Communication · head to head
Line vs LINE WORKS
Line
Communication
Messaging app that dominates Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, now run by LY Corporation under joint SoftBank and Naver ownership
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
LINE WORKS
Communication
Business chat built on the LINE interface, aimed at Japanese firms whose staff and customers already use LINE
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Line line has negligible market share outside Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, so it is the wrong choice for reaching contacts in most other regions.; LINE WORKS the external LINE bridge, which is the main reason to choose it, only matters where LINE has consumer penetration, so buyers outside Japan, Taiwan and Thailand are paying for a feature they cannot use.
- They diverge on capability: Line covers Line Pay, LINE WORKS covers External LINE messaging.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Line and LINE WORKS actually diverge.
| Attribute | Line | LINE WORKS |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free to download, paid stickers and business messaging tiers | Per user per month |
| Platforms | iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Web | Web, iOS, Android, Windows, macOS |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Communication).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Line
- Line Pay
- Official Accounts
- Stickers and themes
- Line News
- Group and open chat
- Timeline
Only in LINE WORKS
- External LINE messaging
- Chat and channels
- Voice and video calls
- Shared address book
- Calendar and bulletin board
- Drive
- Business email
- Admin controls
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Line
- A business selling to consumers in Japan that needs an Official Account rather than email or SMS to reach customersnot LINE WORKS
- An individual keeping in touch with contacts in Japan, Taiwan or Thailand where Line, not WhatsApp, is the defaultnot LINE WORKS
- A brand running promotions through Line stickers or Timeline content aimed at a Japanese audiencenot LINE WORKS
- A company processing consumer payments in Japan through Line Pay integrationnot LINE WORKS
LINE WORKS
- A Japanese retail or service chain whose customers expect to book and enquire over LINE rather than emailnot Line
- A clinic, dealership or estate agency that needs customer conversations on LINE but under corporate retention and auditnot Line
- A Japanese SME under 30 staff that wants managed business chat at no licence cost on the free tiernot Line
- The Japanese subsidiary of a foreign group that needs a local tool for front-line staff alongside the group standardnot Line
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Line
- Line has negligible market share outside Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, so it is the wrong choice for reaching contacts in most other regions.
- A 2021 incident exposed that some user data had been accessible from servers operated in China, which led to a formal restructuring of data governance and remains a reference point for privacy sensitive users.
- Standard chats are not end to end encrypted by default in the way Signal is; Letter Sealing, an opt-in encryption feature, has to be manually enabled per chat.
- Business messaging through Official Accounts becomes expensive quickly once a company exceeds the free monthly message allowance and moves to a metered plan.
- Ownership sits inside a SoftBank and Naver joint venture with a history of governance disputes between the two partners, which creates strategic uncertainty for enterprise customers relying on the platform long term.
LINE WORKS
- The external LINE bridge, which is the main reason to choose it, only matters where LINE has consumer penetration, so buyers outside Japan, Taiwan and Thailand are paying for a feature they cannot use.
- The free tier caps total storage at 5GB across the whole organisation, not per user, so a team sharing photos or documents exhausts it within weeks and is pushed onto a paid plan.
- Business email is only on the Advanced plan at 800 yen per user, so an organisation wanting both chat and mail pays nearly double the Standard rate for every seat including staff who only chat.
- Developer documentation, support and the integration catalogue are strongest in Japanese, which makes it awkward to administer from a non-Japanese IT function.
- It has no serious developer or engineering workflow story, so organisations that also run Slack or Teams for technical teams end up maintaining two chat systems and two directories.
Pricing, plan by plan
Line
Free- LineFree
- Free messaging, voice and video calling
- Individual sticker sets typically cost a few hundred yen each
- Line Official Account has a free tier with message volume limits, then paid tiers by monthly message count
LINE WORKS
Free- FreeFree
- Up to 30 users
- 5GB total storage
- Chat, calls, calendar and address book
- Standard$450/month
- Unlimited users
- 1TB shared storage
- Annual contract price, 540 yen monthly
- Advanced$800/month
- Everything in Standard
- Business email
- 100TB shared storage
Which should you pick?
Choose Line if
- You need line pay.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Web.
- You also want official accounts.
Choose LINE WORKS if
- You need external line messaging.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android, Windows, macOS.
- You also want chat and channels.
Questions people ask
- Is Line or LINE WORKS better?
- Neither clearly leads. Line starts at Free and LINE WORKS at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Line or LINE WORKS?
- Line starts at Free and LINE WORKS at Free.
- Does Line or LINE WORKS run on more platforms?
- Line runs on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Web. LINE WORKS runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows, macOS.
- Can I use Line for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Line best used for?
- Line is most often used for a business selling to consumers in japan that needs an official account rather than email or sms to reach customers, an individual keeping in touch with contacts in japan, taiwan or thailand where line, not whatsapp, is the default, a brand running promotions through line stickers or timeline content aimed at a japanese audience, a company processing consumer payments in japan through line pay integration. Of those, a business selling to consumers in japan that needs an official account rather than email or sms to reach customers and an individual keeping in touch with contacts in japan, taiwan or thailand where line, not whatsapp, is the default are not what LINE WORKS is typically brought in for.
- What can Line do that LINE WORKS cannot?
- Line covers Line Pay, Official Accounts, Stickers and themes, Line News. LINE WORKS covers External LINE messaging, Chat and channels, Voice and video calls, Shared address book.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Line: Is Line encrypted by default?
Chats use standard transport encryption, but full end to end Letter Sealing encryption must be turned on manually per conversation, it is not the default.
LINE WORKS: Can LINE WORKS really message ordinary LINE users?
Yes. That is its core differentiator and the reason Japanese customer-facing businesses buy it.
Line: Does Line work well outside Japan, Taiwan and Thailand?
Technically yes, but almost nobody uses it as their primary messenger outside those markets, so it is the wrong choice to reach most other audiences.
LINE WORKS: Is there a free plan?
Yes, up to 30 users with 5GB of total organisation storage.
Line: Who owns Line now?
LY Corporation, formed from a merger of Line and Yahoo Japan businesses, controlled by A Holdings, a joint venture between SoftBank and Naver.
LINE WORKS: Does the Standard plan include email?
No. Business email is Advanced only, at 800 yen per user per month on an annual contract.
LINE WORKS: Is it worth buying outside Japan?
Generally no. Without the consumer LINE bridge it competes poorly against Slack, Teams or Lark on features and ecosystem.
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