#18 in Collaboration & CommunicationUpdated 2026-08

Rocket.Chat

by Rocket.Chat · Self-hosted messaging, voice and video for classified environments

51.4 — BenchRank score out of 100

Homepage
Pricing page

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Overview

Rocket.Chat combines messaging, voice, video and screen sharing with an open API and pre-built or custom apps. It can be deployed on-premises, in a private or sovereign cloud, or fully air-gapped, so data stays inside the customer's own infrastructure. Federation over Matrix and XMPP links separate organisations without shared infrastructure.

Best for: Government, defence and regulated enterprises needing self-hosted or air-gapped team messaging.
Pricing: No prices are shown; the Commercial, Government and Defense plans all point to a sales contact, and a Starter option is mentioned for evaluation, small businesses and non-profits without detail.
Runs on: WebmacOSLinuxSelf-hosted

Strengths and trade-offs

Strengths

On-prem, private cloud and air-gapped deployment options
DoD ATO up to IL6, deployed on NIPRNet, SIPRNet and JWICS
Matrix federation with partner bodies, no shared infrastructure
Open API and custom apps for extending the platform

Trade-offs

No prices published; every plan routes to a sales conversation
Several defence features are marked as planned for release in 2026
Material is aimed at defence and government, not general team use
A Starter option is mentioned but its limits are never described

Pricing

Published plans from Rocket.Chat’s own pricing page, in USD. Usage charges and add-ons may apply on top.

Rocket.Chat pricing tiers, monthly rates in USD
Plan	Monthly	Includes
Commercial	Contact sales	On-prem, private cloud, isolated VPC/VPN or air-gapped deployment Rocket.Chat-managed dedicated cloud hosting HIPAA, FINRA, MiFID II, NIS2, DORA, GDPR and CCPA controls Federation with external partners, mobile apps, open API
Government	Contact sales	On-premises, sovereign cloud or air-gapped deployment End-to-end encryption, SSO, LDAP, SAML 2.0 and AD Tamper-evident audit logs, message search, export and retention AI search and summarisation running in your own infrastructure
Defense	Contact sales	Air-gapped, isolated and SCIF-ready deployment DoD ATO up to IL6; Secret and Top Secret compatible FIPS 140-3 validated cryptography, clearance-enforced ABAC Coalition federation and XMPP bridge to legacy networks

How this score is made up

Each dimension is scored out of 100 and combined into the headline score using fixed weights.

MCP support: 70 out of 100
API quality: 30 out of 100
Documentation: 70 out of 100
Agent friendliness: 100 out of 100
Pricing transparency: 0 out of 100
Changelog: 0 out of 100
Marketing site structure: 55 out of 100
Operational trust: 90 out of 100

Measured, but not part of the score

Useful to know, but not a mark for or against the product — so these do not affect the ranking.

Openness: 85 out of 100
Maintenance: 100 out of 100

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