Although Slack is popular, it may not be the best choice for all businesses.
The high cost for monthly searches and complicated interface put a question mark on Slack.
Are you tired of dealing with these issues as well?
All you need is the best alternative to Slack.
In this blog, you’ll discover the top 15 Slack alternatives, including their features, user-friendliness, and prices.
This will help you find the best alternative to Slack to simplify your team’s communication needs.
But first, let’s tell you why your team deserves something other than Slack.
The challenges with using Slack and why you need an alternative
Slack offers a wide range of features to enable smooth team communication. Despite this, users often need to deal with challenges while using Slack.
Here are some:
- Slack offers minimum file storage. When you send a file on Slack, it deletes old files over time once you reach your storage limit.
- Slack can get distracting for users. You can easily get sucked into every discussion on Slack channels if you’re not careful.
- Slack has numerous ways to notify you when you get a new message. This can cause a lot of distractions.
Given these existing challenges, the pursuit of a slack alternative becomes inevitable.
But the question is, what should we look for in these alternatives of Slack?
What should you look out for in a Slack alternative?
When looking for Slack alternatives, you must set certain parameters to evaluate the other solutions.
You should evaluate Slack alternatives based on these five parameters:
- Pricing
- Unlimited search history
- Private hosting
- Ease of use
- Efficient interface.
This way, you can make an informed decision in the best interests of your team.
With these in mind, let’s explore the alternatives.
The best Slack alternatives in 2022
Slack has got big competition. Look at these 15 Slack alternatives to understand why.
Let’s start with the first and foremost “TalkMagnet”.
1. Talk Magnet
- Available on: Web, Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android
- Free: Yes
- Paid: Yes
- Can be self-hosted?: Yes
Talk Magnet is a team communication app that offers all the essential features you would find in Slack.
But here’s the best part.
Talk Magnet goes above and beyond what Slack offers. You get to enjoy a wide range of additional features and functionalities.
Compared to Slack, Talk Magnet offers a much simpler user interface.
Unlike Slack, your chat threads on TalkMagnet remain super organised and easy to find. Finding the right chat thread on Slack can feel like finding a needle in a haystack.
Talk Magnet does not only match Slack’s features, but it goes beyond by offering unique features that Slack lacks.
Let’s break this down for you.
Talk Magnet vs Slack
Talk Magnet has a clear advantage over Slack regarding its user interface.
Talk Magnet’s interface resembles other popular messaging apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
This familiarity makes your team comfortable in using Talk Magnet to communicate with each other. It’s like using just another social app they regularly use to chat with friends.
Another advantage of Talk Magnet is its ability to be hosted on-premise, unlike Slack.
Here’s another great thing.
Compared to Slack, Talk Magnet offers a much simpler process to conduct meetings with external partners.
Just by clicking a link, your partners can join your meeting without the need to sign up or log in on Talk Magnet.
We kept the best for the last.
Talk Magnet’s pricing makes it a worthy alternative to Slack.
Also, not that you would always need it, but when you do, Talk Magnet’s customer support team is fast, responsive and dependable, 24/7.
Talk Magnet pricing
Talk Magnet offers a free trial. After which, pricing starts at $5 per user/per month. Unlike Slack, that is $7.25/per user/per month.
2. Microsoft Teams
- Available on: iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Web
- Free: Yes
- Paid: Yes
- Can be self-hosted: No
Microsoft Teams is a business chat tool which targets enterprises.
Teams offers all the essential team chat features such as instant chats, audio/video calls, and integrations to make smooth team communication.
You can create private and public channels for messaging on Teams and enjoy screen sharing.
Teams also offers searchable message history, video conference calls, and file sharing with permission controls from Office 365 Suite such as SharePoint.
It also offers integrations across all Office 365 products and over 250 apps and services.
The free version of Teams has a limit of 100 video participants and 500,000 chat users. So you must buy a plan if you need additional features and capabilities.
If you subscribe to any of the Microsoft Office 365 plans, you get access to Teams as part of the package.
Microsoft Teams is not available as a self-hosted solution. This means you can’t control how and where your organisation hosts its messaging and collaboration data.
If you wish to use Teams, ensure your team admin is tech-savvy, as this collaboration tool is not the easiest app to deploy.
Microsoft Teams vs Slack
Both apps offer a comprehensive list of features to help your team collaborate and get more done.
Both solutions match quite evenly in terms of features. Slack has the advantage in some areas, while Teams has in others.
The only challenge with Teams is that it has a limit of five users. This is even on paid plans, unless you buy more licenses. Slack, however, allows unlimited external collaboration with paid plans.
Microsoft Teams pricing
Teams is free for up to 100 video participants and 500K chat users.
The premium plans for Teams start at $5.00 per user per month.
3. Chanty
- Available on: iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Web
- Free: Yes
- Paid: Yes
- Can be self-hosted: No
Chanty is another Slack alternative that’s popular among team chat apps.
This collaboration tool enables both public and private communication channels.
One of its standout features is Teambook, which allows you to organise files, conversations, links, and tasks into folders.
This makes it easy to organise and manage everything in one place.
Chanty vs Slack
Chanty’s user interface is also more intuitive compared to Slack. This is crucial for smooth communication for your team communication.
But there’s another prime reason that makes Chanty a suitable Slack alternative.
Chanty offers similar features to Slack but at a more affordable rate.
Chanty pricing
Chanty comes with only two plans. A free plan and a business plan.
The free plans allow unlimited messaging and task management for up to 10 members and 1 team integration.
The business plan is $3 per user/month, allowing 3 guests per member, unlimited integrations, and group video calls.
4. Flock
- Available on: iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, and Web
- Free: Yes
- Paid: Yes
- Can be self-hosted: No
Flock is a collaboration app that helps teams work together and communicate easily.
It allows direct and group messaging through public or private channels.
Flock also lets you start video or audio calls and share your screen with just one click.
Flock vs Slack
Flock’s team claims their software is faster than Slack. This makes it a compelling contender, especially because the solution is more affordable than Slack.
Like Slack, Flock offers common messaging and calling features.
But Flock also allows you to conduct in-built polls, reminders, and to-do lists.
Flock pricing
Flock has split their pricing plans into 3 parts.
The free plan is limited to 10,000 searchable messages, 20 users, 10 public channels, and 5 GB of storage. The free plan has only one team admin and does not allow group video calls.
The pro plan costs $4.50 /user/month and offers additional features such as screen sharing, group video calls, and 10 GB storage.
There’s no limit on searchable messages, the number of public channels, and team admins.
The custom-priced enterprise plan of Flock offers everything in the pro plan plus additional features.
This includes 20 GB storage, organisational mapping, custom onboarding, integration with internal LMS, HRMS and other systems, and Active Directory Sync.
5. Twist
- Available on: iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Web
- Free: Yes
- Paid: Yes
- Can be self-hosted: No
Twist is another communication app designed for remote teams to communicate and collaborate.
The app uses threads to organise your team’s conversations in a systematised way.
The async threads allow you to respond to messages on your feasibility.
This means you don’t need to worry about catching up on conversations right at the moment.
Twist also offers integrations, one-on-one messaging, and channels for smooth communication.
Twist vs Slack
Twist supports asynchronous communication (the opposite of live chatting). Slack, however, supports both synchronous and asynchronous communication.
Twist positions itself as a solution for teams that live in different time zones and prefer asynchronous conversations. Its thread features facilitate the exact same use.
Priced cheaper than Slack, the twist pricing is simple and split into two plans.
Twist pricing
The free plan includes one month of comments and messages, 5GB storage, and 500 each internal member and external guest accounts.
The “unlimited plan” is $6 per monthly user, removing all the ‘free plan’ restrictions.
6. Troop Messenger
- Free: No
- Paid: Yes
- Can be self-hosted: No
- Available on: Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Troops Messenger helps businesses facilitate team communication through instant messaging and audio-video calling features.
This collaboration app improves your team’s productivity by leveraging its features. You can share your screen and conduct virtual meetings with Troops.
Troop Messenger vs Slack
Troop offers all the basic features similar to Slack, such as chat, audio, and video calls.
But Troop’s two prominent features make it unique. The ‘remote desktop control’ and ‘burnout window’ features.
The remote desktop control feature allows users to share their screens. It also lets you give access to the other person to take control of your screen remotely.
Troop lets you have confidential conversations with your team on a private ‘burnout chat’ window. Your conversations delete after a specific period.
Troop Messenger also offers a ‘respond later’ option, which other team chat applications don’t provide.
Troop Messenger pricing
The Troops Messenger currently has three plans.
The premium plan is priced at 2.5$ per user a month. The enterprise option costs $ 5$ per user a month, while the superior option at 9$ per month.
7. Discord
- Available on: iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, and Web
- Free: Yes
- Paid: Yes
- Can be self-hosted: No
Discord is a widely used chat application for audio-voice communication. You can voice chat, send real-time messages, and join online servers to join larger communities.
Discord is similar to Slack and other collaboration tools in terms of its features.
You can use Discord for both personal and professional communication. It is famous primarily amongst gaming communities and developers.
Discord vs Slack
Discord offers almost all the same features compared to Slack.
But there’s one feature that differentiates Discord from Slack. The ‘push to talk’ feature.
Push to talk feature keeps your microphone muted for voice communications. You can broadcast your voice only after pressing a specific button.
This helps limit the background noise from disrupting calls conducted on Discord.
Discord pricing
Discord offers users a free plan and a paid plan.
The paid plan costs 9.99$ a month. It includes high-resolution video, screen sharing and big uploads.
8. Mattermost
- Available on: iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, Web
- Free: Yes
- Paid: Yes
- Can be self-hosted: Yes
Mattermost is an open-source collaboration tool designed primarily for technical teams.
The app, built for operational and engineering teams, enables secure collaboration.
Mattermost vs Slack
Since the platform is open source, the integration possibilities of Mattermost are vastly rich compared to Slack.
With unlimited integrations, Matterpost supports more languages too. This makes Mattermost a pretty attractive communication option for global teams.
Mattermost pricing
Mattermost offers a freemium pricing strategy.
The free plan has limitations on search history, storage, and features. You can enhance all these by choosing the professional package at 10$ per user a month or the customised price for the enterprise.
9. Fleep
Fleep is a collaboration tool built for companies that value simplicity in communication.
It provides a user-friendly and engaging experience, making communication a breeze for modern businesses.
Fleep helps you get things done efficiently to ensure smooth team operations. It enables easy collaboration through direct chats and group conversations.
Fleep vs Slack
Fleep doesn’t confine itself to a single-team setup.
Instead, Fleep allows you to collaborate with other Fleep users on the platform for inter-team collaborations.
Fleep also comes with a ‘pinboard’ feature.
This feature allows you to pin announcements or critical messages on the side.
Fleep pricing
Fleep’s basic package is free but comes with limited capabilities and features. Its storage is limited to just 1GB.
The business package costs €5 per user per month. It includes advanced features and storage space of 100 GB.
Fleep’s enterprise package offers all the features of its business package plus more. It allows you to exploit volume discounts as per your enterprise needs.
10. Glip
Developed by Ring Central, Glip is a free and easy-to-use solution that combines video meetings and audio conferencing with team messaging.
Glip meetings can fit up to 100 participants.
The app includes emoji reactions, virtual backgrounds, closed captions, and more features.
Glip vs Slack
Although the Glip chat solution offers features similar to Slack, there are some major differences.
Glip offers more integrations than Slack and allows for inbuilt collaborations of tasks through calendars and tasks.
Glip pricing
Glip’s free plan gives limited access to its features. Up to 100 members can use the free version only.
The enterprise solution, priced at $14.99, removes all these limitations.
11. Google Chat
source: Capterra
- Available on: Android, desktop, iPhone & iPad
- Free: Yes
- Paid: Yes
- Can be self-hosted: No
Google Chat is a super basic chat alternative for Slack. You can use Google Chat for free if you have a Gmail account.
It offers all the basic communication features you need for smooth collaboration.
You can engage in individual or group chats. You can also use Google Chat in conjunction with Google Meet to start audio or video calls.
Google Chat vs Slack
Both Slack and Google Chat have a feature that saves your chat history.
But there’s one difference.
Although Slack’s paid plans offer unlimited chat history, the free plan only keeps up to 10,000 messages.
In Google Chat, all your messages are automatically saved without additional cost.
Google Chat pricing
Google Chat is free for all Google work space account owners.
12. Cisco Webex Teams
source: Cisco WebEx Teams
- Available on: Android, desktop, iPhone
- Free: No
- Paid: Yes
- Can be self-hosted: No
Cisco Webex Teams is another user-friendly collaboration solution that enables teams to work together and stay connected from anywhere.
Webex provides you with the tools to improve productivity and collaborate efficiently.
It offers a range of features such as file sharing, screen sharing, messaging, whiteboarding, and audio-video meetings.
Cisco Webex vs Slack
Cisco Webex Teams stands out from Slack because of its creative nature for collaboration through its “whiteboard” feature.
The app allows you to use interactive whiteboard drawings to share your ideas.
The impressive thing about these whiteboard drawings is that they are end-to-end encrypted. This greatly enhances the security of your conversations.
Cisco Webex pricing
The website’s pricing page for Cisco does not currently contain a fixed pricing tale and instead takes you to a form to contact sales, which means that the pricing is customised according to your needs.
13. Fuze
Available on: Android, Windows, iPhone, Web, Mac
Free: No
Paid: Yes
Can be self-hosted: No
Fuze is a collaboration tool that unifies voice, video, and messaging for your business conversations.
You can chat with individuals and groups, share files, and attend meetings within your organisation.
Fuze vs Slack
Yes, Fuze is a relatively less-known tool than Slack.
But there are some things that you are better off doing through Fuze than on Slack.
Unlike Slack, Fuze allows you to deliver/send voicemails to emails.
Fuze’s web integration is also much simpler as compared to Slack.
Fuze pricing
Fuze offers their customers three plans based on their requirements.
The basic plan comes at 15$ for each user per month. You can upgrade it to higher plans with discounts for yearly use.
14. Ryver
- Available on: Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows
- Free: No
- Paid: Yes
- Can be self-hosted: No
Ryver brings together your team’s communication and task management on one platform.
You can use Ryver to chat with your team and manage your projects and tasks. Ryver allows you to chat one on one or in groups.
Ryver features include integrations, file sharing, voice and video calling, chatting, and more. You can also share files from Google Drive, Dropbox, or Box.com.
Ryver vs Slack
Ryver lets you turn messages into tasks for your team. You can use Ryver’s features like kanban boards to track everything from where you communicate.
Ryver also allows you to integrate with your favourite accounts if you have a Zapier account. Unlike Slack, Ryver offers unlimited chat search and data storage.
Ryver pricing
Unlike other platforms that just offer only per-user-based pricing plans, Ryver offer a lot more.
Ryver’s basic plan starts at $69 per month for 30 members. An upgraded feature plan costs $129 per month.
But if you want to choose Ryver for a small team, you can use its $4.67/month for each person package.
15. Bitrix24
- Available on: MAC, Windows, iPhone,iMac, Android, Web, and Linux
- Free: Yes
- Paid: Yes
- Can be self-hosted: Yes
Bitrix24 is a free collaboration platform that provides various tools for smooth communication.
It offers audio-video calls and chats to help your teams stay connected.
Bitrix24 Vs Slack
With Bitrix24, you have a Slack alternative that’s more than just a communication solution.
You get to manage your tasks in Kanban mode inside Bitrix24 itself.
But it’s not just that.
You can also use Bitrix24 for customer relationship management, HR operations, document management, tasking, and project management.
Bitrix24 pricing
Bitrix24 has 5 pricing packages.
The first is a free package offering basic features with only 5GB storage.
From there on, the packages increase in price and features.
The highest premium feature package costs $399/month for unlimited users.
Boost your communication process with the top Slack alternative
After looking at the pros and cons of the top 15 alternatives of Slack, we have a clear winner.
Talk Magnet stands out for offering you the best features at reasonable costs. The app is free, and you can host it on-premise.
Use a free trial to experience the magic of Talk Magnet yourself.
So book a demo now or sign up for free to get started now.
