Automate Basics

Microsoft Teams vs Slack vs Google Chat

Pick up to 4 tools and see their free plans, entry prices, platforms and limits in one table. Every fact comes from each vendor's own pages, checked 7 November 2026.

Compared on
Microsoft Teams

From $4/user/mo

Slack

Free plan · from $7.25/user/mo

Google Chat

Free trial · from €6.80/user/mo

What it isChat, meetings and calling, sold alone or inside Microsoft 365Team messaging built around channels, with huddles, canvases and workflow automationDirect messages and spaces inside Google Workspace, with Meet and Gemini built in
Free planNoFree plan keeps 90 days of message history, allows up to 10 app integrations, and limits huddles and Slack Connect external messages to 1:1No
Cheapest paid plan$4/user/mo billed annually (Teams Essentials)Microsoft Teams pricing$7.25/user/mo billed annually (Pro)Slack pricing€6.80/user/mo billed annually (Google Workspace Business Starter (includes Chat))Google Chat pricing
What it coversPaid yearly; annual subscription that auto-renews.List prices. Slack also lists a 50% promotional price for the first 3 months on monthly Pro billing for teams that buy online within 7 days of creating the workspace. Members active in a 28-day period are billed.Chat has no separate price; it comes with a Workspace subscription. Price shown in EUR, excluding tax, with a 1-year commitment. Google also lists a 50% intro price (EUR 3.40) for a limited period.
Free trialFree trials offered on the business plans (trial terms on Microsoft's page)None stated14-day trial of Google Workspace for people not already using it
PlatformsWebWeb, Windows, Mac, iOS, AndroidWeb, iOS, Android
Integrations (vendor's figure)Not statedOver 2,600 apps in the Slack MarketplaceNot stated
Open sourceNoNoNo
Good for
  • Businesses already using Microsoft 365 and Outlook
  • Small teams that want chat and meetings in one inexpensive plan
  • Companies replacing a desk phone system with cloud calling
  • Teams that want channel-based conversation with a large set of connected apps
  • Companies that need to message people at other organizations through Slack Connect
  • Workspaces that want to automate approvals and routine requests without code
  • Teams that already use Google Workspace for email, Docs and Meet
  • Organizations that want chat without paying for a separate messaging tool
  • Teams building small custom chat apps with webhooks or AppSheet
Watch out for
  • The prices shown are for annual subscriptions paid yearly
  • Calling to regular phone numbers needs a separate Teams Phone licence and calling plan
  • Some AI features on Business Standard are billed by usage
  • The Free plan keeps only 90 days of message history and 10 apps
  • Group huddles and group external messages need a paid plan
  • Single sign-on needs Business+ and above
  • Sold only as part of a Google Workspace subscription, not on its own
  • Some features are available only on Business and Enterprise plans
  • Whether personal Google accounts can use Chat free was not stated on the pages read
Made byMicrosoftSlack Technologies (Salesforce)Google

Entry prices are the cheapest paid plan, as each vendor publishes it; “What it covers” says what that price is per (a user, a channel, a brand, a number of contacts). The sources are listed on each tool's page.

Every tool in team chat apps is on its category page, with the written head-to-heads on Compare.