Fact-checked by the digital reach solutions editorial team
Quick Answer
The best Slack alternatives for teams in July 2025 include Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, Mattermost, Rocket.Chat, and Flock. Slack’s paid plans start at $7.25 per user per month, while capable alternatives start at $0. Most small-to-mid-size teams can fully replace Slack without sacrificing core functionality.
The search for Slack alternatives teams can trust has intensified as Salesforce-owned Slack raised prices and tightened free-tier message limits. According to Slack’s official pricing page, free accounts now cap searchable message history at 90 days — a cut that hit small teams hard when it rolled out. For many organizations, paying enterprise rates for a chat tool is simply no longer defensible.
The market responded. Competing platforms matured rapidly, and several now match or exceed Slack’s feature set at a fraction of the cost.
Why Are Teams Actually Leaving Slack?
Cost and feature restrictions on lower tiers are the two primary reasons teams migrate away from Slack. The Pro plan costs $7.25 per user per month (billed annually), which adds up to $870 per year for a 10-person team — before any add-ons.
Beyond price, Slack’s free tier limits integrations to 10 active apps and restricts audio and video calling to one-on-one conversations. Teams that outgrow those walls face an immediate paid upgrade with no middle ground. For budget-conscious organizations, that binary choice drives them to explore alternatives.
The timing also matters. Remote and hybrid work normalized team messaging permanently. As described in our comparison of WhatsApp Business vs Slack for small teams, many smaller organizations never needed Slack’s full enterprise stack in the first place — they just defaulted to it because it was popular.
Key Takeaway: Slack’s Pro plan costs $7.25 per user monthly, reaching $870/year for 10 users. The free tier caps integrations at 10 apps and limits message history to 90 days, according to Slack’s pricing page — making the upgrade pressure unavoidable for growing teams.
What Are the Best Free Slack Alternatives for Teams?
Google Chat and Microsoft Teams are the strongest free Slack alternatives for teams that already use Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. Both offer unlimited message history on free tiers, which immediately addresses Slack’s most frustrating limitation.
Google Chat
Google Chat is free with any Google account and integrates natively with Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Meet. For teams already in the Google ecosystem, this zero-cost entry point is hard to beat. Google Chat’s product page confirms unlimited message history on all plans, including free.
Microsoft Teams Free
Microsoft Teams Free supports up to 500,000 users per organization and includes unlimited chat, 5GB of cloud storage per user, and audio/video calls. It connects natively to OneDrive and SharePoint. For Windows-heavy organizations, Microsoft Teams Free eliminates the need for a paid subscription in many cases.
Flock
Flock targets small businesses with a clean interface and a free plan that includes unlimited message history, video calls, and 10 public channels. Paid plans start at $4.50 per user per month — well below Slack’s entry price.
Key Takeaway: Google Chat and Microsoft Teams Free both offer unlimited message history at $0 cost — directly solving the limitation that pushes teams off Slack’s free tier. See Google Chat’s feature list for a full breakdown of no-cost capabilities.
Which Open-Source Slack Alternatives Give Teams Full Control?
Mattermost and Rocket.Chat are the leading open-source Slack alternatives teams use when data privacy or compliance is non-negotiable. Both allow self-hosting, meaning your messages never touch a third-party server.
Mattermost is built for technical and DevOps teams. Its self-hosted free edition supports unlimited users and message history, integrates with GitHub, GitLab, and Jira, and includes end-to-end search. According to Mattermost’s pricing page, the Professional plan runs $10 per user per month, but self-hosted free tiers cover most small team needs entirely.
Rocket.Chat similarly offers a self-hosted Community Edition at no licensing cost. It supports voice, video, file sharing, and custom integrations. The platform is popular in regulated industries like healthcare and finance, where data residency requirements make cloud-only tools like Slack problematic.
“For teams dealing with sensitive client data, open-source and self-hosted messaging platforms eliminate an entire class of third-party data risk that SaaS tools inherently carry.”
If your team handles sensitive client communications, pairing a self-hosted tool with strong access controls is essential. Our guide on encrypted messaging setup for beginners walks through the key configuration steps.
Key Takeaway: Mattermost and Rocket.Chat offer self-hosted, open-source messaging with $0 licensing fees on free tiers. Both support unlimited users and message history, making them the top Slack alternatives teams cite for compliance-driven migrations, per Mattermost’s official pricing.
| Platform | Free Plan | Paid Starting Price | Message History | Self-Hosted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slack | 90-day limit | $7.25/user/month | Limited (free) | No |
| Microsoft Teams | Yes — unlimited history | $4.00/user/month | Unlimited | No |
| Google Chat | Yes — unlimited history | $6.00/user/month | Unlimited | No |
| Mattermost | Yes — self-hosted | $10.00/user/month | Unlimited | Yes |
| Rocket.Chat | Yes — self-hosted | $4.00/user/month | Unlimited | Yes |
| Flock | Yes — 10 channels | $4.50/user/month | Unlimited | No |
Which Slack Alternatives Work Best for Remote and Hybrid Teams?
For distributed teams, the best Slack alternatives combine async messaging, video calling, and file collaboration in a single interface. Microsoft Teams and Notion-integrated tools lead this category in 2025.
Microsoft Teams, included with Microsoft 365 Business Basic at $6 per user per month, bundles Teams chat with OneDrive, SharePoint, and full video conferencing. That consolidation eliminates the need for separate Zoom or Google Meet subscriptions for many teams. According to Statista’s Microsoft Teams usage data, the platform reached 320 million monthly active users in 2023 — a signal of its mainstream reliability.
Discord, while primarily known for gaming communities, has quietly become a serious Slack alternative for remote-first startups. Its Stage Channels and Server Boost features support structured team communication, and the base plan is completely free. For teams already exploring non-standard communication tools, our roundup of WhatsApp alternatives for remote teams covers additional options worth considering alongside these platforms.
Avoiding common mistakes matters as much as picking the right tool. If your team is consolidating into any group messaging platform, reviewing common business group chat mistakes can prevent early adoption failures.
Key Takeaway: Microsoft Teams reached 320 million monthly active users according to Statista, validating it as the most widely adopted Slack alternative for remote teams — especially those already paying for Microsoft 365 at $6/user/month.
How Do You Choose the Right Slack Alternative for Your Team’s Size?
Team size and existing software stack are the two factors that should drive your decision. There is no universal best answer — but there is a best answer for your specific situation.
- 1–10 people: Flock or Google Chat — low cost, minimal setup, free tiers cover most needs.
- 10–50 people: Microsoft Teams Free or Rocket.Chat Community Edition — both scale without per-seat costs.
- 50+ people: Mattermost Professional or Microsoft Teams with Microsoft 365 — compliance, admin controls, and audit logs become essential at this scale.
- Compliance-sensitive industries: Mattermost self-hosted or Rocket.Chat self-hosted — data never leaves your infrastructure.
Integration compatibility is the final filter. If your team relies heavily on automation tools, verify that your chosen platform connects to your existing workflow stack. Platforms like Mattermost and Microsoft Teams both support webhook-based integrations that connect to automation services. For teams building more complex workflows, our guide to Zapier alternatives for complex AI automations shows how to extend any messaging platform’s capabilities without adding another paid subscription.
Key Takeaway: Team size is the fastest filter: teams under 10 people rarely need to pay for messaging tools at all, while teams over 50 should prioritize admin controls and compliance logging. Mattermost’s pricing tiers outline exactly where those enterprise features begin.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best free Slack alternative for small teams?
Google Chat is the best free Slack alternative for small teams already using Gmail or Google Workspace. It offers unlimited message history, Google Meet integration, and file sharing at no cost. Microsoft Teams Free is the top choice for Windows-centric teams.
Can you self-host a Slack alternative for data privacy?
Yes. Mattermost and Rocket.Chat both offer open-source, self-hosted editions at no licensing cost. Self-hosting means your messages and files stay on your own servers, which is essential for healthcare, legal, and financial organizations with data residency requirements.
Which Slack alternative is best for remote teams?
Microsoft Teams is the most feature-complete Slack alternative for remote teams, combining chat, video calls, and file collaboration in one platform. It reaches over 320 million monthly active users and integrates natively with Microsoft 365 tools most teams already use.
Is there a Slack alternative with no message history limits?
Yes — Google Chat, Microsoft Teams, Mattermost, Rocket.Chat, and Flock all offer unlimited message history on their free or self-hosted tiers. Slack restricts free-tier message history to 90 days, which is the key functional gap these alternatives address.
How much does Slack cost compared to its alternatives?
Slack Pro costs $7.25 per user per month (billed annually). Most alternatives start significantly lower: Flock at $4.50, Rocket.Chat at $4.00, and Microsoft Teams at $4.00 per user per month. Free tiers on Google Chat and Microsoft Teams Free cost nothing.
Are Slack alternatives teams use secure enough for business communication?
Yes, enterprise-grade Slack alternatives like Mattermost and Microsoft Teams meet rigorous security standards including SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and HIPAA compliance on paid tiers. Self-hosted options give security-conscious teams direct control over encryption and access logs. For additional context, see our guide on setting up encrypted messaging for your team.