Tired of communication app troubles?
You picked the popular Microsoft Teams hoping for a fix.
But ended up facing similar problems with Teams.
All you need is to switch to an alternative of Microsoft Teams.
Our blog reviews the top 5 alternatives and competitors of Microsoft Teams to make your choice easier.
Before jumping to these top alternatives, let’s discuss some major issues with Microsoft Teams.
What’s wrong with Microsoft Teams?
Part of the Microsoft 365 suite, Teams features include video conferencing, channel creation, conversation threads, and document collaboration.
But Microsoft Teams’ drawbacks far outweigh its benefits. That’s why you would be better off with one of its competitors.
Let’s look at some cons of Mircosoft Teams:
- The app only works well with Microsoft-native applications, like Outlook and Drive.
- Microsoft Teams app has a confusing user interface and settings.
- The app takes extensive loading time and freezes during use as it’s a data-heavy app.
- Teams’ audio and video quality is poor, and it gets worse as more people join the call.
- Teams app frequently crashes when there are too people on the call.
- Users can’t filter details during a message search due to its poor search feature.
- You face several glitches, such as the app not recognising headphones and video calls showing as audio.
Now that you understand why Teams has to go, below are a few alternatives you can look into.
The best Microsoft Teams alternatives
We did our research and shortlisted 5 team communication apps that are the best alternatives of Microsoft Teams.
We will dive deep into their features, pros and cons, pricing, and why they are the best Microsoft Teams alternatives for you.
1. Talk Magnet
If you need a lightweight alternative to Microsoft Teams, Talk Magnet is your best choice.
Talk Magnet is rich in communication and collaboration features such as file-sharing, audio-video calling, and more.
You can chat with your individual team members or as a group.
With Talk Magnet, your business communication becomes swift and easy. This is because Talk Magnet provides a user-friendly interface that simplifies communication.
One of the standout features of Talk Magnet is its ability to be both cloud-hosted and on-premise. This ensures secure communication for your business.
It is not only flexible but also scalable as Talk Magnet grows with you.
Why Talk Magnet is the best alternative to Microsoft Teams?
Certain features set Talk Magnet apart from Microsoft Teams.
First, Talk Magnet has a simple user interface for navigation, unlike Microsoft Teams.
Second, it has unlimited message history.
Your texts and audio, video, and document files are readily available anytime you want them. Everything is only one search away.
The size of Talk Magnet is way smaller than not just Microsoft Teams but also its other alternatives.
Most importantly, with a 100% uptime on Talk Magnet, your team can always work swiftly.
The cherry on top?
You get a dedicated account manager to enjoy swift support on Talk Magnet.
Features
- One-on-one and group audio & video calls
- File sharing
- Dedicated support
- User-friendly
- Unlimited message history
- Cloud or on-premise
- Communication analytics
- Security
- Scalability
Pricing
Talk Magnet starts at $5 per user, per month.
2. Slack
Slack is another Microsoft Teams alternative that offers audio-video calls for up to 15 participants.
Its audio quality is way better than Microsoft Teams. But it freezes or lags during video conferencing.
Nonetheless, Slack lets you create channels to talk in groups. You can also share files and search for old messages.
You get a free plan to use Slack. But your messages get deleted after 14 days in this plan.
Features
- Integrations
- Multi-format file sharing
- Searchable message history
- Threaded conversations
Pricing
Slack has four price plans – Free, Pro, Plus, and Enterprise Grid.
The pro plan costs $6.67/user/month, while the plus plan costs $12.5/user/month.
The Enterprise Grid plan pricing is not publicly available.
3. Google Workspace
Google Workspace is Google’s productivity ecosystem. Its suite of tools helps your team collaborate and communicate.
You can send documents and start audio and video calls.
Google Workspace get an edge over Microsoft Teams for its ease of use.
However, there’s one challenge with Google Workspace.
It forces you to use Google Chrome to access its simple features like offline document editing.
You can fully access Google Workspace on your mobile phone after downloading many applications.
Features
- @mentions
- API
- Access controls/Permissions
- Activity tracking
- Calendar management
- Chat/messaging
- Commenting/notes
- Communication management
- Contact management
- Document management
Pricing
Personal users of Google Workspace have free access.
Pricing for the Business Starter plan is $6/user/ month. The Business Standard costs $12/user/month.
Its Business Plus plan costs $18/user/month. It also offers an Enterprise plan, but the price is unavailable publicly.
4. Chanty
Chanty is a communication software that allows your team members to chat and conduct audio or video calls.
Chanty’s edge over Microsoft Teams is that it supports unlimited users with its paid plan.
But on the downside, the frequent downtime makes Chanty unreliable.
Also, Chanty doesn’t allow users to mute channels. This causes an influx of messages and unproductivity.
Features
- Chat and audio-video calls
- Threaded messaging
- Teambook
- Unlimited message history
- Integrations
Pricing
Chanty’s free plan supports up to 10 members. The business plan, which starts at $4 per user per month, supports unlimited members.
5. Discord
Source: securityreviewmag.com
Discord is another alternative to Microsoft Teams alternatives for your internal and external communication.
Discord lets your team lead assign different roles and permissions to team members.
You can remove single users on Discord, which is impossible on Microsoft Teams.
Discord’s video call quality for free users is not the best.
Due to the heavy app size, you can expect frequent downtimes and long load times.
Features
- Audio and video chats
- Always-on audio
- Push to talk
- Threaded conversations
- File sharing
- Integrations/bots
Pricing
Discord’s basic features are free. But after paying for the Nitro plan, you can add some bots or features to the company server.
The paid plan starts at $9.99 per month.
Now that you know everything about the best alternatives to Microsoft Teams, which fits your team the best?
If you had to choose one alternative to Microsoft Teams, choose Talk Magnet
If you don’t want to compromise on audio and video quality and ensure that the app doesn’t crash, then Talk Magnet is the best option.
After comparing the top alternatives to Microsoft Teams, Talk Magnet emerges as a standout option for facilitating seamless communication.
It’s the most scalable and comes with unlimited message history with the option to host it on-premise.
You should move to Talk Magnet because your team deserves a reliable and rounded communication experience.
So signup for free to get started now. You can also book a demo to experience Talk Magnet yourself.