Microsoft Teams vs Slack
Side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, ratings, and alternatives.
Microsoft Teams is a unified communication and collaboration platform bundled with Microsoft 365, combining chat, video meetings, and file sharing built directly on top of SharePoint and OneDrive. It is the default hub for meetings and internal messaging at organizations already standardized on Microsoft 365. Teams organizes work into teams and channels similar to other chat platforms, but is distinguished by tight integration with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Planner, allowing documents to be co-authored directly inside a channel without leaving the app. Meetings support up to thousands of attendees with features like live captions, together mode, and background noise suppression, making Teams a common choice for both daily standups and large all-hands meetings.
Slack is a messaging program designed specifically for the office, developed by Slack Technologies and now owned by Salesforce.
Free tier available; included with Microsoft 365 Business plans from $6/user/month.
Free tier with message history limits; paid plans from $7.25/user/month.
- Deep Office 365 integration
- Scales to very large meetings
- Strong enterprise admin controls
- Included with many M365 plans
- Excellent search and channel organization
- Huge app ecosystem
- Reliable and fast
- Great notification controls
- Interface can feel cluttered
- Can be resource-heavy on older machines
- Channel organization less intuitive than competitors
- Free plan history limit is restrictive
- Can become noisy with too many channels
- Pricing adds up for large teams
What reviewers say
Microsoft Teams Reviews
4.5 (4)Highly recommend Microsoft Teams
We've been using Microsoft Teams for a few months now and it's genuinely made a difference for our team. Strong enterprise admin controls. One minor gripe: can be resource-heavy on older machines, but it hasn't been a dealbreaker. Would recommend to anyone considering it.
Great tool for communication
Microsoft Teams has quickly become part of our daily workflow. Scales to very large meetings. One minor gripe: interface can feel cluttered, but it hasn't been a dealbreaker. Would recommend to anyone considering it.
Highly recommend Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams has quickly become part of our daily workflow. Strong enterprise admin controls. No major complaints so far. Would recommend to anyone considering it.
Slack Reviews
4.0 (3)Decent but has rough edges
Slack is solid overall, though it's not perfect. On the plus side, reliable and fast. That said, free plan history limit is restrictive, which held us back from rating it higher.
Solid choice
Been a daily user of Slack for a while now. Great notification controls. One minor gripe: pricing adds up for large teams, but it hasn't been a dealbreaker. Would recommend to anyone considering it.
Solid choice
Slack has quickly become part of our daily workflow. Huge app ecosystem. No major complaints so far. Would recommend to anyone considering it.
More alternatives & similar tools
Alternatives to Microsoft Teams
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Alternatives to Slack
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The Verdict
AI-generated from listing dataMicrosoft Teams is the safer default for Microsoft 365‑centric enterprises, while Slack excels for organizations that prioritize flexible chat, search, and a broad third‑party app ecosystem.
Key differences
- •Teams integrates natively with Word, Excel, PowerPoint and SharePoint; Slack relies on external connectors.
- •Slack offers superior channel search, notification controls, and a massive app directory; Teams’ channel organization is less intuitive.
- •Teams supports webinars up to 10,000 attendees and live translation; Slack’s audio/video is limited to lightweight huddles.
- •Pricing: Teams is included with many M365 plans starting at $6/user; Slack’s paid tier starts at $7.25/user.
Pricing & value
Teams is free with M365 or included in $6/user plans; Slack’s paid tier starts at $7.25/user and free tier limits history.
Ease of use / learning curve
Slack’s interface is praised for clean, searchable channels and fast navigation; Teams can feel cluttered.
Features & depth
Teams offers large‑scale webinars (10k), live captions, translation, and deep Office co‑authoring not matched by Slack.
Integrations & ecosystem
Slack provides thousands of integrations via its App Directory; Teams relies mainly on Microsoft 365 apps.
Collaboration
Teams ties chat channels to SharePoint file storage and supports real‑time co‑authoring of Office docs.
Scalability
Teams can host meetings/webinars with up to 10,000 participants; Slack’s video is limited to small huddles.
Support
Both offer Help Center and enterprise‑level support options; specific support tiers not differentiated in facts.
Choose Microsoft Teams if…
Enterprises already using Microsoft 365 and needing large meetings or deep Office integration.
Choose Slack if…
Teams that value flexible chat, powerful search, and a wide third‑party app ecosystem.
Common questions
Which tool is cheaper if we already have Microsoft 365?
Teams is included at no extra cost with most Microsoft 365 Business plans ($6/user/month), while Slack would add $7.25+/user.
Can we host a 5,000‑person webinar?
Yes, Teams supports webinars up to 10,000 attendees; Slack’s video capabilities are limited to small huddles.
Do both platforms allow custom integrations?
Both have open APIs, but Slack offers thousands of ready‑made integrations; Teams mainly integrates with Microsoft 365 apps.