WZ-IT runs Zulip as a dedicated instance in data centres in Germany, Switzerland or Austria, with updates, daily backups, 24/7 monitoring and a personal contact. On request, we also install Zulip in your cloud or on premises.
Zulip is an open-source communication platform that distinguishes itself from other messaging tools through its topic-based threading system. This structure enables clear organization of discussions and prevents information loss, even in highly active teams.
As an independent service provider, we support you in installing, configuring, and integrating this innovative communication solution into your existing IT infrastructure. Take advantage of structured communication for distributed teams and asynchronous collaboration.
Organize messages by topics for clear discussions and easier tracking of ongoing conversations.
Channels & Streams
Structure communication through channels for different teams, projects, or departments with granular access controls.
Powerful Search
Quickly find information through comprehensive search functions and full access to message history.
Numerous Integrations
Connect Zulip with development tools, project management software, and other applications for seamless workflows.
Audio & Video Conferences
Conduct one-on-one and group conversations with your preferred solution like Jitsi or Zoom directly from Zulip.
Multilingual Support
Use Zulip in over 20 languages for international teams and global collaboration.
Infrastructure, integration and operations
Zulip as part of your infrastructure
We do more than provide an application. WZ-IT designs the technical architecture, integrates network and identity, operates the agreed scope and develops integrations when the standard product is not enough.
Architecture and migration
Sizing, target environment, data transfer, cutover and recovery are resolved before production operations.
On-Premise
In your data center: Installation on bare-metal, VM or Docker · Integration with existing Active Directory/LDAP
Installation in your cloud
In your own cloud account, for example with AWS, Azure, GCP or Hetzner · Terraform/IaC setup (optional) · Kubernetes or Docker Compose · Capacity and scaling design
Enterprise Setup
Advanced architecture after technical and licence assessment: HA and recovery design where supported by the application and edition · Logging according to feature set and edition · Custom security policies
Network and identity
SSO, secure access, internal systems and existing security components are integrated appropriately.
VPN Access
WireGuard, NetBird, Tailscale, Headscale, OpenVPN, Cloudflare Tunnel · Easy client setup for all devices
SSO Integration
Directly or through an upstream identity layer
Multi-Factor Auth
Depends on application, edition and identity provider
Firewall & Hardening
Fail2Ban, Rate Limiting, IP Whitelisting
Monitoring and service level
Updates, backups, technical monitoring and response paths follow a transparent operational scope.
24/7 proactive monitoring
Updates and patches
Regular updates, CVE monitoring and prioritised patches for critical vulnerabilities
Daily backup with 7-day retention
Personal technical contact
Integration and development
APIs, automation and custom extensions can be delivered beyond basic deployment.
Structured REST API
Zulip organizes messages in topics. Our integrations strictly respect this structure to not just throw messages into a channel, but sort them thematically correct.
Realtime Event Queue
Instead of webhooks for everything, we often use long-polling on a durable event queue. Acknowledgements, retries and retention reduce the risk of losing events when the bot is temporarily offline.
Python API Bindings
Since Zulip is written in Django, the Python bindings are first-class. We write complex bots that deeply intervene in logic, preferably in Python.
Full-service installation with no hidden costs
What the Zulip setup includes
Complete installation & configuration
SSL certificate & reverse proxy setup
Backup strategy & disaster recovery
Performance optimization & tuning
Security hardening following OWASP
Monitoring & logging setup
Documentation & best practices
Administrator training (remote)
30 days email support included
Dedicated contact person
Optional integration: LDAP/AD, SSO, MFA
Update strategy & patch management setup
The exact scope depends on the application, edition, infrastructure and criticality. Vendor licences and non-standard components are quoted separately.
Concrete Use Cases
Zulip Development & Integration
Zulip is the only chat with real threading. The API respects this concept: every message belongs to a topic. This makes integrations more structured than any other chat.
Alert Aggregation & Deduplication
Problem
Monitoring tools spam channels. Important alerts get lost in the noise.
Solution
A middleware bot receives all alerts, groups them by incident ID, and posts them to a specific Zulip topic. Updates to the same incident are posted as replies.
Email to Chat Bridge
Problem
Legacy systems only send status updates via email.
Solution
Zulip can receive emails. We parse the mail body, extract key data, and post a formatted summary to the appropriate project topic.
Automatic Knowledge Base Tagging
Problem
Valuable solutions emerge in chat but get lost.
Solution
A bot listens for reactions (e.g., a 📚 emoji). Marked threads are automatically extracted, formatted, and transferred to your wiki (BookStack/Wiki.js).
Managed Hosting & Operations
How much does Zulip hosting cost?
Compute, applications, storage and response are shown separately. You can see what ongoing operations include and which requirements need a technical assessment.
Starter workload from€99.90/ month · cancel monthlyWith a minimum term: 10% reduction on operations and hosting with 6 months, 20% with 12 months, payment monthly, half-yearly or yearly
Zulip hosting in Germany: GDPR-compliant operations
One managed standard application included
.de domain included or your own domain or subdomain via CNAME
Choice of location: Germany (ISO 27001, BSI C5), Switzerland (ISO 27001) or Austria (ISO 27001), each within the scope of the data centre operator
Confidentiality agreement under Section 203 German Criminal Code (StGB) available on request (location Germany) New
Confidential compute VM optional, price on request New
99.9 % standard availability per month
Regular updates, CVE monitoring and prioritised patches for critical vulnerabilities
Central logs with immutable retention
Daily backup with 7-day retention
5 TB outbound traffic per workload and month
24/7 proactive monitoring
Five service levels, 24/7 P1 response with Production or Critical
Five service levels for different operating requirements
Response target = initial technical response to critical incidents (P1) · Price and flexible operations allowance per customer environment and month · Hourly rate for additional work
Response within service hours24/7 on-call for P1
Essential
Next business dayby end of dayInitial technical response to critical incidents (P1) by the end of the next business day
Mon to Fri, 8 to 17 CET
includedin the base operations price
no allowance
Hourly rate
5% below standard
regular service hours
€114
outsideoutside regular service hours
€228
For less time-critical systems, staging and internal applications.
Business
Popular
4 hwithin service hoursInitial technical response to critical incidents (P1) within 4 service hours
Mon to Fri, 8 to 18 CET
+€99.90
0.5 h allowance
Hourly rate
10% below standard
regular service hours
€108
outsideoutside regular service hours
€216
For production systems without contractual night and weekend on-call coverage.
Priority
1 hwithin service hoursInitial technical response to critical incidents (P1) within 1 service hour
Mon to Fri, 8 to 18 CET
+€199.90
1 h allowance
Hourly rate
15% below standard
regular service hours
€102
outsideoutside regular service hours
€204
For business-critical systems requiring a fast response during the service window.
Production
60 minnights and weekends includedInitial technical response to critical incidents (P1) within 60 minutes, 24/7
P1 around the clock
+€349.90
1 h allowance
Hourly rate
20% below standard
regular service hours
€96
outsideoutside regular service hours
€192
24/7 P1 on-call coverage for business-critical production environments.
Critical
after audit
30 minnights and weekends includedInitial technical response to critical incidents (P1) within 30 minutes, 24/7
P1 around the clock
+€549.90
2 h allowance
Hourly rate
25% below standard
regular service hours
€90
outsideoutside regular service hours
€180
Available after audit, runbook and capacity approval.
Business, Priority, Production and Critical include the first covered workload in a customer environment. Further covered workloads cost €29.90, €39.90, €49.90 and €59.90 per month respectively. For monitoring-only servers, we notify within the level's window for €14.90, €19.90, €24.90 and €29.90 per server and month respectively; without a service level, during service hours.
The flexible operations allowance applies to planned work during regular service hours and expires at month end. Operations, monitoring, backups, maintenance and updates within the agreed scope do not reduce it. Additional work beyond the agreed operations and the allowance, as well as further incident work, is billed at the hourly rate of the service level of the affected environment. The standard rate applies to commissioned work without a service level. Hour packages and fixed prices have their own prices. All prices are net and exclude statutory VAT. The offers are addressed to businesses.
Integrate Zulip into your infrastructure with clear controls
Collaboration platforms connect communication, files, identities and integrations. We treat them as a complete system rather than a single container.
Teams, guests and endpoints
Browser, desktop and mobile clients access shared workspaces through agreed roles.
Secure access
TLS, firewall rules, reverse proxies or private network paths are designed around the platform's exposure.
Identity and permissions
Local accounts, SSO, directories, service accounts and emergency access are connected through clear roles.
Zulip platform
Workspaces, communication, sharing and roles are configured and operated in a controlled way.
Database and files
Messages, content, uploads, search, retention and backups.
Realtime and media services
Notifications, calls, TURN or further services depending on the feature set.
Directories and integrations
SSO, provisioning, bots, webhooks and connected business systems.
The diagram is a resilient target model. Its implementation depends on edition, data flows, load, availability objectives and existing infrastructure.
Role in the overall system
Related services for Zulip
This page covers installation and agreed platform operations for Zulip. Choosing the collaboration tools beforehand, the access layer and special confidentiality requirements are separate building blocks that can be added when needed.
Zulip Hosting with WZ-IT starts at €99.90 net per month. It includes a dedicated size XS instance (2 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 40 GB NVMe SSD), updates, daily backups with 7 days of retention, 24/7 monitoring, 5 TB of outbound traffic and a first response to critical incidents by the end of the next business day. Larger instances and higher service levels cost extra; the configurator shows the total price.
The entry level is a dedicated size XS instance with 2 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 40 GB NVMe SSD for €99.90; it suits lightweight applications as well as test and development environments. Size S with 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 80 GB NVMe SSD costs €129.90. We check which size Zulip needs in production before provisioning. Size M (4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 80 GB NVMe SSD) costs an extra €29.90 excl. VAT, L (8 vCPU, 16 GB RAM, 80 GB NVMe SSD) an extra €89.90 excl. VAT and XL (16 vCPU, 32 GB RAM, 80 GB NVMe SSD) an extra €199.90 excl. VAT, each per month. Additional storage costs €4.99 excl. VAT per 50 GB and month.
No. WZ-IT does not limit the number of users. How many users can work smoothly at the same time depends on usage and the chosen instance size XS to XL.
Zulip Hosting can be cancelled monthly, with no minimum term and 30 days' notice to the end of the month. With a minimum term: 10% reduction on operations and hosting with 6 months, 20% with 12 months, payment monthly, half-yearly or yearly.
Germany, Switzerland and Austria are available at the same prices. All three locations are data centres without US clouds that are ISO 27001 certified within the scope of the respective data centre operator; in Germany we additionally operate with a German provider whose data centres are BSI C5 attested. A confidentiality agreement under Section 203 German Criminal Code (StGB) is also available for app hosting on request, at the German location only; the separate Section 203 Managed Cloud for professional-secrecy holders is available in Germany only.
Yes. Besides Germany, Switzerland and Austria are available as locations, at the same prices in euros. The operator of the data centre in Switzerland is certified to ISO 27001, ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 50001 and sources electricity from renewable sources; the data centre in Austria is ISO 27001 certified. State the preferred location in your request; it is recorded in the proposal.
We typically provide a production instance within a few business days after signing. For a trial, we set up a test instance, usually on the next business day; it runs free of charge for 7 days and without payment details.
Yes. One .de domain is included with every hosting plan. Alternatively, connect your own domain or subdomain with a CNAME record.
WZ-IT moved our studio infrastructure from decentralised individual devices to a central platform: every site is securely connected via VPN, new devices are onboarded automatically and an entire site is provisioned from a template, without manual steps on location. What impressed me most is the breadth and depth of their knowledge: Timo and Robin are not a typical IT provider who sets up a server and leaves. The two of them think their way into highly complex infrastructure and software topics, work through every requirement we put in front of them, and build networking, provisioning and operations so that everything fits together in the end. WZ-IT is an excellent partner for complex software, network and architecture projects.
Steve KirchnerManaging Director, nextGYM GmbHView project
International
Built in Germany's Ruhr Valley. Running worldwide.
WZ-IT designs, develops and operates infrastructure and software for clients in Germany and internationally. We deliver projects remotely and continue supporting them in ongoing operations after go-live.
