Best Team Chat Apps 2026: Slack Alternatives by Facts
We rank team messaging and workplace chat apps using only facts from their own sites: the monthly price per user of the cheapest paid plan with monthly billing, whether there is a permanent free plan and whether it keeps the full message history, built-in voice or video calls, screen sharing, threads, access for guests from outside your company, end-to-end encryption of messages, the option to run the app on your own server, an ISO 27001 certificate or SOC 2 report, single sign-on (SSO), data storage in the EU, the year the company was founded and a public status page. Every fact links to an official page with a check date. We do not use reviews or user scores, and paid placements never change the Score.
| # | Company | Who it serves | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wire | 77 | $10.03 | Yes | Not verified | Yes | Yes | Free plan Calls Guests E2EE Self-hosted Open source EU data |
| 2 | Pumble | 77 | $2.99 | Yes | Yes | Not verified | Not verified | Free plan Free history Calls Guests |
| 3 | Rocket.Chat | 67 | Not verified | Yes | Not verified | Yes | Yes | Free plan Calls Guests E2EE Self-hosted Open source |
| 4 | Element | 66 | Not verified | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Free plan Free history Calls E2EE Self-hosted Open source |
| 5 | Zoom Workplace | 58 | $16.99 | Yes | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Free plan Calls Guests EU data |
| 6 | Zulip | 50 | $8.00 | Yes | No | Not verified | Yes | Free plan Guests Self-hosted Open source |
-
- Price per user per month
- $10.03
- Free plan
- Yes
- Full message history on the free plan
- Not verified
- End-to-end encrypted messages
- Yes
- Self-hosting
- Yes
Pros
- Built-in voice or video calls
- Has a permanent free plan
- Messages are end-to-end encrypted
- Can run on your own server
Details Visit site ↗ 90% backed by facts
-
- Price per user per month
- $2.99
- Free plan
- Yes
- Full message history on the free plan
- Yes
- End-to-end encrypted messages
- Not verified
- Self-hosting
- Not verified
Pros
- Low price per user
- Built-in voice or video calls
- Has a permanent free plan
- ISO 27001 certificate or SOC 2 report
Details Visit site ↗ 81% backed by facts
-
- Price per user per month
- Not verified
- Free plan
- Yes
- Full message history on the free plan
- Not verified
- End-to-end encrypted messages
- Yes
- Self-hosting
- Yes
Pros
- Built-in voice or video calls
- Has a permanent free plan
- Messages are end-to-end encrypted
- Can run on your own server
Details Visit site ↗ 71% backed by facts
-
- Price per user per month
- Not verified
- Free plan
- Yes
- Full message history on the free plan
- Yes
- End-to-end encrypted messages
- Yes
- Self-hosting
- Yes
Pros
- Built-in voice or video calls
- Has a permanent free plan
- Messages are end-to-end encrypted
- Can run on your own server
Details Visit site ↗ 71% backed by facts
-
- Price per user per month
- $16.99
- Free plan
- Yes
- Full message history on the free plan
- Not verified
- End-to-end encrypted messages
- Not verified
- Self-hosting
- Not verified
Pros
- Built-in voice or video calls
- Has a permanent free plan
- ISO 27001 certificate or SOC 2 report
- Screen sharing
Cons
- High price per user
Details Visit site ↗ 75% backed by facts
-
- Price per user per month
- $8.00
- Free plan
- Yes
- Full message history on the free plan
- No
- End-to-end encrypted messages
- Not verified
- Self-hosting
- Yes
Pros
- Has a permanent free plan
- Can run on your own server
- Threaded replies
- Guests and external partners can join
Cons
- No built-in calls
- Free plan limits message history
Details Visit site ↗ 76% backed by facts
Not ranked yet: not enough verified data
These services are known to us, but we haven't verified enough facts to rank them fairly.
- Campfire (33% backed by facts)
- Chanty (44% backed by facts)
- Flock (46% backed by facts)
- Google Chat (5% backed by facts)
- Mattermost (59% backed by facts)
- Microsoft Teams (site closed to automated checks, )
- Nextcloud Talk (60% backed by facts)
- Slack (60% backed by facts)
- Twist (25% backed by facts)
- Webex (site closed to automated checks, )
Sites marked as closed refuse automated reading (403 error, captcha or a robots.txt ban). We don't bypass such protection, so we can't verify their facts and they are not ranked. This says nothing about their quality. A company can send links to its official pages to [email protected].
How we calculate the Score
30%
Price and free plan
Monthly list price in USD per user of the cheapest paid plan, with monthly billing: $0 scores 100, $15 or more scores 0 (weight 3). Annual-billing prices, first-months discounts and prices shown only in a local currency because of our location are not used; a single euro price list of a European vendor is converted at the European Central Bank rate. If the price appears only after a script runs or only on request, the fact stays empty. Software that is entirely free, with no paid plans at all, counts as $0. Also a permanent free plan without a time limit (weight 2; a trial is not a free plan) and whether the free plan keeps the full message history (weight 1).
25%
Communication
Built-in voice or video calls (weight 2; a link to a third-party meeting service does not count), screen sharing (weight 1), threaded replies (weight 1) and access for guests or external partners to your channels (weight 1) on any plan. The fact shows that a feature exists, not that the cheapest plan has it: check the note under each fact.
30%
Security and data control
End-to-end encryption of messages (weight 2; encryption in transit and at rest does not count), the option to run the software on your own server (weight 2), an ISO 27001 certificate or SOC 2 report of the vendor itself, not only of its cloud provider (weight 2), single sign-on (weight 1) and the option to store data in the European Union (weight 1). We record the vendor's statement; we do not audit it.
15%
Track record
How long the company has been running: 20 years or more scores 100 (weight 2), and whether it publishes a public status page with incidents (weight 1). For a product of a larger company we take the year that company was founded.
How to choose a team chat app
Check the limits of the free plan
Free plans limit message history, users, storage or group calls. With a 90-day or 10,000-message history, older decisions disappear from search unless you upgrade.
Count guests and external partners
Clients and contractors often need a few channels. Check whether guests are free, how many are allowed per paid seat and what they can see.
Decide where your messages may live
If your sector or customers require it, look for EU data storage, self-hosting or end-to-end encryption, and sign the vendor's data processing agreement.
Make sure you can leave
Test the export of messages and files during the trial and set retention rules before the history grows. A documented export makes switching to another app much easier.
Frequently asked questions
Which team chat app is best?
The app in first place has the highest Score under our open method, but the Score does not measure how pleasant an app is to use or how well it fits your team. Compare the price per user, the limits of the free plan and the features you actually need.
Why are Slack and Microsoft Teams not in the ranking?
We use only facts we can read on official pages. Slack showed us its prices only in euros because of our location, and we found no founding year on its site, so too few facts are confirmed. Microsoft's site refused automated access. An empty fact scores zero and lowers data completeness; a company with too little data is not ranked.
Why does end-to-end encryption matter?
With end-to-end encryption only the people in the conversation can read the messages, not the vendor. Most workplace chats encrypt data only in transit and at rest, which protects against outsiders but not against access on the vendor's side. End-to-end encryption can limit search, bots and compliance export, so check what you give up.
Should we run the chat on our own server?
Self-hosting keeps messages on infrastructure you control, which helps with strict data rules, but your team is responsible for updates, backups and security. Several open-source apps also sell a hosted version or paid support.
What does an empty fact mean?
We could not confirm it on an official page, sometimes because the vendor's site refused automated access or showed the price only after a script ran. An empty fact scores zero and lowers data completeness. An app with too little data is not ranked.