HEY Email vs Zulip
A source-aware comparison of pricing, documented capabilities and workflow fit.
Short answer
- Price: not directly comparable — HEY Email is from $8/user/mo, Zulip is pricing not verified.
- How to start: HEY Email is from $8/user/mo, Zulip is pricing not verified.
- Where they differ: only Zulip has public api, open source / self-hostable and sso (saml).
These lines are generated from the pricing we track, not from a paid placement. How we score tools.
What HEY Email is
HEY is a revolutionary email service from the creators of Basecamp that aims to fix everything wrong with modern email. It replaces the traditional inbox with the 'Imbox'—a place for things that actually matter. With its unique 'Screening' feature, YOU decide who is allowed to email you. HEY blocks all spy trackers, protects your privacy, and offers innovative features like 'The Feed' for newsletters and 'The Paper Trail' for receipts. It's a premium, opinionated take on email for people who want to reclaim their focus and sanity.
What Zulip is
Zulip organises chat into topics inside channels, so conversations stay readable even when you were away for a day.
Side by side
| HEY Email | Zulip | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Communication | Communication |
| How to start | $8/user/moverified | Not verifiednot a monthly price |
| Public API | No | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | not checked |
| Open source / self-hostable | No | Yes |
| SSO (SAML) | No | Yes |
| Visit | HEY Email ↗ | Zulip ↗ |
What HEY Email is built to do
- The Screener
- Thumbs up or down on every new sender before they ever enter your inbox.
- The Feed
- Read your newsletters like a social media feed instead of individual emails.
- The Paper Trail
- Keep all your receipts and confirmations in one quiet place out of the way.
- Spy Tracker Blocking
- Stops companies from knowing when or where you opened their emails.
Choose HEY Email if
- Privacy Seekers and Busy Professionals who hate email.
Choose Zulip if
- Distributed teams that lose context in flat chat.
Evidence and freshness
Where a claim on this page comes from a vendor page, it is linked here.
HEY Email: pros & cons
- Total Privacy: Automatically blocks all tracking pixels used by marketers.
- Screening: No more spam or unwanted emails ever—you approve every new sender.
- Aesthetic UI: A completely fresh, modern take on what an email app looks like.
- Productivity: Features like 'Reply Later' and 'Set Aside' keep your inbox clean.
- Subscription Only: There is no free version of HEY; it is a premium service.
- No Folders: It uses a specific organization system that might be jarring at first.
- Locked Domain: Requires using an @hey.com address (unless you use the more expensive custom domain plan).
Zulip: pros & cons
- Topic threading makes catching up genuinely possible
- Open source and self-hostable
- Good for asynchronous, distributed teams
- Topic discipline must be taught to the team
- Interface is denser than Slack
- Smaller integration ecosystem
Our verdict on HEY Email
The most innovative and peaceful way to handle email in the 21st century.
Our verdict on Zulip
The threading model solves a real Slack problem. It only works if the team maintains it.