Slack pricing explained (2026)

Slack charges per user per month, and annual billing is cheaper than monthly. Slack also advertises 50% off the monthly Pro and Business+ price for 3 months, for teams that buy online within 7 days of creating the workspace. The discount does not apply to annual plans.

Under Slack's Fair Billing Policy, a member who hasn't used Slack in over 28 days becomes inactive, and Slack credits the unused part of the billing period to your account. Credits go toward future charges, such as new members or the next renewal. They have no cash value. The policy covers plans bought on Slack's website and paid by card or self-serve invoicing.

In practice, a person who rarely opens Slack still costs a full seat as long as they use it once every four weeks.

On Slack Free, messages and files are searchable for 90 days, data older than 1 year is deleted, and a free workspace can add up to 10 apps (Usage limits for free workspaces). Older messages don't disappear at day 90. They're hidden from view and search, and deleted after a year.

Slack's pricing page says upgrading gives you the previous 12 months of messages. So a team that upgrades within a year gets its hidden history back, and anything older than a year is gone for good. The limit never blocks you from working, which is why teams tend to notice it only when someone searches for an old decision.

For every other free-plan limit, read Slack free plan limits.

These are list prices for every member for a year, before the monthly promotion and before Fair Billing credits for inactive members.

Free alternatives change the math again: Pumble's free plan has no history limit, and Chanty's is free for up to 5 members. For more yearly costs by team size, see cheaper Slack alternatives.

Best for: small teams that like Slack and mainly need the free limits gone.

Where it wins: unlimited message history, unlimited apps, group huddles and Slack Connect channels with up to 250 organizations. For most startups it is the only Slack plan worth pricing.

Watch-outs: basic AI features only; Slackbot is a limited trial on Pro. You pay for every active member, and the bill grows with each hire.

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

See Ando vs Slack.

Best for: companies that want Slack's advanced AI and more admin control.

Where it wins: everything in Pro, plus the advanced AI features and the admin and compliance tools Slack keeps for its higher tiers.

Watch-outs: it costs about twice as much as Pro, and Slackbot is capped at 15 messages per user each week; unlimited Slackbot is on Enterprise+.

Price: Business+ is $15 per user per month billed annually or $18 billed monthly (slack.com/pricing).

Best for: teams that want Slack-style chat for the lowest per-seat price.

Where it wins: the free plan keeps unlimited users and unlimited message history, so the 90-day problem goes away without paying anything.

Watch-outs: the free plan has 10 GB of storage per workspace, 3 apps and 1:1 meetings, the app directory is smaller than Slack’s, and there is no Slack Connect.

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

Best for: teams of 5 or fewer.

Where it wins: unlimited searchable history, 20 GB of storage per team and 10 integrations on the free plan, with built-in tasks.

Watch-outs: the free plan stops at 5 members, and group calls need the Business plan.

Price: Free for up to 5 members; Business is $3 per user per month billed annually ($4 monthly) (chanty.com/pricing).

Best for: teams pricing Slack seats while AI agents take on more of the work.

Where it wins: on Slack, agents arrive as apps and assistants. In Ando, agents are workspace members with their own identity and inbox, and only see the chats they are in (FAQ). Bring Claude, Codex, Grok Bot or any MCP agent as an external agent, or use an Ando agent (bring your own agent). Agents never take a seat, so a team that adds agents doesn't add per-seat cost for them. 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: this guide doesn't quote Ando rates, so check pricing before comparing yearly costs. Ando has a smaller integration set than Slack, it can't be self-hosted, and access is by request.

Price: Ando's paid plan is Pro, and agents never take a seat. See pricing for current rates, and ask about your team's terms during onboarding. Starting a new company and moving off iMessage? We'll onboard you in under 24 hours (FAQ).

• You like Slack and the free plan is pinching → Slack Pro, billed annually.
• You want Slack's advanced AI and more admin control → Slack Business+.
• You want the lowest per-seat price → Pumble.
• You are 5 people or fewer → Chanty, free.
• Your team is adding AI agents and you don't want them to cost seats → Ando. Starting a new company and moving off iMessage? We'll onboard you in under 24 hours (FAQ).

Ready to try it with your team? Request access. Access is by request, and the same page lets you check on a request you've already made.