Top 5 Alternatives to Slack

For many, Slack has become the go-to tool for team collaboration, helping to boost productivity and simplify employees’ work. However, with the popularisation of remote working looking likely to remain post-pandemic, a rise in remote workforces and an expanding range of needs from such teams, Slack may not be best suited to every remote team now out there.

For those in search of Slack alternatives, here TechRound lists its top 5 currently available:

1) Chanty

• Free Plan: $0 forever
• Business Plan (Annually): $3 user/month
• Works on: Windows, Mac, Android, iPad and iPhone
• Offers: Communicate in private or public channels, unlimited messages and message history searches

Up first we have Chanty, a simple team chat tool accommodating to small-medium-sized remote teams.

Like Slack, with Chanty users can connect via both public and private channels, as well as with 1-on-1 conversations. With Chanty there’s no limit on message history searches, and the tool can help efficiently organise your files, tasks, conversations and more via its Teambook feature. Chanty can also act as a handy task manager platform for individuals and businesses through their platform.

Chanty is up to 75% cheaper than Slack and offers double the amount of storage. This innovative Slack alternative also strikes the perfect balance between features and usability, providing enough features for teams to work effectively while also keeping things simple and easy to use.

Additionally, while Slack’s free plan allows only 10,000 messages, Chanty’s freemium plan provides unlimited messages and as previously mentioned, unlimited message history searches.

Find out more and sign up at: https://www.chanty.com/

2) Google Chat

• Free: For Gmail users
• Works on: Android, iPad and iPhone
• Offers: Can communicate to groups and privately 1-to-1, chats private by default, up to 8,000 members allowed per room

Google Chat is a messaging platform that was released by Google in 2018. The tool is well integrated with Google’s Workspace package and is free for those who have Gmail.

Like Slack, this alternative offers a space dedicated to group conversations called Rooms, users able to add up to 8,000 members per room. The tool also allows users to send messages both privately and to a group. While Google Chat doesn’t offer a freemium plan like Slack does, it is free for Gmail users. As a default, the platform also makes all rooms private, meaning unless invited other workers in a remote team won’t be able to join the room.

3) Fleep

• Basic: €0
• Business (Annually): €5 per user, per month
• Enterprise: Custom, contact Fleep for further details
• Works on: Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS and Linux
• Offers: Can connect with any other user on the app with just their email address, “Task” and “Pinboard” features help organise work, unlimited 1-to-1 conversations included in freemium plan

Fleep is another team collaboration tool that’s great to consider when exploring Slack alternatives, combining team chat with email, video calls and task management.

With Fleep, users can connect via message with any other users on the app provided they have their email address. As well as being able to chat with anyone on the app, Fleep has also created a Task feature, enabling users to assign and organise work. In addition to this its Pinboard feature allows users to pin important notes to the side of conversations for easy access, including important dates, contact details, links and more.

Fleep’s freemium plan offers unlimited 1-on-1 conversations, and up to 3 group conversations, which users can also make unlimited when upgrading to the tool’s Business Plan.

4) Twist

• Free: £0 per user, per month
• Unlimited: £4.50 per user, per month.
• Works on: Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS and Linux
• Offers: Thread feature to organise team conversations based on topic, 1-on-1 and small group chats also available

Twist is a top communication software to explore when considering team collaboration tools.

The tool has a Thread feature to help organise a team’s conversations based on topic. These threads are simple to follow and can help make it easier for users to locate and access the information they want when they want it. This is a great advantage Twist has over Slack, where a number of important topics can get muddled together in the tool’s channels. With Twist however, topics are neatly organised in their own threads, with information easily accessible even years after being shared on the platform.

In addition to this Thread feature, through Twist users can also have 1-on-1 chats as well as chats with a small group.

5) Microsoft Teams

• Free: £0
• Microsoft 365 Business Basic (includes Microsoft Teams): £3.80 user/month
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard (includes Microsoft Teams): £9.40 user/month
• Works on: Windows, MacOS, Android and iOS
• Offers: Audio and video calls available as well as instant chats, seamless integration with Office 365

Targeted mainly towards enterprise companies, Microsoft Teams is a chat tool where users can call, chat and most importantly collaborate, all in one place.

Microsoft Teams will already be accessible to subscribers of Microsoft office 365 plans. However, for those not on one of these plans, the tool still offers a freemium version with all features essential for team chat, including audio calls, video calls, instant chats and more. One major positive of using Microsoft Teams over Slack is that it integrates smoothly with Office 365 and is therefore great for those who use this suite regularly.

One important thing to note with this tool is that it isn’t the easiest to set up and will need to be done by a tech-savvy member of the team.