Slack alternatives
Team Chat & Messaging · slack.com
Slack is a team messaging and collaboration platform with channels, huddles, canvases, app integrations, workflow automation and built-in AI features.
Switching to Pumble saves $1050 / year and covers 63% of the compared capabilities.
Find my alternative
Way less money.
Top Slack alternatives
We compared 12 products and found 9 cheaper options (8 of them cover at least half the compared features) · vs Slack Pro at $87.50/mo for 10 seats ($8.75/seat) · scenario: 10 seats, monthly billing, USD.
Slack’s own free plan covers this scenario. If you’re paying for features you don’t use, downgrading beats switching. The paid comparison below is for when you’ve outgrown free tiers — the “Free plans” view shows alternatives if you want free with different limits.
Slack costs $87.50/mo on the Pro plan at 10 seats, monthly billing. We found 9 assessed alternatives that are cheaper in this scenario; 3 of them cover at least 75% of the 8 compared capabilities. Slack's own free plan covers this scenario, so downgrading may beat switching.
| Product | Match | Price | Annual savings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
TOP PICK Discord Nitro plan · missing: Unlimited message history, Guest & external collaboration, AI search & summaries, Workflow automation | 50% | $9.99/mo how? ⓘ | $930.12 / year 89% cheaper | |
Zoho Cliq Standard plan · missing: Unlimited message history, Guest & external collaboration, AI search & summaries | 63% | $18/mo how? ⓘ | $834 / year 79% cheaper | |
Pumble PRO plan · missing: Guest & external collaboration, AI search & summaries, Workflow automation | 63% | $29.90/mo how? ⓘ | $691.20 / year 66% cheaper | |
Zulip Self-hosted Basic plan · missing: Unlimited message history, Workflow automation | 75% | $35/mo how? ⓘ | $630 / year 60% cheaper | |
Microsoft Teams Teams Essentials plan · missing: Threaded conversations, Unlimited message history collaboration suite — adjacent | 75% | $40/mo how? ⓘ | $570 / year 54% cheaper | |
Chanty Business plan · missing: Threaded conversations, AI search & summaries, Workflow automation | 63% | $40/mo how? ⓘ | $570 / year 54% cheaper | |
Flock PRO plan · missing: Threaded conversations, AI search & summaries | 75% | $45/mo how? ⓘ | $510 / year 49% cheaper | |
Twist Unlimited plan · missing: Audio/video calls & screen sharing, AI search & summaries, Workflow automation | 63% | $60/mo how? ⓘ | $330 / year 31% cheaper | |
Google Workspace Business Starter plan · missing: Threaded conversations, Unlimited message history, App integrations, Guest & external collaboration, AI search & summaries collaboration suite — adjacent | 38% | $70/mo how? ⓘ | $210 / year 20% cheaper |
Which Slack alternative for which situation
Picked by the numbers in this scenario — same subtype unless stated, assessed products only.
- Best free plan
- Pumble — $0/mo (FREE plan) · covers 63%
- Best open source or self-hosted
- Zulip — $35/mo (Self-hosted Basic plan) · covers 75%
- Best paid drop-in
- Zulip — $35/mo (Self-hosted Basic plan) · covers 75%
- Need channels & group messaging, threaded conversations, unlimited message history, audio/video calls & screen sharing or app integrations?
- Pumble — from $0/mo (FREE plan)
- Need guest & external collaboration?
- Twist — from $0/mo (Free plan)
- Need AI search & summaries?
- Zulip — from $35/mo (Self-hosted Basic plan)
- Need workflow automation?
- Zoho Cliq — from $0/mo (Free plan)
What you give up
Capabilities Slack has that the top alternatives lack.
- Unlimited message history — Search and access message history without a retention limit.Missing from Zoho Cliq, Twist, Discord.
- Audio/video calls & screen sharing — Make audio or video calls with screen sharing.Missing from Twist.
- Guest & external collaboration — Invite people outside your organization into a conversation.Missing from Pumble, Zoho Cliq, Discord.
- AI search & summaries — Search and summarize conversations with an AI assistant.Missing from Pumble, Zoho Cliq, Twist, Discord.
- Workflow automation — Automate routine steps directly within chat.Missing from Pumble, Twist, Discord.
Price at your volume
The same comparison recomputed at three sizes. Plan caps change who is cheapest.
Feature comparison
Slack vs the top alternatives, on the 8 compared capabilities.
| Capability | Slack | Pumble | Zoho Cliq | Twist | Discord |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Channels & group messaging from Free | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Threaded conversations from Free | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Unlimited message history from Pro | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Audio/video calls & screen sharing from Free | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| App integrations from Free | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Guest & external collaboration from Free | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| AI search & summaries from Free | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Workflow automation from Pro | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Scenario price cheapest qualifying plan | $87.50/mo Pro | $0/mo FREE | $0/mo Free | $0/mo Free | $9.99/mo Nitro |
✓ means the product offers the capability — possibly only on a higher tier than the plan priced below it. The price row shows the cheapest plan that qualifies for our comparison scenario, with its plan name; a $0 free plan may not include every checked capability.
What Slack covers
The capability set used for comparison. Grey entries are not available on self-serve plans.
- ✓ Channels & group messaging — from Free
- ✓ Threaded conversations — from Free
- ✓ Unlimited message history — from Pro
- ✓ Audio/video calls & screen sharing — from Free
- ✓ App integrations — from Free
- ✓ Guest & external collaboration — from Free
- ✓ AI search & summaries — from Free
- ✓ Workflow automation — from Pro
- ↑ SAML single sign-on — only from Business+, not compared
- ↑ Compliance exports & audit logs — only from Business+, not compared
- ✗ Self-hosted deployment
Price ladder
Observed prices from the official pricing page.
Who switched
Anonymous: no account, no email, no IP stored. Reports are shown once a switch has 3 or more and never change ranking or order — alternatives are computed from prices and capabilities only.
Sources
Every claim traces to an official source and a check date.
- https://slack.com/pricing (official_pricing, checked 2026-10-26)
- https://slack.com/pricing#main_focusable (official_pricing, checked 2026-10-26)
Frequently asked
How much does Slack cost?
Slack's Pro plan costs $87.50/mo in our scenario (10 seats, monthly billing). A free plan exists.
Is there a free Slack alternative?
Yes. Pumble has a free plan that covers 63% of the 8 capabilities we compared against Slack.
What is the cheapest Slack alternative?
In our scenario (10 seats, monthly billing), Pumble is the cheapest assessed alternative at $0/mo (FREE plan).
What is the cheapest Slack alternative with AI search & summaries?
Zulip covers AI search & summaries and costs $35/mo (Self-hosted Basic plan) in our scenario.
Does Slack have a free plan?
Yes. Slack's free plan exists; its limits are not stated on the pricing page.
When were these prices checked?
Between 2026-10-26 and 2026-10-29, on the vendors' official pricing pages.