Slack vs. Microsoft Teams: Which Collaboration Tool Is Right for Your Business?
Chat based collaboration tools have existed for several years. These tools turned mission critical as the number of organizations offering hybrid work and remote work environments increased. Slack and Microsoft Teams quickly rose to the forefront as the most widely discussed collaboration platforms. While both tools deliver strong communication features, the right choice depends on how your business operates and which technology ecosystem you rely on most.
This comparison breaks down Slack vs. Microsoft Teams across six essential categories using feature details and limits taken directly from each platform.
Interface and Usability
Design and Navigation
Slack places a strong emphasis on user customization. Teams can adjust themes, colors, and layouts, giving users more control over how their workspace looks. In addition, Slack organizes communication through channels, making it easy to separate conversations by project, team, or topic.
By contrast, Microsoft Teams focuses more on people and meetings. Its layout feels familiar to organizations already working within Microsoft 365 since conversations, files, and meetings live in the same space.
Help and Messaging Experience
To support users, Microsoft Teams includes Help icons at the bottom of the sidebar. These links provide access to training, help topics, and feature updates, all of which are searchable. Meanwhile, Slack relies on an in app chatbot that delivers fast answers without disrupting workflow.
When it comes to messaging, Microsoft Teams offers an experience closer to a word processor. Users can apply fonts, colors, and advanced formatting options. Slack, on the other hand, keeps chat simple and focused on speed.
Voice, Video, and Notification Controls
For meetings, Slack integrates smoothly with third party tools like Zoom and Webex. Microsoft Teams includes built in video and voice conferencing while still supporting external options when needed.
Regarding notifications, Microsoft Teams provides a wide range of alert settings. Slack stands out by offering more advanced Do Not Disturb controls that help reduce interruptions.
Integrations and App Ecosystem
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace
As a Microsoft product, Teams integrates deeply with Microsoft 365 and Office 365 applications. This includes strong connections to SharePoint and OneDrive, making file sharing and collaboration easier inside the Microsoft ecosystem. Although Slack supports Microsoft 365 integrations, they are not as deeply embedded as those in Teams.
On the other hand, Slack performs significantly better with Google Workspace. It integrates directly with Google Calendar, Gmail, and Google Drive. Microsoft Teams does not actively support Google based tools.
Salesforce and Third Party Applications
In July 2021, Salesforce acquired Slack. As a result, Slack allows messages to tie directly to Salesforce records, and Salesforce alerts can appear within Slack channels. Although Microsoft Teams integrates with Salesforce, the depth of integration is more limited.
When comparing third party apps, Slack supports over 2,400 integrations, while Microsoft Teams connects with approximately 700. Both platforms allow businesses to build custom integrations. However, Slack currently supports about 935,000 customized apps, reflecting a much larger ecosystem.
Additional Collaboration Features
External Collaboration and Scaling
For outside communication, Slack Channels allow organizations to connect directly with a partner’s workspace, improving cross company collaboration. Microsoft Teams approaches this differently by offering guest access to external users.
In terms of scale, both platforms support large organizations. Slack allows unlimited users and channels, with support for over 100,000 users per channel. Microsoft Teams also allows unlimited users but limits teams to 25,000 participants, 200 channels per team, and 5,000 users per channel.
Language Support
Microsoft Teams includes built in message translation across 36 languages, which supports global teams. Slack does not offer native translation but instead relies on third party tools such as translation bots.
Mobile and Web Applications
Overall, Slack and Microsoft Teams perform very similarly on mobile and web. Each platform offers comparable functionality, usability, and access to messaging, meetings, and files across devices.
Security, Compliance, and Enterprise Management
Both Slack and Microsoft Teams offer strong security protections for enterprise environments. Data is encrypted while in transit and while stored in both platforms. Microsoft Teams benefits from Microsoft’s broader enterprise security framework.
In addition, Slack provides Enterprise Key Management, allowing organizations to create and manage their own encryption keys for messages and files. Microsoft Teams offers this capability to a limited extent. Because Slack supports a larger number of integrations, organizations must carefully manage third party connections to reduce potential risk.
Plans and Pricing
Free Plans
Slack and Microsoft Teams each offer a free option. Microsoft Teams provides a more generous free plan that includes:
- Unlimited meetings
- Unlimited messages
- Unlimited search
- Support for up to 500 users
- 2 GB of storage per user
- 10 GB of shared storage
- One on one chat
- Screen sharing
- Unlimited integrations
- Encryption
By comparison, Slack’s free plan includes:
- Up to 10,000 messages
- Up to 10 integrations
- One on one video calls
- Two factor authentication
Paid Plans
Slack’s Pro plan starts at $6.67 per user per month and increases to $12.50 per user per month for Business Plus, with annual billing. Pricing for Slack Enterprise Grid requires contacting Slack sales.
Microsoft Teams pricing ranges from $5 per user per month up to $57 per user per month, depending on features such as scheduled meetings, recording, advanced security, administrative tools, and compliance controls.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, Slack and Microsoft Teams deliver many of the same core collaboration features. The difference comes down to integration depth, customization, and pricing structure.
If your organization relies heavily on Microsoft 365, Teams is a logical choice. If you prefer flexibility, use Google Workspace, or depend on Salesforce, Slack may offer a better experience. Either way, both platforms support modern collaboration at scale.