Mattermost
Spark
| Feature | Mattermost | Spark |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $10/mo | Free / from $7.99/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.2 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | devops-teams, security-conscious-orgs, government, enterprise | professionals, small-teams, freelancers, mac-users |
| Founded | 2015 | 2015 |
| Messaging | ✓ | ✗ |
| Channels | ✓ | ✗ |
| Playbooks | ✓ | ✗ |
| Integrations | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Hosting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Compliance | ✓ | ✗ |
| Smart Inbox | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ai Writing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Team Email | ✗ | ✓ |
| Scheduling | ✗ | ✓ |
| Templates | ✗ | ✓ |
| Priority Sorting | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Mattermost Pros
- Self-hostable
- Open source
- DevOps integrations
- Secure
✗ Mattermost Cons
- Smaller ecosystem
- Fewer integrations than Slack
- Self-hosting complexity
✓ Spark Pros
- Beautiful design
- AI writing assistant
- Smart inbox
- Team features
✗ Spark Cons
- Limited platform support
- Privacy concerns
- Some features behind paywall
The Verdict
Mattermost is built for devops teams and security conscious orgs, with a focus on messaging and channels. Spark targets professionals and small teams and leads with smart-inbox and ai-writing.
Pricing is close: Spark starts at $7.99/mo versus $10/mo for Mattermost — not a deciding factor on its own.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.