Synology Chat vs Rocket.Chat
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Synology Chat
This application provides a secure and private platform for real-time communication. It enables users to create dedicated channels for team discussions or temporary conversations, fostering efficient collaboration within an organization. Requires ownership of a Synology NAS device.
- Real-time conversations
- Purpose-oriented channels
- Temporary conversations
- Secure communication
- Synology NAS integration
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**You must own a Synology NAS to run this app, and be running the latest Synology Chat 2.0.0 to get the complete set of features* Synology Chat allows you to create a safe and secure place where conversations can be held in real-time. Using Synology Chat to create a channel for purpose-oriented discussion or a conversation for temporary talk. Find all detailed features about the app on our website: https://www.synology.com/dsm/software_spec/synology_chat
Rocket.Chat
A secure communication platform that integrates messaging, voice, video, and AI for organizations requiring high security and compliance. It offers features like E2E encryption and two-factor authentication to protect sensitive communications.
- Unified messaging, voice, and video
- End-to-end encryption
- Two-factor authentication
- Open source software
- On-premises or cloud hosting
- Guest access
- File sharing
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Rocket.Chat Secure CommsOS™ is a communication platform that unifies messaging, voice, video, AI, and mission-critical applications—ensuring uncompromising security, compliance, and operational efficiency for governments, defense, and critical infrastructure organizations operating in high-stakes environments. The result is an increase in productivity and customer satisfaction rates. Everyday, tens of millions of users in over 150 countries and in organizations such as Deutsche Bahn, The US Navy and Credit Suisse trust Rocket.Chat to keep their communications completely private and secure. By opting for Rocket.Chat, users also benefit from free audio and video conferencing, guest access, screen and file sharing, LiveChat, LDAP Group Sync, two-factor authentication (2FA), E2E encryption, SSO, dozens of OAuth providers and unlimited users, guests, channels, messages, searches and files. Users can set up Rocket.Chat on cloud or by hosting their own servers on-premises. With thousands of contributors and stars on Github, Rocket.Chat has the world’s largest community of chat developers in the open source communication sector. When you choose Rocket.Chat, you join an ever-growing passionate community that constantly improves our platform with us :) KEY FEATURES: * Open Source Software * Hassle-free MIT license * BYOS (bring your own server) * Multiple Rooms * Direct Messages * Private & Public Channels/Groups * Desktop and Mobile Notifications * 100+ available integrations * Edit and Delete Sent Messages * Mentions * Avatars * Markdown * Emojis * Choose between 3 themes: Light, Dark, Black * Sort conversations alphabetically or group by activity, unread or favourites * Transcripts / History * File Upload / Sharing * I18n - [Internationalization with Lingohub] * Hubot Friendly - [Hubot Integration Project] * Media Embeds * Link Previews * LDAP Authentication * REST-full APIs * Remote Locations Video Monitoring * Native Cross-Platform Desktop Application
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Rocket.Chat at 4.4 against Synology Chat's 3.7. Rocket.Chat also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 4 months) and review sentiment (62% vs 40%). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Rocket.Chat holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Rocket.Chat has 3.7K ratings behind it against 67, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 40% of Synology Chat's written reviews are positive against 62% of Rocket.Chat's.
Synology Chat ships an update every 4 months, Rocket.Chat every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Synology Chat | Rocket.Chat |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (67 ratings) | 4.4 (3.7K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 39.6% of reviews | 61.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 67 | 3.7K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 115 MB | 79 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Synology Inc. | Rocket.Chat Technologies Corp. |
Customer experience
Synology Chat
Rocket.Chat
Bugs and requests
Synology Chat
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Rocket.Chat
Reported bugs
5 issues- Messages not loading properly
- Inability to stay logged in
- Broken translation feature
- Compatibility issues with newer devices
- Admin panel not functioning on mobile
Requested features
5 requests- Improved notification settings
- Enhanced file sharing and management
- Customizable notification sounds
- Streamlined admin panel for mobile
- Integrated video/audio calling
In-app purchases
Synology Chat
No in-app purchases
Rocket.Chat
No in-app purchases





