10 Slack Alternatives Sorted According to Use Cases

The frustrating in-app search.

The pricey plans.

These are just some of the reasons you’re looking for Slack alternatives.

Today, we’ll look at some of the top team communication tools to help you communicate with ease and stay on top of your work.

This guide goes beyond messaging. We’ll also look at other relevant features like project management and task organization.

Whether you want to gather feedback during a final meeting or get everyone on the same page throughout multiple ongoing projects, you’ll find the tool that best suits your needs.

Just how useful are these tools? Let’s find out.

1. SmartTask

Source: SmartTask

Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $5/user per month when billed annually. Grab the SmartTask lifetime deal on AppSumo today for $49.

Platform: Browser-based and desktop app (Windows).

Mobile app: iOS and Android.

Racking your brain on who’s done what and what else needs to be done?

Check out SmartTask, a platform that allows you to communicate with your team and track projects — all in one place.

Main features:

• Team collaboration (including instant messaging and video conferencing)
• Task and project management
• Customer relationship management
• Time tracking
• Analytics and reporting

Pros:

• One-click trigger video meeting when viewing tasks and chats.
• Workload delegation. Drag and drop tasks when you need a hand from a co-worker.
• Advanced filters. Customize a workflow that suits your needs.
• Karma points. Reward team members’ performance and enhance evaluation.

Limitations:

• Team-based video conferencing is limited to a maximum of 30 people in a meeting.

Best for: Streamlining internal communication flow during ongoing projects and getting every stakeholder on the same page in one tool.

2. Chanty

Source: Chanty

Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $3/user per month when billed annually.

Platform: Desktop app (Mac, Windows, and Linux).

Mobile app: iOS and Android.

Chanty is proof that excellent team collaboration software tools don’t always need to be complicated.

The best part? It offers unlimited message history. Easily search your messages from the very first chat, even when you’re on the free plan. Take that, Slack.

Main features:

• Team communication (including audio and video calls and voice messages)
• Task management
• Team collaboration
• Central hub (called “Teambook”) to host tasks, conversations, and content

Pros:

• Ease of use. Many users like how easy it is to navigate around the dashboard despite being new to the tool.
• Unlimited public and private conversations, message history, one-on-one audio calls, and voice messages — even for freemium users.
• Excellent customer support. Chanty’s known for its fast response.

Limitations:

• Occasional minor glitches for new features (e.g., group audio calls used to be unstable but have gotten better now).

Best for: Boosting communication in an all-in-one team collaboration platform with zero learning curve.

3. Vectera

Source: YouTube

Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $8.99/host per month when billed annually.

Platform: Browser-based.

Mobile app: No, but you can access it on your smartphone

Looking for a communication tool to host client meetings?

Look no further than Vectera.

This handy tool allows you to upload documents in virtual rooms and sketch on them to explain your ideas. Best of all, it stores your content for fast access — making it easy to pick up a conversation where you left off.

Main features:

• One-click video meetings
• Whiteboard and document annotation
• White-label
• Intelligent meeting scheduling

Pros:

• Dedicated meeting room for each client. Access content and communication in said room and immediately pick up where you left off.

Limitations:

• Group video meetings only allow a maximum of six people.

Best for: Running one-on-one or small group meetings with clients.

4. Microsoft Teams

Source: YouTube

Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $5/user per month when billed annually.

Platform: Desktop app (Mac, Windows, and Linux).

Mobile app: iOS and Android.

Microsoft Teams combines instant messaging, video meetings, audio calls, and team collaboration in one platform.

Its interface may not be as sleek as Slack, but if you’re already using Microsoft’s products (e.g., Excel, PowerPoint), it can be a powerful tool in your business.

Main features:

• Video conferencing
• Instant messaging and group chat
• Voice calling
• Team collaboration
• File sharing

Pros:

• Raise hand feature. Get the moderator’s attention without interrupting the meeting.
• Excellent quality in audio and video calls.

Limitations:

• Missing messages, though sometimes you can solve this with a quick cache clean-up.
• Awkward interface (e.g., when attaching a file in chat, Microsoft Teams doesn’t show it uploading).
• Lack of options in notifications settings. Currently, it’s impossible to switch off message notifications from specific people in a group.

Best for: Seamless collaboration on a team communication platform for Microsoft users.

5. Loop Email

Source: YouTube

Pricing: 30-day free trial. Paid plans start at $10/user per month when billed annually.

Platform: Desktop app (Mac and Windows).

Mobile app: iOS and Android.

What if you could view all your inboxes in one location? That’s the premise of Loop Email.

This team communication tool eliminates the need to click between multiple browser tabs to check your different email accounts.

A “dream come true” tool for businesses that deal with a lot of shared email addresses.

Main features:

• Real-time chats
• Shared inbox
• Email open tracking

Pros:

• Clean, beautiful, and intuitive interface.
• One-click email delegation. Assign emails and tasks to team members without endless forwarding.
• Speedy customer support.
• Canned responses. Reply to clients directly from your inbox with a click.

Limitations:

• Lack of certain basic features (e.g., start group chat). Fortunately, this is in the works!

Best for: Chatting, collaborating, and managing shared inboxes in one place.

6. Flock

Source: Flock

Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $4.50/user per month when billed annually.

Platform: Desktop app (Mac, Windows, and Linux).

Mobile app: iOS and Android.

It’s a pain gathering team feedback via text.

Fortunately, Flock’s built-in polls are here to save the day.

Create a question, add options, and let your team vote. You can even set an expiration date and download a report to see which is the most (or least) popular option.

Main features:

• Video conferencing
• Channel messaging
• Voice notes
• Integrated search
• File sharing
• To-dos, polls, and reminders

Pros:

• Unlimited one-on-one and group messages, even for free plans. However, note that freemium users can only search up to 10,000 messages.
• Built-in polls. Customize your poll and share it across channels to help you make important decisions quickly.

Limitations:

• Inconsistent quality in audio and video calls.

Best for: Surveying your team members (e.g., choosing the best logo) to make important decisions.

7. Plutio

Source: YouTube

Pricing: 7-day free trial. Paid plans start at $15/month when billed annually. Grab the Plutio 1-year deal on AppSumo today for $199.

Platform: Browser-based.

Mobile app: iOS and Android.

Are your project assets and messages scattered across Google Drive, DocuSign, and Slack?

You need Plutio, an all-in-one platform that runs your entire business online. 

Not only can you stay in touch with clients in real-time, but you can also create proposals, send invoices, set project deadlines, and everything else.

Main features:

• Inbox (including real-time messaging and integrated emails)
• Chat widget
• Task and project management
• Invoice, proposal, and contract
• Client management
• File manager
• Knowledge base, forms, and surveys

Pros:

• User-friendly interface.
• Excellent proposal and invoice maker. This is a huge plus if you’re tired of switching from one platform to another.

Limitations:

• Occasional minor hiccups (e.g., buggy Mac app).

Best For: Running your agency or freelance business on one platform.

8. Google Chat

Pricing: 14-day free trial. Paid plans start at $6 per active user/month.

Platform: Browser-based.

Mobile app: iOS and Android.

It’s not a “Top Slack Alternatives” list without Google.

Google Chat may leave a lot to be desired when you use it as a stand-alone tool.

But use it together with Google’s other collaboration tools, and you’ll see how it integrates seamlessly with your workspace.

Main features:

• Direct messages
• Group conversations
• Dedicated rooms

Pros:

• Seamless integration. If you’re using Google Docs and want to chat with an editor, all you have to do is click the top right corner’s message button.

Limitations:

• Messy conversation threads. Users report feeling annoyed when deleting, hiding, or combing through an endless stream of messages.

Best for: Seamless collaboration on a team communication platform for Google Workspace users.

9. Ryver

Source: YouTube

Pricing: 14-day free trial. Paid plans start at $49/month.

Platform: Desktop app (Mac and Windows).

Mobile app: iOS and Android.

What would happen if Slack and Trello had a baby? You get Ryver.

This two-in-one app does what the aforementioned tools do best: Team communication and task management. Want to boost your team’s productivity? This could be it.

Main features:

• Team communication (including voice and video calls and screen sharing)
• Task management

Pros:

• Great quality in audio and video calls.

Limitations:

• Complex, outdated interface. Users report feeling underwhelmed by the dashboard and confused by the similar features in task management.

Best for: Communicating with teams and managing tasks in a single platform.

10. Meetquo

Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $4/user per month.

Platform: Browser-based.

Mobile app: No, but you can access it on a smartphone.

It’s difficult running meetings with teammates scattered across different time zones.

Luckily, there’s Meetquo.

This remote meeting and team communication platform allows your co-workers to participate in virtual sessions on their schedule. 

Need to request feedback on the proposals you just created? Share them on Meetquo and get your co-workers to rate which is the best.

Main features:

• Video meetings
• Proposals
• Asynchronous feedback on meeting documents and proposals
• Meeting tracker

Pros:

• Clean, simple, and sleek interface.
• Rating system. Rate which proposals you like best with a click.
• One co-created document with every team member’s insights. You don’t need to go through multiple meeting notes and summarize all critical points in one doc.

Limitations:

• Lack of temporary meeting room, which isn’t ideal with clients and vendors. They’ll have to create a Meetquo account (instead of clicking through a temporary link) when attending a meeting.

Best For: Running asynchronous meetings and aligning every stakeholder of final decisions.

Which of these Slack alternatives will you use today?

These Slack alternatives may look similar at first glance, but as you dig deeper into their features, you’ll realize each one serves a specific use case.

For instance, Meetquo’s excellent for gathering asynchronous feedback on your proposals, but if you’re looking for an all-in-one team communication tool, it might not be the best choice.

Ready to try out these team communication platforms? Pick the one that best fits your business in this quick refresher:

• SmartTask: Streamlining internal communication flow during ongoing projects and getting every stakeholder on the same page in one tool. Grab the SmartTask lifetime deal on AppSumo today for $49.
• Chanty: Boosting communication in an all-in-one team collaboration platform with zero learning curve.
• Vectera: Running one-on-one and small group meetings with clients.
• Microsoft Teams: Seamless collaboration on a team communication platform for Microsoft users.
• Loop Email: Chatting, collaborating, and managing shared inboxes in one place.
• Flock: Surveying your team members (e.g., choosing the best logo) to make important decisions.
• Plutio: Running your agency or freelance business on one platform. Grab the Plutio 1-year deal on AppSumo today for $199.
• Google Chat: Seamless collaboration on a team communication platform for Google Workspace users.
• Ryver: Communicating with teams and managing tasks in a single platform.
• Meetquo: Running asynchronous meetings and aligning every stakeholder on final decisions.

Here’s to effortless communication and maximum productivity!