Best Slack Alternatives
in 2026
We tested and compared 7+ alternatives to Slack. Whether you need something cheaper, more feature-rich, or just different — we have you covered.
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Slack vs Top Alternatives — Quick Comparison
See how Slack stacks up against its top alternatives at a glance.
| Feature | Slack | Microsoft Teams | Discord | Google Chat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | Free tier | Free tier | Free tier | Free tier |
| Pricing Model | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| G2 Rating | | | | |
| Founded | 2013 | 2017 | 2015 | 2017 |
| Channels | ||||
| Direct Messages | ||||
| File Sharing | ||||
| Integrations | ||||
| Search | ||||
| Huddles | ||||
| Canvas | ||||
| Workflow Builder | ||||
| Video Meetings | ||||
| Office Integration | ||||
| Teams | ||||
| Live Captions | ||||
| Visit Website | Visit site | Visit site | Visit site | Visit site |
* Pricing shown per user/month. Ratings from G2. Data updated 2026.
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All Slack Alternatives (7)
Detailed breakdown of every alternative to Slack, with pros, cons, pricing, and features.
Meet, chat, call, and collaborate in one place
Microsoft's unified communication platform integrated with Office 365, offering chat, video meetings, and collaboration.
Pros
- ✓ Deep Microsoft 365 integration
- ✓ Free for personal use
- ✓ Built-in video conferencing
- ✓ Large enterprise feature set
Cons
- ✗ Complex and sometimes confusing UI
- ✗ Slow performance on older hardware
- ✗ Requires Microsoft account
- ✗ Less intuitive than Slack
Your place to talk
Voice, video, and text communication platform originally for gamers, now widely used by communities and businesses.
Pros
- ✓ Completely free for most use cases
- ✓ Excellent voice quality
- ✓ Large community features
- ✓ Highly customizable with bots
Cons
- ✗ Not designed for business workflows
- ✗ Lacks project management features
- ✗ Can feel overwhelming for new users
- ✗ No native task management
Messaging for teams
Google's team messaging platform tightly integrated with Google Workspace apps like Drive, Docs, and Meet.
Pros
- ✓ Free with Google account
- ✓ Seamless Google Workspace integration
- ✓ Clean and simple interface
- ✓ Smart Reply suggestions
Cons
- ✗ Limited third-party integrations
- ✗ Fewer features than Slack
- ✗ No persistent message history on free tier
- ✗ Less customizable
Open source messaging for teams
Open-source, self-hostable team messaging platform with enterprise-grade security and compliance features.
Pros
- ✓ Self-hostable for full data control
- ✓ Open source and transparent
- ✓ Strong security and compliance
- ✓ No vendor lock-in
Cons
- ✗ Requires technical expertise to self-host
- ✗ UI feels less polished than Slack
- ✗ Smaller app marketplace
- ✗ Setup complexity
The ultimate free open source solution
Open-source team communication platform with self-hosting options, omnichannel support, and extensive customization.
Pros
- ✓ Completely free self-hosted version
- ✓ Omnichannel customer support built-in
- ✓ Active open-source community
- ✓ Highly customizable
Cons
- ✗ Self-hosting requires technical knowledge
- ✗ Cloud version can be expensive
- ✗ UI is less refined
- ✗ Performance issues at scale
Run your business faster
Team messaging and collaboration tool with built-in productivity features like to-dos, polls, and reminders.
Pros
- ✓ Built-in productivity tools
- ✓ Affordable pricing
- ✓ Clean interface
- ✓ Good mobile apps
Cons
- ✗ Smaller user base than Slack
- ✗ Fewer integrations
- ✗ Less feature-rich for enterprise
- ✗ Limited free tier
Simple team chat
Simple and affordable team messaging app with built-in task management and unlimited message history on free plan.
Pros
- ✓ Unlimited message history on free plan
- ✓ Built-in task management
- ✓ Very affordable paid plans
- ✓ Simple and clean UI
Cons
- ✗ Limited to 10 members on free plan
- ✗ Fewer integrations than Slack
- ✗ Less mature product
- ✗ Limited video features
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best free alternative to Slack?
The best free alternatives to Slack include Microsoft Teams, Discord, Google Chat. These all offer free plans with core features.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Slack?
Slack is competitively priced. Check out our comparison table above for pricing details on all alternatives.
Why switch from Slack?
Common reasons to look for Slack alternatives include: pricing concerns as your team scales, needing specific features that Slack doesn't offer, wanting better integrations with your existing stack, or preferring an open-source or self-hosted solution.