Price
Both Slack and Teams offer several tiers of service and are generally a good value given their capabilities.
Slack's free tier is a major differentiator, however. It provides all of the app's core functionality for an unlimited number of people in one workspace, as well as supports 1:1 meetings and external messages, 90 days of message history, and up to 10 integrations. Microsoft Teams also offers a free plan, but it’s not meant for businesses. Essentially, it allows individuals to chat and conduct video meetings with other Teams users.
As for paid plans, Slack's starting costs are higher than those for Teams across the board. The Pro plan ($7.25 per user per month, billed annually) unlocks basic AI features (such as call summaries), group audio and video meetings (up to 50 participants), unlimited messaging history, and an unlimited number of integrations. Slack's Business+ plan ($15 per user per month, billed annually) gives you control over posting permissions for all channels, along with more advanced AI features around daily recaps, searches, and workflows.
Teams Essentials ($4 per user per month, billed annually) includes 10GB of storage per user. Alongside the core messaging and audio calling features, the Essentials level supports video meetings of up to 30 hours with 300 participants (the maximum number of users for this plan). Pricier Microsoft 365 Business plans (starting at $6 per user per month, billed annually) include Teams Essential, along with various other Microsoft apps (such as the desktop versions of Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Word at higher levels).
But there are a few caveats to keep in mind with Teams. If you want AI and advanced personalization features, for example, you need to add Microsoft 365 Copilot ($30 per user per month) and Teams Premium ($10 per user per month). Microsoft also offers a Teams Phone VoIP service (starting at $10 per user per month without a calling plan) that requires additional paid resource accounts.
Winner: Slack
Ease of Use and Support
Both Slack and Microsoft Teams have attractive, intuitive interfaces. That said, Slack makes it much easier to configure a custom workspace and quickly invite team members. Your team members can simply dive right in and start chatting with little training, which is ideal for a communication app. By contrast, Microsoft Teams requires you to understand the company's software ecosystem and wade through admin settings to configure a workspace and add users.
The difference in structure is also notable. Whereas Slack supports more free-form communication and allows anyone to join channels across a workspace, Teams organizes employees into separate groups with dedicated channels. Which method is better depends on whether your business has more nebulous or strict departments.
The two apps are on par when it comes to customization. Both let you change the interface colors, for instance. You can change the font in Slack and move icons around on Teams' sidebar, too.
In terms of support, all Slack users (even free ones) can create a support ticket or get help via email. If you subscribe to the Pro level or above, you can chat with a live agent during business hours (2 a.m. through 5 p.m. PT, Monday through Friday). Microsoft Teams offers help via chat, email, and phone for all paid plans, while dedicated support options and helplines are available for higher-end plans.
Winner: Slack
Messaging
Both Slack and Microsoft Teams offer extensive messaging abilities. You can add emoji for emphasis, conduct polls, format text, insert fun animated GIFs, schedule messages, start threads, tag coworkers to get their attention, and much more. All that said, Slack just makes it easier and faster for team members to connect with coworkers and grasp how everything works.
Winner: Slack
Audio and Video Chats
Microsoft Teams is the more powerful video conferencing solution of the two. It encourages you to schedule video conferencing meetings rather than launch ad-hoc ones and supports webinars, which should appeal to larger businesses that need this sort of structure. Seamless compatibility with Microsoft Outlook is a major advantage, too. Aside from standard video meeting tools, it offers a collaborative whiteboard feature and a distraction-free car mode. Audio-only chats work mostly the same. Anyone can create a Teams account and join an audio or video chat for free if the host allows outsiders to attend.
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Meanwhile, Slack allows you to launch audio or video Huddles with individuals, groups, or entire channels within your workspace. Huddles can include external users, but only if you add them to your workspace. You get annotation, chat, screen-sharing, and shared note-taking tools, along with the ability to change the visual theme and play background music.
Audio and video calls were clear and free of distortion on both platforms in testing.
Winner: Teams
AI Features
Both Slack and Microsoft Teams offer extensive AI features, such as conversation summaries (complete with proposed action items) for audio and video meetings. Both products can also provide summaries of text conversations in threads and channels. If you subscribe to Slack's Business+ plan, you can prompt it to generate a detailed workflow of tasks for your team, complete with AI-based steps. In Teams, you can ask Copilot to create a similar workflow or even a presentation based on a meeting discussion.
Speaking of Copilot, Slack doesn't have anything comparable. Microsoft's chatbot can provide detailed research data, links to websites that might propel the conversation, and profiles of meeting attendees, along with information on just about anything. Copilot is never more than a click away in Teams, either.
Winner: Teams
Integrations
Slack and Teams offer comparable integration options. Slack supports 2,600 third-party apps across every imaginable category, including automation, cloud storage, CRM, productivity, and more. It even connects with Microsoft Teams. Integrations in Slack are extremely easy to set up and use.
Microsoft Teams supports an equally impressive 2,500 integrations. That number is slightly padded, though, because it includes all of the first-party Microsoft integrations such as Copilot, Dynamics, and Outlook. Because the Microsoft ecosystem is complex, integrations take a bit more time to configure compared with those for Slack.
Winner: Tie
Hardware Accessories
Microsoft Teams supports dozens of desk phones and accessories, such as headsets, microphones, and speakerphones, from companies such as AudioCodes, Crestron, Lenovo, Polycom, and Yealink. I haven't encountered another app that supports so many hardware add-ons. Microsoft guarantees that certified accessories work with Teams.
Slack doesn’t officially support any desk phones or accessories for Huddles. Most headsets, microphones, and webcams should work just fine, but enterprise-focused hardware like desk phones won't.
Winner: Teams
Security and Data Privacy
Microsoft Teams provides extensive security and data privacy policies, but Slack's equally thorough policies are easier to understand. Both apps have experienced data breaches and hacks, but they offer multi-factor authentication and single sign-on (SSO) support.
Winner: Slack