# Zulip overview Zulip is a powerful, open source group chat application that combines the immediacy of real-time chat with the productivity benefits of threaded conversations. Zulip is used by open source projects, Fortune 500 companies, large standards bodies, and others who need a real-time chat system that allows users to easily process hundreds or thousands of messages a day. With over 300 contributors merging over 500 commits a month, Zulip is also the largest and fastest growing open source group chat project. [](https://circleci.com/gh/zulip/zulip) [](https://travis-ci.org/zulip/zulip) [](https://codecov.io/gh/zulip/zulip) [][mypy-coverage] [](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/) [](https://chat.zulip.org) [](https://twitter.com/zulip) [mypy-coverage]: https://blog.zulip.org/2016/10/13/static-types-in-python-oh-mypy/ ## Getting started Click on the appropriate link below. If nothing seems to apply, join us on the [Zulip community server](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/contributing/chat-zulip-org.html) and tell us what's up! You might be interested in: * **Contributing code**. Check out our [guide for new contributors](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/overview/contributing.html) to get started. Zulip prides itself on maintaining a clean and well-tested codebase, and a stock of hundreds of [beginner-friendly issues][beginner-friendly]. * **Contributing non-code**. [Report an issue](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/overview/contributing.html#reporting-issue), [translate](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/translating/translating.html) Zulip into your language, [write](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/overview/contributing.html#zulip-outreach) for the Zulip blog, or [give us feedback](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/overview/contributing.html#user-feedback). We would love to hear from you, even if you're just trying the product out. * **Supporting Zulip**. Advocate for your organization to use Zulip, write a review in the mobile app stores, or [upvote Zulip](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/overview/contributing.html#zulip-outreach) on product comparison sites. * **Checking Zulip out**. The best way to see Zulip in action is to drop by the [Zulip community server](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/contributing/chat-zulip-org.html). We also recommend reading Zulip for [open source](https://zulipchat.com/for/open-source/), Zulip for [companies](https://zulipchat.com/for/companies/), or Zulip for [working groups and part time communities](https://zulipchat.com/for/working-groups-and-communities/). * **Running a Zulip server**. Setting up a server takes just a couple of minutes. Zulip runs on Ubuntu 16.04 Xenial and Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty. The installation process is [documented here](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/stable/prod.html). Commercial support is available; see <https://zulipchat.com/plans> for details. * **Using Zulip without setting up a server**. <https://zulipchat.com> offers free and commercial hosting. * **Applying for a Zulip internship**. Zulip runs internship programs with [Outreachy](https://www.outreachy.org/), [Google Summer of Code](https://developers.google.com/open-source/gsoc/), and the [MIT Externship program](https://alum.mit.edu/students/NetworkwithAlumni/ExternshipProgram). Zulip also participates in [Google Code-In](https://developers.google.com/open-source/gci/). More information is available [here](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/overview/contributing.html#internship-programs). You may also be interested in reading our [blog](http://blog.zulip.org/) or following us on [twitter](https://twitter.com/zulip). Zulip is distributed under the [Apache 2.0](https://github.com/zulip/zulip/blob/master/LICENSE) license. [beginner-friendly]: https://github.com/zulip/zulip/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22good+first+issue%22