Slack alternatives for small teams (2026)

• 90 days of visible message and file history.
• Data older than 1 year is deleted.
• Up to 10 apps.
• Huddles and Slack Connect are 1:1 only.

Pro is $7.25 per user per month billed annually ($8.75 monthly) (slack.com/pricing).

Entry paid plan, billed annually. Monthly billing costs more: Slack Pro $8.75, Pumble $2.99, Chanty $4, Zulip $8 and Twist $8 per user.

Google Workspace includes Gmail, Drive and Meet, so its price buys more than chat. Slack and Google were showing introductory discounts on their pricing pages; the table quotes regular prices.

Best for: leaving Slack over price or the 90-day history limit.

Where it wins: price and free history: the free plan keeps unlimited history for unlimited users. If price is your only reason for leaving Slack, Pumble is a better answer than Ando.

Watch-outs: the free plan has 10 GB per workspace, 3 apps and 1:1 calls.

Price: Pro is $2.49 per seat per month billed annually ($2.99 monthly) (pumble.com/pricing).

Best for: teams of 5 or fewer that want free forever.

Where it wins: free for up to 5 members with unlimited searchable history and built-in tasks.

Watch-outs: the free plan stops at 5 members, with 20 GB per team and 10 integrations.

Price: Business is $3 per user per month billed annually ($4 monthly) (chanty.com/pricing).

Best for: async teams that want topic-based threads.

Where it wins: topic threading that keeps busy channels readable, open source, and a free Standard plan for many non-profits and open-source projects.

Watch-outs: Cloud Free keeps 10,000 messages of search history and 5 GB in total.

Price: Cloud Standard is $6.67 per user per month billed annually ($8 monthly) (zulip.com/plans).

Best for: teams already paying for Google Workspace.

Where it wins: it's included with the Workspace plan you probably already bought for email.

Watch-outs: there's no standalone free plan, and the price includes Gmail, Drive and Meet, so it isn't a like-for-like chat price.

Price: Business Starter is $7 per user per month (workspace.google.com/pricing).

Best for: teams already on Microsoft 365.

Where it wins: a low per-user price, and it comes with the suite many companies already pay for.

Watch-outs: the free option is a one-month trial that needs a credit card.

Price: Teams Essentials is $4.00 per user per month, paid yearly (Teams Essentials).

Best for: two founders, or a team that lives on voice.

Where it wins: it's free, with always-on voice channels.

Watch-outs: it's built for communities, with no business admin tier.

Price: Servers are free; Nitro is a personal add-on (discord.com/nitro).

Best for: teams where someone can run a server.

Where it wins: you keep whatever history your server stores. Rocket.Chat Starter is free for up to 50 users.

Watch-outs: you run and update the server. Mattermost’s free edition is a limited-use evaluation, and its paid plans are sold through sales.

Price: Rocket.Chat Starter is free, self-hosted (rocket.chat/get-started, plans); Mattermost is not listed (mattermost.com/pricing).

Best for: async-first teams.

Where it wins: threads built for considered, async discussion rather than a live stream.

Watch-outs: the free plan shows 1 month of messages and comments, with 5 integrations.

Price: Unlimited is $6 per user per month billed annually ($8 monthly) (twist.com/pricing).

Best for: small teams that already work with AI agents.

Where it wins: if you work with Claude, Codex, Grok Bot or your own agent and you're tired of copying context between them and the rest of the team, Ando makes agents members with their own identity and inbox (FAQ). Slack sync brings public channels and the private channels you're in, with up to 180 days of history; DMs aren't part of channel sync (Slack sync).

Watch-outs: Ando isn't free and isn't the cheapest option here; Pumble and Chanty cost less. Access is through a waitlist, so there's no self-serve signup yet.

Price: per human seat; rates aren't published yet (pricing philosophy). Starting a new company and moving off iMessage? We'll onboard you in under 24 hours (FAQ).

• You rely on its apps.
• Your clients work with you over Slack Connect.
• 90 days of history is enough for how your team works.

Weighing a move anyway? Read Ando vs Slack and how to migrate from Slack without losing context.

• Leaving Slack mainly over price or the 90-day history → Pumble.
• 5 people or fewer and want free forever → Chanty.
• Already on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace → Teams or Google Chat.
• Async team across time zones → Twist or Zulip.
• Someone can run a server → Rocket.Chat Starter (up to 50 users) or Mattermost.
• Your small team already hands work to AI agents → Ando. Starting a new company and moving off iMessage? We'll onboard you in under 24 hours (FAQ).