Products · Product
Zulip
Raised as a usability problem by 90 people on Hacker News over 12 years (2015–2026), in 47 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
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- 4Threads model is hard to understandUnreviewed
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Every issue, all time, most people first
Hard for beginners, so many people are turned awayUnreviewed
20152026- People resist switching because Zulip's UI feels unfamiliar and different from Slack2026-02-10
- Interface is hard for beginners, so many people get turned away2026-02-10
- Interface feels visually dated and clunky, so users switched back to Slack2026-02-10
Threaded layout hides messages, so team members stop reading channelsUnreviewed
20152026- Team finds threaded topics confusing; important posts in topics get ignored2026-02-10
- Threaded 'only see what's important' layout hides messages, so team members stop reading channels2026-02-10
- Topic-based threading makes it hard to find and follow conversations, so messages get missed2025-11-20
Scrolling messages in phone browser is very laggyUnreviewed
20152026- Opening a chat on mobile takes a minute, far slower than the web2026-02-15
- Chat becomes choppy and laggy when scrolling through many messages2022-03-30
- Client becomes laggy and unresponsive with many messages and users2022-02-26
Threads model is hard to understandUnreviewed
20152026- Interface needs work; users must get used to its threading model2022-03-29
- Found the threads model hard to understand and the interface too ugly to recommend2021-05-14
- Threads get lost because there is no way to list them2020-11-14
Muting a thread takes many keystrokes, and a popup covers messagesUnreviewed
20152026- Unclear which thread a message will post to; clicking away deletes typed text2021-05-14
- Muting a thread takes many keystrokes, and a lingering popup covers the next thread's messages2019-11-21
- Threading forces slow composing and clicking through threads, defeating instant chat2018-11-13
Can't find the all-messages view, poorly signpostedUnreviewed
20152026- Messages appear in multiple places, so the default all-messages list is confusing and lacks context2025-11-21
- All organizations collapsed into one box, so you must click to see if messages exist2023-09-15
- Can't find the all-messages view; the UI is confusing and poorly signposted2020-07-16
Accidentally taps channel instead of topic, replying in wrong topicUnreviewed
20152026- Hard to figure out how to reply; accidentally taps channel instead of topic, replying in wrong topic2026-02-10
- Replying to topics is inconsistent; must tap the topic header, and editing text makes the keyboard toggle, moving the UI2023-05-06
- Users fail to notice selected message, so replies go to the wrong topic2020-04-03
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 50 complaints
- Commenter finds the chat tool unintuitive, making community engagement harder2026-07-19
- Chat interface feels unlike normal chatting and is not user friendly2026-05-16
- App sometimes takes about 30 seconds to load on phone2026-05-16
- Too complicated for junior colleagues, so the team switched to Discord2026-05-15
- Opening a chat on mobile takes a minute, far slower than the web2026-02-15
- Mobile interface is cluttered, with tiny icons and keyboard and scroll problems2026-02-15
- Prominent Docker image link on install page jumps to a random location2026-02-11
- Commenter struggled with docs and HTTP/HTTPS setup when first pulling the image2026-02-11
- Documented image tag doesn't exist and documented config variable is ignored, forcing trial-and-error2026-02-11
- Topic-based layout is terrible in practice and feels janky2026-02-11
- People resist switching because Zulip's UI feels unfamiliar and different from Slack2026-02-10
- Design turns people away and taxes every chat interaction with up-front effort2026-02-10
- Team finds threaded topics confusing; important posts in topics get ignored2026-02-10
- Search button icon is off-center, tooltips flicker and content overlaps the header while scrolling2026-02-10
- Takes people a long time to understand the interface when new to it2026-02-10
- Interface is hard for beginners, so many people get turned away2026-02-10
- Hard to figure out how to reply; accidentally taps channel instead of topic, replying in wrong topic2026-02-10
- Hates the UI; can't reopen threads without elevated access and lacks forum-style browsing2026-02-10
- Threaded 'only see what's important' layout hides messages, so team members stop reading channels2026-02-10
- Opening a notification removes it, with no easy way to flag it for later2026-02-10
- Interface feels visually dated and clunky, so users switched back to Slack2026-02-10
- Installation is painful: scarce docs, misleading Docker guidance, and reverse proxy redirect loops that take hours to debug2026-02-10
- Interface feels janky and draggy to use, and the phone header UI is broken2026-02-10
- Download page doesn't reveal that an instant online trial exists2026-02-09
- Described as atrocious, with no specific problem stated2025-12-25
- Messages appear in multiple places, so the default all-messages list is confusing and lacks context2025-11-21
- Topic-based threading makes it hard to find and follow conversations, so messages get missed2025-11-20
- Web interface feels too technical for nontechnical staff to adopt2025-09-18
- Hard to tell which section is which because organization is not prominent enough2024-07-26
- Cannot jump to a specific time, so finding an old point requires manual scrolling2024-07-26
- Contributing to communities feels borderline dysfunctional compared to Discord2024-07-13
- UI is slow and clunky, which regular people will dislike2024-07-13
- Linking to Zulip channels frustrates visitors; setup for self-hosted admins is too complicated2024-07-03
- Each Zulip chat requires a separate email and password to join2024-06-30
- Has awful UX decisions, though vague about what specifically goes wrong2024-05-06
- Mobile app is terrible and is the top complaint from users2023-12-15
- Text is too dense, so the author zooms the browser to read it2023-12-03
- All organizations collapsed into one box, so you must click to see if messages exist2023-09-15
- Channels fill with many short-lived topics, cluttering the main channel and making it hard to follow2023-05-31
- Mobile app's interface is badly in need of a redesign2023-05-31
- Replying to topics is inconsistent; must tap the topic header, and editing text makes the keyboard toggle, moving the UI2023-05-06
- UI too hard for non-technical users; design changes resisted2022-10-19
- UI is too hard for non-technical users to recommend2022-10-18
- Required thread titles are confusing, since the purpose of the topic isn't clear to users2022-06-27
- Search works poorly for non-English languages compared to Slack2022-05-31
- Stream messages shown halfway down the viewport with no scrollbar, so earlier messages seem absent2022-05-31
- Feels disorienting and borderline dizzy when opening the app2022-05-10
- Chat becomes choppy and laggy when scrolling through many messages2022-03-30
- Interface needs work; users must get used to its threading model2022-03-29
- Image upload from a phone is janky and images load slowly2022-03-29