Slack Business+ Plan: $15/User/Month - Enterprise Features Without Enterprise Pricing
Business+ is the sweet spot for mid-market companies that need SSO, compliance, and a guaranteed SLA but do not need the full Enterprise Grid feature set.
Pricing
Billed as $150 per user per year. No monthly billing option available.
What Business+ Adds Over Pro
SAML SSO
Single sign-on with your identity provider (Okta, Azure AD, OneLogin)
SCIM provisioning
Automatic user creation and deactivation from your IdP
Compliance data exports
Export messages for legal holds, eDiscovery, and audits
99.99% uptime SLA
Guaranteed uptime with service credits for violations
Advanced Slack AI
Translations, file summaries, advanced search, AI recaps
Custom retention policies
Set how long messages and files are retained
20 GB storage per user
Double the Pro plan's 10 GB per user allocation
24/7 priority support
Round-the-clock support with faster response times
The SSO Tax
SSO requires Business+ ($12.50/user/mo) instead of Pro ($7.25/user/mo). That is a $5.25/user/month premium just for single sign-on. Here is what that costs at different team sizes:
| Team size | SSO premium per month | SSO premium per year |
|---|---|---|
| 25 users | $131.25 | $1,575 |
| 50 users | $262.5 | $3,150 |
| 100 users | $525 | $6,300 |
| 200 users | $1,050 | $12,600 |
| 500 users | $2,625 | $31,500 |
Most competitors (Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, Zoom) include SSO on all paid plans. Slack's decision to gate SSO behind Business+ is one of its most criticized pricing choices.
Who Needs Business+
Regulated industries (finance, healthcare, legal)
Compliance data exports and custom retention policies are non-negotiable for audit trails and legal holds.
Companies with 50+ employees
Most organisations at this size require SSO for security policy compliance. IT departments need SCIM provisioning to manage accounts at scale.
Teams needing uptime guarantees
If Slack downtime costs your business money, the 99.99% SLA with service credits provides contractual protection.
Multilingual or global teams
Advanced Slack AI includes real-time message translation, which is essential for distributed international teams.
Business+ vs Enterprise Grid
Enterprise Grid adds: unlimited workspaces, HIPAA compliance, data residency controls, a dedicated customer success manager, 1 TB storage per user, and Agentforce AI capabilities. Most companies do not need Grid until they reach 500+ users or have specific HIPAA/data residency requirements.
Grid pricing is custom-negotiated, typically $15 to $25 per user per month with a median of $26.18 per user per month from 535 verified purchases (Vendr data). Grid comes with a mandatory 9% annual renewal escalation that adds significant long-term cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Business+ annual billing only?
Slack does not offer monthly billing for Business+. This forces an upfront annual commitment of $150 per user per year (billed annually). For a 100-person team, that is a $15,000 upfront payment. This is a significant cash flow consideration for smaller companies, and it means you cannot cancel mid-year. If you need month-to-month flexibility, you are limited to Pro.
How much does SSO cost on Slack?
SSO (SAML) requires Business+ at $12.50 per user per month (annual). The cheapest plan without SSO is Pro at $7.25 per user per month (annual). The delta is $5.25 per user per month, or $63 per user per year. For a 100-person team, SSO effectively costs $6,300 per year. Competitors like Microsoft Teams and Google Chat include SSO on all paid plans.
What does Business+ add over Pro?
The key additions are SAML SSO, SCIM user provisioning, compliance data exports, custom retention policies, a 99.99% uptime SLA with service credits, advanced Slack AI (translations, file summaries, advanced search), 20 GB storage per member (vs 10 GB on Pro), and 24/7 priority support. For regulated industries, the compliance features alone justify the upgrade.
When should I choose Enterprise Grid instead of Business+?
Enterprise Grid makes sense when you have 500 or more users, need multiple interconnected workspaces, require HIPAA compliance, need data residency controls, or want a dedicated customer success manager. Grid also offers unlimited workspaces and 1 TB storage per user. If you do not need these specific features, Business+ provides excellent value for mid-market companies.