What alternatives to Slack are there?

When you search the internet there is a long list of alternatives to Slack, but we have made a shortlist of four that you need to consider. Here we will look at why 8seats, Microsoft Teams, Mattermost and Google Chat are all great Slack alternatives.

Microsoft Teams is the largest Slack alternative and the most recognisable business messaging app in the world. The advantage for Microsoft Teams has been their ability to leverage Microsoft’s userbase of Microsoft 365 customers, estimated in 2022 to include 80% of Fortune 500 companies.

In 2024, Slack had an estimated 42 million daily active users across more than one million organisations, while Microsoft Teams had 320 million daily active users in more than 10 million organisations around the world. Microsoft Teams benefits from its free inclusion in many Microsoft 365 plans that are deployed widely across desk-based workforces. 

The user volumes of Slack and Microsoft Teams are still significantly less than personal messaging app WhatsApp, which is estimated to have more than 1.6 billion daily active users. WhatsApp is not a traditional competitor to Slack. Unlike Slack, Microsoft Teams and Google Chat that rely on a company email address for user access, WhatsApp is accessed with a cell phone number.

WhatsApp provides a free and familiar tool for connecting frontline teams. However, its usage on employees' personal devices for business group chats introduces significant risks for an organisation. Organisations lose control of their company data, intellectual property, employee personal data and their ability to manage user access. That is why businesses seeking a WhatsApp alternative or an app like Slack are moving to 8seats.  

Who is Slack's biggest competitor?

Slack’s biggest competitor in business instant messaging is Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Teams benefits from the existing relationships that Microsoft have with companies around the world. Bundling of Microsoft Teams in Microsoft 365 Business plans alongside access to a work email account, OneDrive, SharePoint and Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) simplifies product adoption. 

The business messaging segment has been a duopoly since Microsoft Teams launched in 2017. Microsoft got a head start building its user base by migrating the users of other Microsoft products to Microsoft Teams. It started with Skype for Business, followed by their frontline worker tool Microsoft Staffhub and finally Microsoft Classroom.

The other notable competitor with a similar value proposition to Microsoft Teams is Google Chat. Google Chat is a free inclusion with Google Workspace licences. Therefore a cost-effective option for companies that procure employee work email accounts from Google and utilize their Docs, Sheets, Slides and Meet products. 

Is Slack still the best?

Yes, Slack is still the best collaboration tool for workers that have access to a computer and a company email address. If your company does not have a subscription for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace that include their own integrated collaboration tools, then Slack is the best alternative to use. 

This biggest complaint that businesses have about Slack is the cost. It is more expensive than its competitors. The pricing increase announced in 2022 made Slack even more unaffordable for small and medium businesses that cannot access volume pricing discounts. These businesses are now paying USD $8.75 per user per month for Slack Pro and USD $15.00 per user per month for Slack Business+ plans.

There is a concern that after Salesforce completed the USD $27.7 billion acquisition of Slack in July, 2021 that there will be less ongoing product development and innovation in Slack as a standalone messaging platform. Slack appears to have shifted their focus to enterprise customers and how they collaborate on Salesforce data in Slack.    

Quick overview: Which app is better than Slack?

Here are the six apps that your business can trial for free if you are searching for alternatives to Slack for your teams. 

8seats

8seats is one of the best Slack alternatives for organisations of any size. Available cross-platform on mobile, web and desktop. 8seats was designed for organisations that need a business messaging app for employees who do not have a company email address. Prevent the use of instant messaging apps for work and protect your company data, intellectual property, sensitive customer information and employee personal information.

Pros

• Intuitive user interface for easy adoption

• No email address required for access

• Centralised management of users on your 8seats workspaces

Cons

• Limited user reviews currently available online

• Voice and video calling is currently in development

• Integrations with third-party applications are on the product roadmap

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a business collaboration tool developed by Microsoft that brings together instant messaging, voice calls, video conferencing and file sharing in one application. Suitable for small and large companies, Microsoft Teams has the enterprise-grade security that is synonymous with Microsoft. If your organisation has Microsoft 365 plans for your employees, then we would suggest starting with Microsoft Teams for team collaboration.  

Pros

• Free with Microsoft 365 plans

• Integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft 365 applications

• Scalable for organisations of any size

Cons

• High internet bandwidth requirements can cause issues for frontline workers

• Complex user interface can be frustrating for users

• Integrations with third-party applications not as seamless as with Microsoft applications 

Google Chat

Google Chat is Google’s equivalent to what Microsoft Teams is to Microsoft. Users can easily share their Docs, Sheets and Slides files in the chat and collaborate with colleagues. Spaces enables you to organise chats, tasks and file sharing around specific projects or teams. If your business is using Gmail for your email accounts, then Google Chat is a worthwhile application to try first.

Pros

• Free with Google Workspace plans

• Integrates natively with Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive and Google Meet

• Sits within Gmail, simplifying adoptions

Cons

• Basic functionality compared to Slack, Microsoft Teams and others

• Fewer third-party integrations and workflow automations

• Limited customisation of themes and workspace layouts for organisations

Mattermost

Mattermost is a self-hosted team communication platform designed for mission-critical environments and industries including government, finance, defence and healthcare. Mattermost is open source, allowing your organisation to customise plugins and themes, tailoring the UI and workflows as needed. 

Pros

• Self-hosting provides complete data control for industries with strict compliance requirements.

• Scalable architecture designed for large user groups and high volumes of messages

• Extensive APIs for customer development and integrations

Cons

• Technical expertise required to deploy and configure the self-hosted application

• Less intuitive interface than Slack for end-users to adopt

• Pre-built integrations are limited that other SaaS collaboration tools

Chanty

Chanty is targeted at small businesses that require a combination of workplace messaging and task management using a Kanban board in one tool. Available on web, desktop and mobile for frontline teams that are on the go.

Pros

• All-in-one collaboration tools with messaging, calls and task management

• Intuitive user interface

• Affordable pricing from USD $4 per user per month

Cons

• The free plan is limited to 5 users

• Video calls only support 1-1 and not groups calls

• Limited customisation and third-party integrations available

Pumble

Pumble has the most similar offering to Slack of its direct competitors. If you’re in search of a Slack look-alike with cheaper paid plans, a user-friendly interface and multi-device support cross-platform then Pumble is where to start.

Pros

• Free plan with unlimited users and unlimited message history

• Affordable pricing from USD $2.99 per user per month

• No learning curve if you are transitioning from Slack to Pumble

Cons

• Larger businesses may struggle 50 participant limits on video calls

• Search functionality requires an exact match with search term

• Fewer integrations than Slack and other workplace collaboration tools.

Why do people still use Slack?

People still use Slack because the free plan with unlimited users, 1-1 audio and video calls and 90-day retention of message history is suitable for their requirement. B2B software-as-a-service (SaaS) now allows you to start a free trial and decide whether a solution meets your needs before you have to pay anything. 

Once your requirements outgrow the Slack free plan limitations, there are three plans including different features and support services that businesses can choose between. These are the Pro, Business+ and Enterprise+ plans.  

Here are the five best Slack features:

• Simple and intuitive user interface with direct messages, channels and threads helps keep conversations organised. 

• Customisation for companies and teams to configure Slack to meet their needs. Set up themes, create custom emojis and stickers or integrate fun apps to encourage employee interaction and help build a positive team culture. 

• Search function that enables granular filtering to find what you are looking for in old messages, channels and shared files and documents.  

• Integrations with 2,500+ apps allow users to connect with other tools that they use and create workflows, reducing the need to switch between applications.

• Guest access for external collaborators lets companies invite contractors, customers and other external stakeholders to work with their team in specific channels.

Are there cheap Slack alternatives for free?

Yes, sign up to Slack alternatives for free with personal plans on 8seats, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, Chanty and Pumble. These free plans allow you to try these business messaging apps with your teams. You can stay on the free plans forever or upgrade to a business plan if you require additional features or support services.

Why would your business leave Slack?

The recent changes to the Slack API terms could see your business leave Slack. Slack has stopped customers from sharing their own data from Slack with third-party Large Language Models (LLMs). This blocks organisations from unifying data from Slack with data from other apps across their business and using AI to identify insights. 

Before the recent changes to Slack’s terms and conditions, four reasons why businesses leave Slack for other business messaging apps are: 

Communication overload

Communication overload occurs when you are overwhelmed by the volume, frequency or complexity of communication. If Slack is not implemented correctly then it can lead to communication overload for employees. 

To avoid this situation, team members should organise their Slack by starring important channels, removing themselves from channels that are no longer relevant and muting channels that are not important right now. You should respect your colleagues' Slack status and only tag the required people in communications. Trying not to overuse the @here command that notifies everybody in a channel.

Data security concerns

In 2024, it became public that Disney had experienced a data breach of their Slack account and that they were going to leave Slack for Microsoft Teams. Large amounts of sensitive data in Slack and Integrations with third-party apps make it a target for hackers, with phishing attacks and social engineering common threats for businesses.

Cost

Businesses that use Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace services may leave Slack because of the cost. Microsoft and Google respective communication tools Microsoft Teams and Google Chat are included at no additional cost in their subscriptions. Businesses that do not have company email addresses may leave Slack to 8seats, WhatsApp or Telegram. These messaging apps only require a cell phone number and do not require a Microsoft or Google licence for each user. 

More suitable alternatives

Organisations choose to leave for other apps similar to Slack when their features and functionality better fit the organisation's specific requirements. The needs of a business with office-based workers is very different to those of a business with frontline workers that are customer facing or operating in the field. 

Frontline workers in industries including retail, hospitality, facilities management and construction do not have company email addresses and have a high employee turnover rate. Therefore, businesses in these industries will utilise business chat apps that are very easy to adopt for workers, allow login with a cell phone number and are able to centrally manage user access.

If you are considering upgrading from Slack, you can sign up to 8seats free and start using it now. Alternatively, if you would like to speak with us, then please book a demo here and our team will be in contact with you right away.