team communication software · Tool Face-Off

Slack vs Microsoft Teams

Quick answer

Slack wins on polish and integrations; Teams wins on value if you're already in Microsoft 365. Your existing stack is the real tiebreaker.

Slack

Where work flows (and GIF wars happen)

4.2★

Microsoft Teams

The Swiss Army knife bolted to your Office subscription

3.8★

Free Plan

Yes – 90-day message history, 10 integrations

Yes – unlimited messages, 5 GB storage

Paid Pricing (per seat/mo)

~$7.25 (Pro), ~$12.50 (Business+)

~$6 (Essentials) – included in M365 plans

Message History (free)

90 days

Unlimited

Native Video Calls

Up to 50 participants (paid)

Up to 1,000 participants

Third-party Integrations

2,600+ apps in marketplace

~700 apps

Microsoft 365 Integration

Basic (via connector)

Seamless – Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive native

Workflow Automation

Workflow Builder – no-code automations built-in

Power Automate – powerful but complex

Search Quality

Fast, accurate, filters by person/date/channel

Functional but slower and less precise

Channel/Thread Organization

Channels + threaded replies, clean UX

Teams > Channels > Tabs structure, steeper learning curve

Storage (paid)

No file storage limit (via integrations)

1 TB+ per user via OneDrive

Screen Sharing

Yes, all paid plans

Yes, free and paid

Offline Access

Limited – read-only cache

Better offline support via desktop app

Slack

Pricing★★★☆☆

Support★★★½☆

Features★★★★½

Ease of Use★★★★½

Integrations★★★★★

Mobile Experience★★★★½

Microsoft Teams

Pricing★★★★½

Support★★★★☆

Features★★★★½

Ease of Use★★★☆☆

Integrations★★★½☆

Mobile Experience★★★½☆

Worth knowing

Slack was originally built as an internal tool for a gaming startup called Glitch — the game flopped but Slack did not.
Microsoft Teams surpassed Slack in daily active users back in 2020 and hasn't looked back numerically.
Slack's free plan now limits history to 90 days — a controversial 2022 change from the old 10,000-message cap.
Teams is included in Microsoft 365 Business Basic at ~$6/seat, making it effectively free for many orgs.
Slack has over 2,600 integrations; Teams leans heavily on Microsoft's own ecosystem instead.

Microsoft Teams once had a bug that would mark you as 'Away' during a video call — so you could simultaneously be in a meeting and look like you'd abandoned your desk. Peak corporate energy.

If you want

You want the slickest UX and best third-party integrations

Slack's interface is faster, cleaner, and connects to almost everything without fighting your IT department.

→ Pick Slack

If you want

Your company already pays for Microsoft 365

Teams is essentially free in that bundle — paying extra for Slack is a hard sell to your CFO.

→ Pick Microsoft Teams

If you want

You need large-scale video meetings built in

Teams supports up to 1,000 participants natively; Slack's calling features feel like an afterthought by comparison.

→ Pick Microsoft Teams

If you want

You're a small startup or dev team moving fast

Slack's Workflow Builder, Huddles, and app ecosystem are purpose-built for scrappy, async-heavy teams.

→ Pick Slack

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