The steady rise in remote and blended workforces means teams of all sizes rely on instant chat messaging applications like Slack for seamless business communication and collaboration.

These tools allow team communication in real-time, share and edit files, tag each other in comments, and create group channels — regardless of their differences in location.

While about 65% of current chat app users communicate via Slack, over 90% of teams use more than one team chat tool to keep the flow of communication running smoothly.

In short?

While Slack may be one of the most well-known instant messaging platforms, it’s far from your business’s only option.

This list of the 10 best Slack alternatives will introduce you to chat apps that may be more effective for your business. You can opt to replace Slack altogether or use any of these tools along with it for even stronger collaboration.

 

Top Slack alternatives we’ll cover are:

 

  1. Microsoft Teams
  2. Google Chat
  3. Cisco Webex Messaging
  4. Flock
  5. HighSide
  6. Chanty
  7. Zoom Chat
  8. Rocket.Chat
  9. Fleep
  10. Troop Messenger

 

Why Consider Slack Alternatives?

 

Given Slack’s undeniably enormous user base, it’s clear that the tool isn’t all bad.

Slack is intuitive, offers a free version, has a searchable conversation history, and automatically syncs messages across mobile and desktop devices.

Slack integrations let users work with popular third-party business tools within the Slack interface.

However, there are some downsides.

Common Slack problems include:

  • The free version limits file storage to 5GB, allows for a maximum of 10 third-party integrations, and keeps only up to 10k recent messages
  • Lacks native task management and project management capabilities
  • Clogged channels can bury important information
  • Constant messaging is a distraction/decreases productivity
  • An inefficient notification system means users must read all missed chat messages to ensure they haven’t missed key information
  • Limited conference calling/video calling features
  • Lack of interface customization

As of this writing, Slack offers four plans in total. There is the Free Plan, the Pro Plan for $6.67/user per month, the Business+ Plan for $12.50/user per month, and the quote-based Enterprise Grid Plan.

 

Essential Features to Look for in Slack Alternatives

 

When evaluating Slack alternatives, make sure they have essential chat and team collaboration features — otherwise, they’ll likely be even less effective than Slack.

Key features to look for include:

  • Both public and private channels
  • User mentions, user tagging, message reactions
  • User status (Online, Away, Do Not Disturb, etc.)
  • In-line direct message replies
  • Message flagging and pinning
  • Operating system compatibility
  • Custom notification reminders
  • Message editing
  • Shortcuts and slash commands
  • Integration with your preferred third-party business tools
  • Task automation
  • Sub-topics in larger channels
  • Calendar/scheduling tools
  • Automated not messaging/updates
  • In-app file creation, editing, and sharing
  • Strong native audio and video calling functionality (meeting recording, call reminders, screen sharing, etc.)
  • Saved and searchable chat history
  • Task management and project management features
  • Analytics and reporting

 

The Top 10 Slack Alternatives

 

The below best 10 Slack alternatives include features Slack currently lacks, offer plans (many including free versions) for any price point, and benefit a variety of small businesses, startups, and enterprise-level companies in countless industries.

 

Provider Microsoft Teams Google Chat Cisco Webex Messaging Flock HighSide Chanty Zoom Chat Rocket.Chat Fleep Troop Messenger
Pricing
  • Free Version (Yammer not Included)
  • Business Basic Plan for $5.00/user per month (Yammer Included)
  • Business Standard Plan for $12.50/user per month (Yammer Included)
  • Free standalone app (Google Chat only)
  • Google Workspace Business Starter Plan for $6.00/user per month
  • Google Workspace Business Standard plan for $12.00/user per month
  • Google Workspace Business Plus plan for $18.00/user per month
  • Quote-based Google Workspace Enterprise Plan
  • Included as a part of Webex Suite Basic Free Plan
  • Meet Plan for $15.00/user per month
  • Call Plan for $17.00/user per month
  • Webex Suite Business Plan for $25.00/user per month
  • Quote-based Webex Suite Enterprise Plan
  • Free Starter Plan
  • Pro Plan for $4.50/user per month
  • Quote-based Enterprise plan
  • Team Plan for $5.00/user per month
  • Business Plan for $12.00/user per month
  • Enterprise Plan for $20.00/user per month
  • Government Plan for $33.34/user per month
  • Free Version
  • Business Plan for $3.00/user per month
  • Free Basic Plan
  • Pro Plan for $14.99/license per month
  • Business Plan for $19.99/license per month
  • Enterprise Plan From $19.99/license per month
  • Free Community Plan
  • Pro Plan for $3.00/user per month
  • Quote-based Enterprise Plan
  • Free Basic Plan
  • Business Plan for $5.00/user per month
  • Quote-based Enterprise Plan

 

  • Enterprise Plan. for $5.00/user per month
  • Superior Plan for $9.00/user per month
  • Premium Plan for $25.00/user per month

 

Top Feature Team Templates Chat accessibility within Gmail, including forwarding Google Chat messages to Gmail accounts Team and Space Moderators To-Do tool with coordinating automated reminder and assignment bots Extensive and advanced security features and certifications Team Book interface Personal Space Team Inbox Pinboard tool Orange Members
Best For SMBs working within the Microsoft 365 space (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc.) SMBs working within Google Workspace (Docs, Slides, Sheets, etc.) Teams prioritizing chat tools with extensive features Remote teams prioritizing automation  Companies of any size working within fields relating to highly sensitive data (government, military, etc.) Short-term task-focused small teams  Current Zoom users that often work with external users Companies that communicate over multiple messaging apps/channels, including social media Teams needing advanced task management and note-taking features Teams with a large amount of external collaboration

 

Microsoft Teams

 

Microsoft Teams is easily Slack’s biggest competitor — especially since Teams replaced Skype for Business.

Microsoft Teams is not a standalone chat app like Slack. Rather, it’s a team collaboration/communication app offering instant chat messaging, voice calling, video calling, and more.

Here’s what MS Teams’ chat dashboard looks like:

 

Microsof Teams Messaging

 

The Instant Messaging feature, pictured above, is available on all plans, including the free version.

Though Teams offers over 250 integrations, its robust native features, especially regarding project management, mean you may not need them.

Think of Teams as a collaborative workspace tool as opposed to a basic chat app.

One of the latest Team Messaging updates is the ability for users to reply to specific chat messages, creating better-organized threads and preventing clutter in high-volume channels.

Message Delivery Options allow users to flag key messages as Important (where messages are marked as “IMPORTANT” in the chat) or Urgent (where recipients are notified every 2 minutes for 20 minutes.)

Users can also share pre-recorded video meetings directly in Teams Messaging through the Stream library of recorded meetings.

For even better channel organization, try Team Templates, which include pre-made channels with relevant apps already included (See image below.)

 

Team Template

 

Popular Team Templates include employee onboarding, incident response, help desk resources, patient care, and more.

 

Microsoft Teams chat features we like:

  • One-on-one and group chats, user tagging/mentions
  • Advanced chat formatting options like font/font size/font color choice, highlighted text, lists, code snippets, tables, etc.
  • Multi-lingual message translation
  • Up to 1 TB/user of in-chat file attachments from One Drive, SharePoint, user desktop
  • Channel files tab (library) of all previously uploaded files (stores up to 1 TB/organization)
  • Real-time file collaboration in Microsoft Office apps like PowerPoint, Word, and Excel
  • Hide and retrieve chat messages
  • Delete entire chats or individual messages
  • Emoji, GIF, stickers, badges, and custom caption reactions
  • In-message video meeting invitations with all channels members automatically added to invite list
  • Record meeting or access all recorded meetings
  • In-message link sharing
  • 300-person group chat/channel capacity
  • Unlimited chat messages and message searches
  • Real-time collaboration in Microsoft 365 apps
  • Searchable chats by user name, keyword, or filter (saved message, replies, unread messages, etc.)
  • Microsoft Task app for project management, to-do lists, task assignment, and more
  • “Approval” messaging where users can get in-chat approval from admins/managers on certain tasks

For more details, check out our Slack vs. Microsoft Teams comparison.

 

Operating System Support/Functionality

  • Apple iOS and Android mobile apps
  • Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Safari 14+
  • Linux, Mac, and Windows

 

Microsoft Teams is Best For:

  • SMBs that need advanced task management and collaboration tools within their remote workforce
  • Businesses already operating within the Microsoft 365 workspace
  • Teams needing a comprehensive free chat tool
  • Businesses with a high daily chat volume

 

Microsoft Teams Plans and Pricing

Teams offers one free plan and paid plans ranging in price from $5.00-$12.50/user per month

 

 

Google Chat

 

Google Chat (the latest iteration of Google Hangouts) can be used as a standalone chat application or as a part of the Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) family. Most users access Google Chat via their personal or business Gmail accounts.

 

Google Chat App

 

Users can communicate via one-on-one messaging or in message channels, called Spaces. Spaces can be made for internal or external participants and can be created out of existing group chats or from scratch. In Spaces, users can share files, start an audio call/video meeting, search chat messages, give feedback, and more. These virtual rooms can have up to 8,000 members, translate 28 languages, and allow for task creation/assignment.

One of the most interesting features is that users can directly forward individual messages to their Gmail accounts, making it easier to keep track of key information. Users can also access Google Chat directly from their Gmail accounts, as seen in the image below.

 

Google Chat Gmail

 

Users can also access and update their Google Calendar directly in the chat sidebar, share their calendar/individual events with other chat participants, and invite guests to calendar events.

In October of 2021, Google Chat updated its features to allow users to mark channel and direct messages as unread.

 

Google Chat features we like:

  • Turn message history on/off
  • Share files from Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Slides, Google Sheets, or user desktop with automatic file synching
  • React to messages with emojis, share GIFS
  • Threaded message replies
  • Custom and standard message notifications
  • Typing indicators and read receipts
  • Dark mode
  • Designated Team Leaders
  • Group task assignment
  • Mobile data and WiFi messaging
  • User tagging
  • Automation bots via JIRA and Salesforce integrations for scheduling meetings, tracking to-do lists, and more
  • Block or deactivate spaces

 

Operating System Support/Functionality

  • Apple iOS/Android mobile apps
  • Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge
  • Linux, Mac, and Windows

 

Google Chat is best for:

  • Companies that primarily use Google Workspace tools like Sheets, Slides, Forms, and Docs
  • Team members that rely heavily on Gmail/email and want to chat with coworkers in their email interface
  • Businesses that want to use multiple team chat tools
  • Startups/solopreneurs that need more basic chat features with a clean interface

 

Google Chat Pricing and Plans:

Google Workspace, which includes Google Chat, offers one free plan and 4 paid plans ranging in price from $6.00-$18.00/user per month.

 

 

Webex Messaging

 

Cisco Webex Messaging is the UCaaS software Webex’s instant messaging tool, meaning in addition to chat, users can communicate via other channels like video and audio calling.

Note that while Cisco Jabber is still available, it requires users to have a paid Webex account and, based on our attempts to download/access it, it’s a safe bet that Webex is actively phasing out Jabber.

Instead, the focus is on Webex Messaging, as seen below.

 

Webex Messaging

 

Here, users create Spaces and/or Teams for internal and external messaging. Teams are larger, more general message groups and Spaces are smaller, more specific messaging groups. For example, a “Team” might be your Sales Department, whereas a space within it could be a group of salespeople all working on the same presentation.

When a user accesses their Spaces, they’ll first see new spaces they’ve been added to, unread/new messages, and any mentions. Users can also filter Spaces to see only unread messages or filter by the options seen in the below image.

 

Webex Spaces

 

Another helpful feature is the Quote response, where a user can directly quote a previous message to prevent users from having to scroll up to find up what the new message is responding to.

Perhaps best of all, users can designate Moderators for Spaces and Teams.

Moderators control who gets added to the Space/Team. They can also delete messages, block specific messages from specific users in a SpaceTeam, archive the Team/Space, disable mentions, and even turn on Announcement Mode (where only the Moderator can post.)

 

Webex features include:

  • Over 100 third-party integrations
  • Co-edit documents in real-time via OneDrive and SharePoint
  • Individual user tagging, channel tagging
  • Automatic meeting recording storage/transcription
  • GIF and Emoji reactions
  • Message flagging and pinning for key messages
  • Favorite contacts/Spaces
  • Message drafts
  • Mark messages as read or unread
  • Message threading
  • Message forwarding
  • Compact view
  • In-app calendar and scheduling

More information on Webex can be found in our Cisco Webex review.

 

Operating System Support/Functionality:

  • iOS and Android mobile devices
  • Mac, Linux, Windows
  • Chrome, Internet Explorer 10+, Firefox, Safari 7+

 

Webex Messaging is best for:

  • Teams that prioritize ease-of-use
  • Businesses that need more control over who can post what in chats/could benefit from a moderator
  • Teams of any size wanting an instant messaging tool with a large set of unique features

 

Webex Pricing and Plans:

Webex Messaging offers one free plan and 4 paid plans ranging in price from $15.00-$25.00/user per month.

 

 

Flock

 

Flock is a shared collaboration space and chat messaging app also offering video/audio calling and advanced productivity tools.

 

Flock Messaging

 

Flock is mainly focused on providing an exceptional array of collaboration features most chat apps don’t offer. In addition to standard chat messaging, users can also create individual and team-wide “To-Dos,” seen below.

 

Flock ToDos

 

Users can turn messages into To-Do list tasks, check off completed tasks, and assign other tasks to others. When a user is assigned a task, the To-Do automated bot instantly sends them a notification letting them know. Users can set due dates for To-Dos, get reminders at set intervals, and re-assign tasks to others if needed.

One of Flock’s most unique features is that it allows users to send/receive Voice Notes as well as typed chat messages. Voice Notes help users to better communicate their tone and save time by allowing users to record longer messages instead of having to type them out. It’s also great for users on the go who can’t safely type. See the Voice Notes interface below.

 

Voice Memo

 

Users can also set general reminders for themselves or others via the Reminder Bot, which sends a one-time or repeating reminder message every 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, or custom time.

Flock also has in-messaging polls that allow for custom questions, let team members vote for multiple options, and create poll result reports.

 

Flock features we like:

  • Unlimited public/private messaging and channels with unlimited message search
  • All Channel feed displays all new messages in a single interface, even if from multiple channels
  • File Sharing via the Attachment Picker from user desktop, OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive
  • File sharing size of 100 MB/file, 5 GB shared file hub storage
  • Read-only or co-edit file access
  • Channel muting and Channel Admins
  • Smart Channels for pre-defined criteria to automatically add members to certain channels
  • Auto-Join Channels and Announcement-Only Channels
  • In-app sharable notes
  • Unlimited integrations
  • Process automation for custom workflows, onboarding, reimbursement claims, etc.
  • Code snippet sharing
  • Dark mode
  • Chat pinning
  • Chat search
  • One-way announcement channels
  • Company directory
  • Bookmark messages

 

Operating System Support/Functionality

  • iOS/Android mobile devices
  • Windows and Mac OS
  • Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari 10+

 

Flock is best for:

  • Teams that need extensive collaboration features
  • Geographically diverse remote teams that need to re-create the in-person office environment virtually in a chat tool
  • Teams that want lots of automation options regarding notifications, onboarding/training, reminders, task assignments, etc.

 

Flock Pricing and Plans:

Flock offers one free plan and 2 paid plans starting from $4.50/user per month.

 

 

HighSide

 

HighSide is a team collaboration, voice/video calling, and chat application designed for remote teams needing a platform to discuss topics and share files about highly sensitive subjects.

 

HighSide Chat

 

It was created as an alternative to less secure remote communication tools like Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the height of COVID, industries with tight security and compliance standards were wary of using software to talk about topics they previously discussed only in person or in secure facilities.

HighSide users prioritize security above all else and mostly work within the government, scientific and military services, or the financial sector.

HighSide offers advanced features related to security and privacy concerns like access control, secure sharing, identity authentication, data protection, and cybersecurity as a whole.

It’s especially celebrated for its file-sharing features like version control, read-only access, syncing and co-editing, and encrypted file sharing. HighSide’s Data Access Management tool (seen below) lets admins set rules according to data type, user location, and authorized devices. Files can be drag-and-dropped in the SecureDrive, locked, and even locally synched offline.

 

Highside access control

 

Highside features we like:

  • Public and private chat channels
  • In-chat voice/video calling
  • GIFs, Emojis, and reactions
  • In-line message replies/deletion
  • Real-time, cross-channel conversation history search filtered by date, sender, favorite messages, channel, etc.
  • Assign channel member roles (Admin, Team Member, Guest User, etc.)
  • Event Logging and Zero Trust Model
  • HighSide extension for Microsoft Teams available
  • Location and time-based end-to-end encryption
  • Data auto-wipe for stronger infosec if a device is lost
  • Ability to automatically create data rules based on existing security policies when integrated with identity management tools
  • HIPPA, SEC, FCA, DoD, ITAR, and CMMC compliance
  • Unlimited storage and support for all file formats
  • Custom data retention policies
  • Third-party/guest access with strict access control and custom rules

 

Operating System Support/Functionality

  • Mac OS, Windows, Linux/Ubuntu
  • iOS and Android mobile devices
  • Note HighSide is available only as an app, not via web browser

 

HighSide is best for:

  • Teams that work in confidential/secure sectors and have strict compliance regulations
  • Teams that collaborate on files daily
  • Businesses that need control over file access, user permissions, sharing capabilities, editing permissions, and more

 

Highside Pricing and Plans

HighSide offers 4 paid plans ranging in price from $5.00-$33.34/user per month.

 

 

Chanty

 

Chanty is a user-friendly Slack alternative designed around its unique Teambook interface.

The Teambook dashboard doesn’t simply show lists of channels and users when team members log on. Instead, each individual can review their current tasks, one-on-one, private, and public conversation updates, recent calls, pinned messages, shared files, and more. The Teambook interface is illustrated in the image below.

 

 

This makes for a much less cluttered messaging solution and prevents team members from having to search Conversations (channels) to find the information they need.

One of Chanty’s standout features is its in-Conversation task management tool, seen in the image below.

 

Chanty Task Filters

 

Users can create public or private tasks from scratch or turn a message into a task. From there, users can assign/reassign tasks, write detailed task descriptions, create task-related message threads, and even filter tasks by date, status, and assignee.

Another feature that sets Chanty apart from its competitors is its Kanban board view. Users can create boards for individual topics or tasks, can prioritize tasks, and organize them into “To-Do” or “Done” columns, tag other users, add images and links, and rearrange board order. The Kanban view is shown in the below image.

 

Chanty Kanban

 

Chanty features we like:

  • Code snippet sharing
  • Add external guests to team spaces
  • Record and share voice notes
  • Assign team roles and permissions (Admin, Owner, Participant, access to entire Team Space or just select Conversations, etc.)
  • User and team mentions with real-time custom push notifications
  • Messaging forwarding
  • File and link sharing, file repository
  • GIFs and Emoji reactions
  • Message pinning, pinned message channel
  • Archive important past conversations
  • Video conferencing and voice calling
  • Team activity feed
  • Integration with Asana, Mailchimp, Trello, Basecamp, Google Drive, and more

 

Operating System Support/Functionality

  • iOS and Android mobile app
  • Windows, Mac, Linux (Fedora/Debian)
  • Google Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox

 

Chanty is best for:

  • Small teams of 1-5 focused on daily small tasks as opposed to long-term projects
  • Teams that want access to Kanban views
  • Businesses using numerous third-party integrations within their team chat app

 

Chanty Pricing and Plans

Chanty offers one free plan and one paid plan for $3.00/user per month.

 

 

Zoom Chat

 

Video conferencing giant Zoom now offers Zoom Chat, (sometimes referred to as Zoom Business IM) a persistent chat tool for use both during and outside of video calls.

 

Zoom Chat

 

Users can instantly start a video/audio call within Zoom chat or schedule/manage upcoming meetings in the chat interface.

One of the top features is the user Personal Space, which serves as a kind of private whiteboard. Here, each user can upload screenshots, files from their desktop or from tools like Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, or OneDrive, record voice notes for themselves or to share with others, type out personal notes, and more. To better organize personal notes in their private Space, users can reply directly to images/messages, save and share them, star them, or choose the “open file” option to instantly access files.

A screenshot of the Personal Space tool is shown below.

 

Zoom Chat Personal Room

 

Another key feature is the chat search tool, which is more advanced than what many other providers offer. In addition to typing in keywords, users can also search via filters like sender, specific channel, starred messages only, most relevant, and most recent.

 

Zoom Chat features we like:

  • User mentions/tagging
  • User presence status (Available, Away, Do Not Disturb with set DND status intervals from 20 minutes-24 hours)
  • Drag-and-drop file sharing
  • Synced/searchable Content (file) Library
  • Third-party app integration
  • Share saved whiteboards or meeting recordings in-chat
  • Message threading
  • Save/star/pin messages
  • Emoji reactions
  • 10-year chat history
  • Quote messaging
  • Edit sent messages
  • Custom notifications
  • Share code snippets
  • Voice Notes
  • View Contact Requests
  • Add contacts from existing Zoom workplace or external Zoom users
  • Automatic message/thread following
  • Unfollow/delete messages
  • Public/private channels with one-on-one and group messaging

 

Operating System Support/Functionality

  • Apple iOS and Android mobile applications
  • macOS, Linux, Windows
  • Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Safari

 

Zoom Chat is best for:

  • Current Zoom Phone and Video users
  • Users that want a central in-chat hub for work-related notes and files
  • Users that frequently collaborate with others outside their organization

 

Zoom Chat Pricing and Plans

Zoom offers one free plan and four paid plans from $14.99-$19.99/user per month.

 

 

Rocket.Chat

 

Rocket.Chat is an open-source centralized chat and collaboration app providing a central communication hub for employees, customers, vendors, and business partners.

 

Rocket Chat

 

It is unique in that it streamlines multiple third-party chat messaging tools within the Rocket.Chat interface. So, instead of constantly switching between messaging apps, users can access instantly view and respond to chats from tools like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, SMS texting, email accounts, Telegram, and more.

Recently, the platform has re-affirmed its commitment to data privacy and now offers end-to-end encryption, HIPAA/GDPR/CCPA/LGPD compliance, and automatic data triaging. Burnout messages let users communicate in a private chat channel that does not store message history and self-destructs after a set period of time.

Rocket.Chat also offers an excellent customer service chat messaging solution, letting users respond to external customer messages within the omnichannel Team Inbox (seen below.)

 

Team Inbox Rocket Chat

 

Support agents or bots can quickly send automated canned responses, pull information from integrated CRM systems, provide a queue waiting time, and automatically create support tickets in the chat app.

 

Rocket.Chat features we like:

  • Unlimited integrations
  • Free audio/video calling in chat
  • Emojis
  • File sharing
  • Broadcast channels
  • Searchable chat history
  • User mentions
  • Push notifications
  • Recall (unsend) messaging
  • Message delivery time/read receipts
  • Message threading
  • SMS messaging and CRM integrations
  • Automated chat routing
  • Priority assignment
  • Chat tags
  • Online ticket creation

 

Operating System Support/Functionality

  • Apple and Android mobile app
  • MacOS, Linux, Windows
  • Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Safari, Firefox

 

Rocket.Chat is best for:

  • Teams that need a central location for multiple messaging tools, especially social media messaging
  • Businesses/developers that want a highly customizable, open-source chat solution
  • Customer support teams that often need to collaborate internally/externally simultaneously on a chat app

 

Rocket.Chat Pricing and Plans

Rocket.Chat offers one free plan and two paid plans starting from $3.00/user per month.

 

 

Fleep

 

Fleep is a chat application offering stronger in-chat collaboration features than many competitors. It also offers audio and video calling accessible directly from the chat tool.

 

Fleep Chat App

 

It does this primarily via its Pinboard tool, which is a virtual sidebar notepad containing key pinned messages, links, notes, contact information, and more for easy, instant access to the most important news of the day. Users can delete, copy, edit, quote, and find the original message directly in pinboards, an example of which is seen below.

 

Fleep Pinboard

 

Fleep lets users “work across company borders” by letting users search for clients/other users on Fleep and automatically add them to the current workspace. Users can also invite external users to chat and join Fleep. This means no more switching between multiple accounts/workspaces to connect with others.

Users can also create and manage tasks in the messaging interface, assign them, update task status, search tasks, and share relevant files.

Additionally, Fleep lets users sort conversations according to people, not only according to channels/topics. (Traditional “Team” channels are available with Fleep.) On Fleep, the user will view their entire conversation history with a specific person, like Jim from accounting or Susan at the non-profit your company supports. The entire chat history with an individual is in one channel only, not spread across multiple ones like in Slack.

 

Fleep features we like:

  • “File Drawer” that stores every file you’ve ever uploaded/shared within a complete conversation history
  • Read receipts and writing indicators
  • User presence and status updates, including when the user was last online
  • Unlimited one-on-one and group conversations
  • Access control and user permissions, including implementing a company-wide file retention policy
  • 100 GB file storage
  • Integrations with Zapier, Slack, Trello, Google Drive, JIRA, and more, as well as public Fleep API

 

Operating System Support/Functionality

  • Apple iOS and Android mobile apps
  • Windows, macOS
  • Not web browser compatible, the application only

 

Fleep is best for:

  • Teams that require frequent communication
  • Teams that prioritize task management
  • Teams that need to organize conversation histories by the user, not just by channel

 

Fleep Pricing and Plans

Fleep offers one free plan and two paid plans from $5.00/user per month.

 

 

Troop Messenger

 

Troop Messenger is a comprehensive messaging app with instant messaging, audio calling/voice messaging, video calling, and the ability to share files.

 

Troop Messenger Tool

 

Top chat features include a recall (unsend) tool, instant single or full-conversation message copying, and real-time delivery and read receipts and updates. Users can also forward messages and attachments to other users in current or other channels and create unlimited groups.

The Burnout feature is especially popular, as it automatically creates and deletes private chats within a set time period, allowing for superior security and privacy. The dashboard interface lets users instantly transition from messaging to a video call with screen sharing and remote screen control, or audio conference/one-on-one calls.

Another neat feature is the Forkout tool, which lets users blast messages to multiple team members or channels at once. (Shown below.)

 

Forkout tool

 

Admins can also designate “Orange Members,” which are external vendors, clients, and contractors that are invited to collaborate in an internal team workspace.

 

Troop features we like:

  • Set “Respond Later” messages and receive reminders
  • Message broadcasting
  • Live location tracking
  • Messaging editing
  • Designate favorite users
  • Message flagging
  • Glocal search to filter by group, topic, user, keywords, or time/date range
  • Search by video, file, location, or images
  • Unread message filter
  • Custom wallpapers and font

 

Operating System Support/Functionality

  • Apple iOS and Android mobile app
  • Linux, Windows, macOS
  • Application only, no browser version

 

Troop Messenger is best for:

  • Remote teams that often collaborate with external users
  • Businesses that discuss senstitive topics/have privacy concerns
  • Team admins that need to track remote employee location

 

Troop Pricing and Plans

Troop Messenger offers three paid plans from $5.00-$25.00/user per month.

 

Additional Information on Popular Slack Competitors

 

Whether you decide to completely replace your business’s instant messaging platform from Slack to an app on this list, or if you’d like to use any of these apps in conjunction with Slack, the options listed here will streamline internal and external communication while allowing for more effective team collaboration.

Curious to learn more about the tools listed here, as well as other options?

Check out our breakdown and an interactive table of the best team collaboration tools to learn more.

 

FAQ About Instant Messaging Platforms

 

Below, we’ve answered some of the most frequently asked questions about instant chat messaging and team collaboration tools.

 

Though for the most part, chat apps reasonably protect a user’s right to privacy, there are a few instances in which an employer may be able to access a team member’s private channels or direct messages.

If an employee is a part of a lawsuit, managers can submit a formal request to the chat platform to view the messages. However, in most cases, the employee must give consent in order for these apps to give employers access to their private messages.

Note that analytics and reporting tools may show the number of messages employees have sent in private channels/chats -- but not the content of the messages themselves.

If you move to a different department, position, or leave your current company, you’ll be able to transfer the ownership of your chat to another user. In other words -- the entire chat application won’t disappear just because the current owner is leaving the workspace.

Each application usually has a specific ownership transfer process.

Though exact costs will vary based on the provider chosen and the specific features and plan you need, the good news is that most of the chat apps mentioned here offer a free version. Paid team collaboration tools usually cost anywhere from $8.00-$10.00/user per month.

As with any business communication tool, your specific compliance requirements will vary based on your industry, company, country, and provider SLAs.

Note that there are many HIPAA-compliant chat tools created specifically for the medical industry, like MedChat and Well.

To ensure you’re ready for compliance audits and help to keep messages secure, you may wish to disable message history, enable two-factor authentication, and frequently change your password. Above all, be clear with team members about what kind of sensitive data can and cannot be discussed over chat messaging.