Slackvs
Zoom
Zoom: Video communication and collaboration platform with screen sharing and meeting recording capabilities.
Slack
Where work happens
As of 30 August 2026, Slack has a free plan and paid plans start at $7.25/month. Slack is a messaging app for business that connects people to the information they need. Softwr lists it under Communication. Slack is made by Slack Technologies LLC, launched in 2013, available on Web, iOS, Android, macOS.
Overview
What Slack does
Slack is a messaging app for business that connects people to the information they need. By bringing people together to work as one unified team, Slack transforms the way organizations communicate.
What people use it for
- Team communication
- Project coordination
- Customer support
- Remote work
- Cross-functional collaboration
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Slack.
- 90-day message history limit on free plan results in important conversations disappearing
- Per-user pricing becomes expensive quickly for larger teams
- Notification overload with 78% of employees feeling overwhelmed by notifications
- Mobile app performance issues including lag and slow syncing
- Huddles limited to 50 people and cannot be recorded
- Requires dedicated video conferencing service for formal meetings and webinars
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Slack
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- SlackvsTelegram
Telegram: Messaging platform with group chat and channel capabilities, free and open-source.
Capabilities
Features
Channels
Direct messaging
Voice & video calls
Screen sharing
File sharing
Search
Workflow builder
Slack Connect
Google Drive
Integration with Google Drive
Office 365
Integration with Office 365
Salesforce
Integration with Salesforce
Jira
Integration with Jira
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Does Slack have a free plan?
Yes, Slack offers a free plan indefinitely with no credit card required. Free users get 90-day message history, up to 10 app integrations, and 1:1 huddles.
SourceWhat are Slack's pricing plans?
Slack offers Free, Pro ($7.25/user/month with annual billing), Business+ ($12.50/user/month), and Enterprise Grid (custom pricing). Monthly billing costs approximately 20% more than annual.
SourceDoes Slack support offline use?
Slack is a cloud-based platform and does not support robust offline work. Internet connectivity is required to access messages and collaborate.
SourceWhat integrations does Slack support?
Slack integrates with 43+ apps on average per team, including Google Drive, ChatGPT, Vercel, Asana, GitHub, and many others through their app marketplace.
SourceBehind it
Who makes Slack
- Company
- Slack Technologies LLC
- Based in
- San Francisco, CA
- Founders
- Stewart Butterfield, Eric Costello, Cal Henderson, Serguei Mourachov
Timeline
Slack over time
Keep looking
Where to go from Slack
- Slack alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Slack pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Slack badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Communication softwareThe full category
- Best Communication softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Communication software for
Compare Slack with
- Zoom
- Kakao Work
- RingCentral Video
- LINE WORKS
- Naver Works
- Loom
- Telegram
- Webex by Cisco
- Microsoft Teams
- Sessions
- Twist
- Messenger
- Viber
- Chanty
- Disciple
- Flock
- Google Chat
- Webex by Cisco
Other Communication software
Korean business messaging built on the KakaoTalk interface for domestic enterprise teams
Free, then 2,400/mo12 researched notesBusiness chat built on the LINE interface, aimed at Japanese firms whose staff and customers already use LINE
Free, then 450/mo13 researched notesKorean and Japanese business messaging with mail, drive and approval workflows in one licence
Free, then 3,000/mo12 researched notesPure instant messaging — simple, fast, secure, and synced across all your devices
Free, then $4.99/mo12 researched notesMeet, chat, call, and collaborate in just one place
Free, then $4/mo13 researched notesMeetings and webinars with a prepared agenda, interactive blocks and a recorded outcome
Free plan13 researched notesMeta's standalone messaging app for Facebook, with end to end encryption on by default since 2023
Free plan9 researched notesMessaging app with its strongest user base in Eastern Europe and the Philippines, owned by Japans Rakuten
Free plan11 researched notesWhite-label community apps published under your own brand on iOS, Android and web
From £599/mo12 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Slack, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Slack
Slack alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
Slack pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Slack
Put it head to head with anything we hold
Slack badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
Best Communication software alternatives
Chinese super-app combining messaging, payments, mini programs and identity, effectively required infrastructure in mainland China
Free to download, transaction fees on paymentsMessaging app with its strongest user base in Eastern Europe and the Philippines, owned by Japans Rakuten
Free to download, paid business messaging and out calls to landlines and mobilesMeta's standalone messaging app for Facebook, with end to end encryption on by default since 2023
Free, funded by Meta's advertising business
Messaging app that dominates Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, now run by LY Corporation under joint SoftBank and Naver ownership
Free to download, paid stickers and business messaging tiers
The default messaging app in South Korea, bundled with payments, taxi hailing and other Kakao services
Free to download, paid emoticons, gifting and business messaging
Conversational messaging and CPaaS with a flat platform fee stacked on top of Meta per-message rates
Per message sentKorean business messaging built on the KakaoTalk interface for domestic enterprise teams
Per user per monthWhite-label community apps published under your own brand on iOS, Android and web
Per month, flat fee with no transaction charge