Is Microsoft Teams or Paragon better?

Neither clearly leads. Microsoft Teams starts at Free and Paragon at $299/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Microsoft Teams or Paragon?

Microsoft Teams has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Microsoft Teams and $299/month for Paragon.

Does Microsoft Teams or Paragon run on more platforms?

Microsoft Teams runs on Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android. Paragon runs on Web, Embedded.

Can I use Microsoft Teams for free?

Yes. Microsoft Teams has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Paragon starts at $299/month.

What is Microsoft Teams best used for?

Microsoft Teams is most often used for remote meetings, team collaboration, document sharing, project management. Of those, remote meetings and team collaboration are not what Paragon is typically brought in for.

What can Microsoft Teams do that Paragon cannot?

Microsoft Teams covers Chat & channels, Video conferencing, Screen sharing, File collaboration. Paragon covers Embedded workflows, Native integrations, Workflow builder, Error handling.

All industries · head to head

Microsoft Teams vs Paragon

Microsoft Teams

All industries

Meet, chat, call, and collaborate in just one place

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Paragon

Automation & Integration

Embedded integration platform for SaaS

From: $299/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Microsoft Teams has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Microsoft Teams resource-heavy application; slow to load and consumes significant CPU/memory compared to alternatives; Paragon no price is published for either plan, and both require a quote
They diverge on capability: Microsoft Teams covers Chat & channels, Paragon covers Embedded workflows.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Microsoft Teams and Paragon actually diverge.

Attributes where Microsoft Teams and Paragon differ
Attribute	Microsoft Teams	Paragon
Starting price	Free	$299/month
Free tier	Yes	No
Platforms	Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android	Web, Embedded
Category	All industries	Automation & Integration
Founded	1975	2021

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Microsoft Teams

Chat & channels
Video conferencing
Screen sharing
File collaboration
Office integration
Live events
Phone system
Apps & workflows

Only in Paragon

Embedded workflows
Native integrations
Workflow builder
Error handling
Monitoring
Analytics
Webhooks
500+ apps

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Microsoft Teams

Remote meetingsnot Paragon
Team collaborationnot Paragon
Document sharingnot Paragon
Project managementnot Paragon
Webinarsnot Paragon

Paragon

Embedding third party integrations into a SaaS productnot Microsoft Teams
Managing customer facing connectors without building each onenot Microsoft Teams

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Microsoft Teams

Resource-heavy application; slow to load and consumes significant CPU/memory compared to alternatives
Limited channel structure; maximum of 200 public and 30 private channels per team
Cannot invite guest users to specific channels; guest access grants full team visibility
Unable to chat during screen sharing; limits real-time collaborative communication
Limited customization options for branding and interface; cluttered UX compared to Slack
Channels cannot be moved between teams; requires manual replication for reorganization

Paragon

No price is published for either plan, and both require a quote
Cost scales with the number of customer tenants using the integrations, so the bill follows an end customer count rather than the vendor's own usage
SAML SSO, self hosting, dynamic field mapping and SLAs are all Enterprise only

Pricing, plan by plan

Microsoft Teams

Free

FreeFree
- Unlimited chat
- 100 participants in meetings
- 5GB file storage
Microsoft Teams Essentials$4/month
- 300 participants in meetings
- 10GB cloud storage
- Phone & web support
Microsoft 365 Business Basic$6/month
- Everything in Essentials
- 1TB OneDrive storage
- Web & mobile Office apps
Microsoft 365 Business Standard$12.5/month
- Everything in Basic
- Desktop Office apps
- Webinar hosting

Paragon

$299/month

Starter$299/month
- 50 integrations
- Basic support
Growth$999/month
- 200 integrations
- Priority support
Enterprise$5000/month
- Unlimited integrations
- Dedicated support

Which should you pick?

Choose Microsoft Teams if

You need chat & channels.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android.
You also want video conferencing.

Microsoft Teams review

Choose Paragon if

You need embedded workflows.
You work on Web, Embedded.
You also want native integrations.

Paragon review

Questions people ask

Is Microsoft Teams or Paragon better?: Neither clearly leads. Microsoft Teams starts at Free and Paragon at $299/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Microsoft Teams or Paragon?: Microsoft Teams has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Microsoft Teams and $299/month for Paragon.
Does Microsoft Teams or Paragon run on more platforms?: Microsoft Teams runs on Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android. Paragon runs on Web, Embedded.
Can I use Microsoft Teams for free?: Yes. Microsoft Teams has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Paragon starts at $299/month.
What is Microsoft Teams best used for?: Microsoft Teams is most often used for remote meetings, team collaboration, document sharing, project management. Of those, remote meetings and team collaboration are not what Paragon is typically brought in for.
What can Microsoft Teams do that Paragon cannot?: Microsoft Teams covers Chat & channels, Video conferencing, Screen sharing, File collaboration. Paragon covers Embedded workflows, Native integrations, Workflow builder, Error handling.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Microsoft Teams: Does Microsoft Teams have a free tier?

Yes. Microsoft Teams offers a free Home tier with unlimited chat, 60-minute group meetings for up to 100 people, 5GB cloud storage, and basic file sharing, though limits are restrictive for growing teams.

Source

Microsoft Teams: What are Microsoft Teams' paid plans?

Microsoft Teams Essentials costs $4/user/month (chat, calling, meetings, 10GB storage). Microsoft 365 Business Basic costs $7/user/month (includes desktop Office apps, 1TB storage). Premium plans with Copilot start at $23.50/user/month.

Source

Microsoft Teams: What are Microsoft Teams' primary features?

Teams provides real-time chat, video and voice calling, meetings with up to 300 participants, file sharing and storage integration with OneDrive, recording and transcripts, and deep integration with Microsoft 365 apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook).

Microsoft Teams: What integrations does Teams support?

Microsoft Teams integrates with calendar apps (Outlook, Google Calendar), project management tools (Trello), and works with Zapier for custom workflow automation. Teams also has native connectors to many Microsoft 365 apps and third-party services.

Microsoft Teams vs Paragon

Microsoft Teams

Paragon

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Microsoft Teams

Only in Paragon

What people use each for

Microsoft Teams

Paragon

Where each one falls short

Microsoft Teams

Paragon

Pricing, plan by plan

Microsoft Teams

Paragon

Which should you pick?

Choose Microsoft Teams if

Choose Paragon if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Microsoft Teams

More on Paragon

Keep looking

Other head to heads