Top 10 Slack alternatives and competitors
Today internal corporate communication is not limited only by office talks, board meetings, and emails. Lots of companies have virtual offices and distributed teams all over the globe. Communication within the workplace now extends to virtual audio and video meetings, discussions, and online training. Thus, modern teams need the right tools to make their internal communication secure, seamless, and productive.
Slack has become the tool to open first on the morning for millions of people today. Now it is integral part of communication in many organizations because of its enterprise features and integrations with third-party apps. However, if you are a start up looking for a corporate messenger app or an organization in search of Slack alternatives it is worth checking out these 10 Slack competitors.
Slack is a cloud-based solution with plenty of free features. However, as alternatives we will describe not only cloud and open-source solutions, but also self-hosted collaboration platforms which are more secure and reliable.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams can be either used as part of Microsoft 365 suite or independently as a collaboration tool both for small and large teams.
Price: free up to 100 users, 60 minutes for group meeting, 2 GB free attachments per user in chat and 5 GB free file storage across all teams; paid subscriptions start with $4 user/month (without tax).
Supported platforms: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, web version
Differences from Slack: better integration with Microsoft 365 suite, support of 250+ users on a conference call, in-chat files sharing up to 1 TB using Microsoft's OneDrive, video meetings recording and review, unlimited chat messages and searches.
Free version of MS Teams includes all essential team communication and collaboration features such as chats, meetings, files exchange and integrations. Thus, it is worth starting with free version to see how MS Team works for you company. However, if you need to have channels and store more information in attachments, then explore paid subscriptions to find the most suitable one for your business needs.
Google Chat
Anyone with a Google account can communicate via Google chats. Video and audio meetings as well as screen sharing are accessible through Google Meet tool.
Price: free trial, no free plan, starts with $6 user / month
Supported platforms: Web application, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
Differences from Slack: comes with integrated Google Workspace apps, Google Chat is recommended for enterprises with large teams because it uses for video conferencing Google Meet tool which supports 1000+ participants.
Google chat is ideal for teams which rely on Google suite apps. Both Slack and Google Chat offer robust features for communication and collaboration. Thus, it's up to you to decide which one to use in your corporate environment.
Virola Corporate Messenger
Virola corporate messenger is available as a self-hosted and cloud solutions. It's a comprehensive collaboration tool for small, medium and enterprise teams.
Price: free up to 10 users, starts with $2 user / month
Supported platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, on-premise Linux, on-premise Windows, on-premise macOS
Differences from Slack: offers self-hosted version, remote control, chat history search both among messages and file names, built-in task manager to turn issues to tasks, Kanban board view to organize tasks, configurable permission settings, live avatars, no integrations with third party tools.
Virola corporate messenger is ideal for teams of any size. It provides a wide range of tools both for communication and collaboration, such as video and audio conferencing, task board and issues tracking, screen sharing and remote control. It is available as a self-hosted solution, which means you can install everything on your server and take control over your company information. Virola can become a very cost-savvy alternative to Slack with powerful features for communication and teams collaboration.
RocketChat
RocketChat is known to be the one of the most popular open-source alternatives to Slack. RocketChat can be hosted on prem and customized to fit any industry standard.
Price: free plan for small teams, $7/user/month
Supported platforms: Web application, Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, on-premise Linux, on-premise Windows
Differences from Slack: self-hosted, open source, real time translation to 50+ languages, end-to-end encryption on all messages
If you need to customize corporate messenger to fit your business needs, then open-source RocketChat will be one of the best options. However, such customizations and deployment require certain skills, otherwise it will be a headache.
Mattermost
Mattermost as well as Rocket.Chat provides open-source, self-hosted and cloud-based solutions which can be customized to meet your business requirements.
Price: free for small teams, starts from $10/user/month
Supported platforms: Web application, Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, on-premise Linux, on-premise Windows
Differences from Slack: self-hosted, open source, UI customizations, such as fonts and texts are possible, multi-factor authentication and single sign-on, 700+ third-party integrations.
The main selling point of Mattermost is its privacy features. It is mostly aimed at developers as an audience and meets their expectations for data security and privacy.
Troop Messenger
Like any other messaging app, Troop Messenger offers features for communication in chat, video, audio conferencing and screen sharing with remote control. It provides features tailored to corporate workspaces.
Price: free trial, starts from $2.5/user/month
Supported platforms: Web application, Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Differences from Slack: possibility to delete private chats within set period, “respond later” feature, possibility to send messages across specific channels at the same time.
Troop messenger will be a good choice for companies with high security and privacy concerns. If compared to Slack, Troop Messenger may attract by its unique features in the premium version.
Zulip
If you like email-style threading, then Zulip chat is the right app for you. It creates a unique team chat experience and is a great open-source alternative to Slack.
Price: free for small teams, free self-hosted version, cloud-based version starts from $6.67/user/month
Supported platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, on-premise Linux
Differences from Slack: self-hosted, open-source, integrated Zoom video conferencing, easier to watch and participate in multiple conversations, unique threads model.
Zulip offers a unique threads model, which many users will like. However, it lacks native features such as video and audio conferencing and requires integration with third-party tools.
Fleep
Fleep is a professional messenger for teams that like keeping things simple. It's a great tool for project management as it offers pinboard and file management features, which set it apart from competitors.
Price: free trial, starts from 5 euro/user/month
Supported platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Differences from Slack: built-in task sharing, pinboard tool, file drawer to view files shared in a conversation.
Fleep prioritizes task management within conversations. Clients and users can be easily added to workspaces, which makes the task management process very simple and straightforward. It can also be integrated with such apps as Jira, Trello, Zapier, etc.
Discord
Discord is a great communication tool for online gaming communities. Discord is basically community minded while Slack is focused on organizations.
Price: free version, paid plan starts with $4.99 per month
Supported platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Differences from Slack: better audio and video chats, less features for text messaging, Slack offers a wider range of integrations opportunities.
It seems there is no sense to view Discord as an alternative to Slack since Discord is more a gaming tool rather than a corporate messenger. However, inside these apps have a lot in common and some organizations use Discord for their communication needs.
Chanty
Chanty provides smart collaboration features which significantly facilitate the process of tasks management and tracking. It's a great alternative to Slack for those teams which focus on efficient collaboration.
Price: free plan up to 10 users without group video calls and screen sharing, cloud-based version starts from $3/user/month
Supported platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Differences from Slack: converting messages to tasks, unique Team book interface, user roles and permissions, AI-powered search.
Chanty mainly focuses on completing, managing, and tracking tasks. Still, it offers all needed for communication features. If you are looking for a simple and easy to use alternative to Slack, then Chanty will be a great solution which will help not only to save money but also time on learning about useless features.
Slack messenger, like any other platforms has its advantages and drawbacks. Large corporations may experience issues while small businesses may not need all those features Slack charges for. Thus, it is always worth trying alternatives to find the best corporate messenger app for your business.