Introduction
As remote work becomes increasingly popular, teams need to have efficient communication tools to stay connected. This is where Slack and Microsoft Teams come into the picture.
Both services offer cloud deployment, enabling remote teams to collaborate seamlessly. In this comparison post, we will take a closer look at their features to help you make a more informed decision.
Slack
Slack is a cloud-based collaboration tool that originated from a popular internal communication tool used at Tiny Speck, a gaming company. Slack’s popularity exploded in 2014, prompting the company to focus all its resources on the product.
Slack offers its services in three tiers: Free, Standard, and Plus. The free version offers a limited set of features, while the Standard and Plus versions offer more features at a cost. Slack has over 12 million daily active users and over 750,000 paid teams.
Some key features of Slack include:
- Slackbot: A built-in bot that helps you automate tasks.
- Integrations: Slack integrates with over 2,000 third-party apps.
- Collaboration: Slack allows users to share files, create channels, and mention others in messages.
- Calls: Slack provides voice and video calling options.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is a cloud-based communication and collaboration platform from Microsoft that was launched in 2017. Microsoft Teams is part of the Microsoft 365 suite of products and is included in all Microsoft 365 licenses.
Some key features of Microsoft Teams include:
- Direct Messaging: Users can send 1:1 messages and group messages.
- Collaboration: Users can create different Teams that consist of different channels. They can collaborate on files, share screens, and co-authenticate documents.
- Integration: Microsoft Teams integrate with other Microsoft Products such as OneDrive, SharePoint, and more.
- Calls: Microsoft Teams also provides voice and video calling options.
Comparison
Pricing
Slack's pricing is based on a per-user-per-month model, with three tiers: Free, Standard, and Plus, costing $0, $6.67, and $12.50 per user per month, respectively. Microsoft Teams is included in Microsoft 365 subscriptions, which start at $5/user/month.
Integrations
Slack has over 2,000 third-party app integrations, whereas Microsoft Teams is integrated with other Microsoft Products, such as OneDrive, SharePoint, and more. Slack has a dedicated app directory where users can browse and install apps.
Usage
A recent survey by Spiceworks, which polled 900 IT professionals worldwide, discovered that Microsoft Teams is leading, with 21% of companies. Slack comes at number two, with 15% of companies.*
Conclusion
Both Slack and Microsoft Teams offer effective cloud-based communication and collaboration tools. Their main differences are in their pricing models and integrations.
Slack has more third-party integrations than Microsoft Teams, but Microsoft Teams integrates more seamlessly with other Microsoft Products.
In conclusion, the choice of which one to use depends on your organization's particular needs. Both Slack and Microsoft Teams provide excellent cloud deployment services.
Thank you for reading!