Slack Alternatives by Cost
Is Slack worth it? Compare the real cost of Teams, Google Chat, Discord, and Mattermost side-by-side. Updated March 2026.
* Teams and Google Chat pricing assumes standalone M365/Workspace licensing. Your cost may be $0 if already subscribed.
| Tool | Monthly | Annual | History | SSO | Compliance | Video |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slack | $9.75/user/mo | $8.75/user/mo | Unlimited (paid) | Business+ only | Business+ only | Group (paid) |
| Microsoft Teams | $6/user/mo* | $6/user/mo* | Unlimited | All plans | All plans | All plans |
| Google Chat | $7/user/mo* | $7/user/mo* | Unlimited | All plans | Business+ / Enterprise | Google Meet (separate) |
| Discord | Free | Free | Unlimited | No | No | Stage & video (free) |
| Mattermost | Free (self-hosted) / $10 cloud | Free (self-hosted) | Unlimited | All plans | Enterprise plan | Plugin-based |
Slack
Best for: Teams that live in integrations
$8.75/user/mo
annual billing
Pros
- +Best-in-class integrations
- +Huge app ecosystem
- +Excellent search
- +Workflow Builder
Cons
- −Expensive at scale
- −Notification overload by default
- −No SSO on Pro
- −Guest billing complexity
Microsoft Teams
Best for: Microsoft shops
$6/user/mo*
annual billing
Pros
- +Included in M365 — often free
- +Best video conferencing
- +Deep Office 365 integration
- +Enterprise-grade security
Cons
- −Worse UX than Slack
- −Sluggish on older hardware
- −Channels are harder to navigate
- −Weaker third-party integrations
Google Chat
Best for: Google Workspace teams
$7/user/mo*
annual billing
Pros
- +Included in Workspace — often free
- +Deep Drive/Docs integration
- +Simple UI
- +Good search
Cons
- −Limited third-party integrations
- −Less feature-rich than Slack
- −Spaces (channels) less powerful
- −Requires Workspace
Discord
Best for: Communities & early-stage startups
Free
annual billing
Pros
- +Free forever
- +Great community features
- +Voice channels
- +Highly customisable bots
Cons
- −No enterprise compliance
- −No SSO
- −Not designed for business workflows
- −No official SLA or support
Mattermost
Best for: Privacy-first & regulated teams
Free (self-hosted)
annual billing
Pros
- +Self-hosted option: full data control
- +Open source
- +HIPAA & GDPR friendly
- +Slack-like UX
Cons
- −Requires ops overhead to self-host
- −Smaller ecosystem than Slack
- −Less polished than Slack
- −Cloud version less competitive on price
Our take
If you're on Microsoft 365, Teams is a no-brainer. The marginal cost is effectively zero. You'd only pay extra for Slack on top of existing M365 licensing.
If you're on Google Workspace, Chat deserves a hard look. It's included, it's good enough for most teams, and you save $8.75–$12.50/user/month vs Slack.
Slack wins on integrations and developer experience. If your team sends 1,000+ messages/day and relies heavily on GitHub, Jira, PagerDuty, and custom bots, Slack's ecosystem is hard to beat. But you pay for it.
FAQ
Is Microsoft Teams cheaper than Slack?
Yes. Microsoft Teams is significantly cheaper than Slack when bundled with Microsoft 365. M365 Business Basic costs $6/user/month and includes Teams, Exchange email, SharePoint, and OneDrive — making Teams essentially free if you're already on M365.
Can Google Chat replace Slack?
Google Chat is included in Google Workspace plans starting at $7/user/month (Starter). If your team already uses Gmail and Google Docs, Chat is a natural fit and costs far less than Slack Pro or Business+.
Is Discord suitable for business use?
Discord is free and works for smaller teams that don't need enterprise compliance, SSO, or SLAs. It lacks Slack's integrations, compliance features, and enterprise support. Some startups use it effectively, but regulated industries should not.
What is Mattermost and how does it compare to Slack on cost?
Mattermost is an open-source Slack alternative. The self-hosted Community edition is free. The Professional cloud plan costs $10/user/month. For teams with engineering resources, self-hosting Mattermost can be dramatically cheaper than Slack, with full data control.
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