device is asking. Phishing-resistant MFA and caller-session identification are both procurement concerns for the regulated and self-hosting buyers Rocket.Chat competes for, and they arrive together. The release-candidate pattern means the feed's cadence overstates activity: six entries in this window represent two substantive changes.
◆ Prediction
Expect the 8.7 line to reach general availability with the MFA flow as its headline, and further session and device-management controls to follow on the same identity track.
Alternatives to SOGo and Rocket.Chat
Other Collab 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 SOGo or Rocket.Chat.
Jellyfin
Jellyfin drops the 10. prefix and puts 12.0 through a three-candidate preview.
PhotoPrism
PhotoPrism swapped in an ONNX vision pipeline, then opened the library to 360° media at 16K.
Immich
Immich is four release candidates into v3 with every feature note published somewhere else.
EGroupware
Two branches, one deadline: 23.1 security coverage ends August 15th and 26.x is the only exit.
File Browser
File Browser is shutting down — the repo archives on 2026-09-01 and no security fixes follow.
See all SOGo alternatives → · See all Rocket.Chat alternatives →
Recent activity from SOGo and Rocket.Chat
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 2d agoRocket.ChatRelease candidate bumps the Meteor version only
- 10d agoRocket.ChatRelease candidate bumps the Meteor version only
- 10d agoRocket.ChatRelease candidate bumps the Meteor version only
- 12d agoRocket.ChatRocket.Chat 8.7 adds phishing-resistant MFA and caller-session flagging ⚡
- 1mo agoRocket.ChatRelease candidate bumps the Meteor version only
- 1mo agoRocket.ChatRelease candidate bumps the Meteor version only
- 2mo agoSOGoPatch undoes 5.12.8 regressions in preferences and mail display
- 2mo agoSOGoTwo CVEs fixed for PostgreSQL user sources
- 2mo agoSOGoFour vulnerabilities: XSS, SQL injection, OpenID impersonation
- 4mo agoSOGoTOTP silently disabled for new users, now fixed
- 5mo agoSOGoInjection fixes in hint queries, theme queries and categories
- 9mo agoSOGoAttachments can display above the message body
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between SOGo 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 0.0), 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 SOGo 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 0.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Collab products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to SOGo?
Top SOGo alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "SOGo alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/sogo for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Rocket.Chat?
Top Rocket.Chat alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Rocket.Chat alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/rocket-chat for the full list with editorial commentary on each.