FigJam vs Mattermost: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of FigJam and Mattermost to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
FigJam
6.8/10
FigJam is Figma's online whiteboard for team brainstorming, diagramming, workshops and lightweight project planning, sold through Figma seats.
Mattermost
6.7/10
Self-hostable, open-source team messaging and workflow platform with playbooks, kanban boards and AI agents, built for security-conscious and regulated organizations.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.8/10 | 6.7/10 |
| Integration | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Analytics | 2/10 | 3/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Ease of Use | 9/10 | 6/10 |
| Support | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 8/10 | 5/10 |
| Scalability | 7/10 | 9/10 |
| Security | 7/10 | 10/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $3/user/mo Professional (Collab seat) | $10/user/mo Professional |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Free Starter | Free Team Edition |
| Features | ||
| Client collaboration | ||
| App integrations | ||
| Timeline view | Not listed | |
| Workflow automation | ||
| Collaboration tools | ||
| Whiteboards | Not listed | |
| Team messaging | Not listed | |
| File sharing | Not listed | |
| Task lists | Not listed | |
| Kanban boards | Not listed | |
FigJam vs Mattermost cost by team size
FigJam and Mattermost cost the same at every team size we checked.
| Team size | FigJam | Mattermost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeStarter | FreeTeam Edition |
| 5 users | FreeStarter | FreeTeam Edition |
| 10 users | FreeStarter | FreeTeam Edition |
| 25 users | FreeStarter | FreeTeam Edition |
| 50 users | FreeStarter | FreeTeam Edition |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose FigJam
- Higher Ease of Use score (9/10 vs 6/10)
- Higher Cost score (8/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for startups (8/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for small business (6/10 vs 4/10)
Why choose Mattermost
- Higher Security score (10/10 vs 7/10)
- Higher Scalability score (9/10 vs 7/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (9/10 vs 7/10)
- Better fit for developers (8/10 vs 6/10)
- Includes Workflow automation, which FigJam lacks
Pros & Cons
FigJam
Pros
- Most teams pick it up quickly, and reviewers on Capterra and G2 (4.6/5) praise how easy it is to learn
- More than 300 templates for retros, standups, kickoffs and Gantt-style plans cut setup time
- External guests can join free for 24 hours without logging in
- The Collab seat costs only $3 to $5 per user per month
- AI can generate diagrams and templates, cluster stickies and summarize sessions into action items
Cons
- It is not a full project management tool: it has no dashboards, reporting, time tracking or workflow automation
- Reviewers report limited export options
- Performance can slow down on large boards
- It has no offline mode
- Seats are tied to Figma licensing, so the overall pricing structure is complex
Mattermost
Pros
- Can be fully self-hosted or air-gapped, which suits defense, government and regulated industries
- Enterprise tiers include strong compliance tooling: FIPS 140-3 builds, legal hold, compliance export and granular RBAC
- Playbooks give incident and DevOps teams repeatable checklists with automated triggers inside chat
- Built-in Jira, GitHub and GitLab integrations, plus an open API for custom bots
- Open-source core under MIT and AGPL licenses avoids full vendor lock-in
Cons
- The Boards kanban plugin is in maintenance mode and has been removed from the in-product marketplace
- Since v11 the free Entry plan shows only the last 10,000 messages and Team Edition is capped at 250 users, which drew community criticism
- The vendor publishes no prices, licenses are annual prepaid only, and every server needs its own license
- No Gantt charts, time tracking or project reporting, so it cannot replace a dedicated project management tool
- Self-hosting requires admin time and server upkeep
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
FigJam scores higher on our AI Software criteria: 6.8/10 against 6.7/10 for Mattermost. The largest gap is in Cost: 8/10 for FigJam and 5/10 for Mattermost.
Both are free for 10 users.
Yes, both FigJam and Mattermost have a free plan.
FigJam is the better fit for startups: we rate it 8/10 for them, against 5/10 for Mattermost.
Mattermost has Workflow automation, which FigJam lacks.
