8 Best Slack Alternatives in 2026 (Free & Paid)

Research reviewed October 2026 — confirm pricing before you buy.

Why people look for Slack alternatives

Slack’s free plan is a trial in disguise: only 90 days of searchable message history, 10 app integrations, and one-on-one Huddles only. Pro runs $7.25 per user per month on annual billing ($8.75 monthly), and the AI features that were once a separate $10 add-on are now folded into the pricier tiers — Business+ jumped to around $15 per user per month. Add a 3-user minimum and non-refundable annual prepayment, and small teams regularly pay for seats and history they barely touch. The alternatives below either give you unlimited history free, undercut Slack’s per-seat price by two-thirds or more, or fold team chat into a suite you’re already paying for.

Quick-pick comparison

1. Microsoft Teams — best if you’re already on Microsoft 365

For organizations on Microsoft 365, Teams is the path of least resistance: chat is effectively a marginal cost of a suite you already pay for. The free tier gives unlimited chat plus 60-minute group meetings for 100 people, and Teams Essentials starts from $4 per user per month on annual billing (note Microsoft announced M365 price adjustments in 2026, so confirm current rates). The real value is the bundle — Business Basic at around $6 per user per month adds web Office apps and 1 TB of OneDrive. Differentiators over Slack: meetings with up to 300 participants versus Slack’s huddle orientation, and deep Office integration. The trade-off: it’s heavyweight and clunky compared to Slack’s snappier chat, and it’s built for the Microsoft world.

2. Google Chat — best bundled with Google Workspace

Google Chat is free for individual Google users, and business use runs through Google Workspace from $7 per user per month on annual billing (Business Starter), which also covers Gmail, Drive, Docs, Meet, and pooled storage. Its biggest structural advantage over Slack: no 90-day history wall — message history is kept per your organization’s retention settings, not time-boxed on the free tier. Native integration with Gmail, Docs, and Drive beats Slack’s bolt-on apps for teams that already live in Google. The trade-off: the interface is simpler and the third-party app ecosystem is much thinner than Slack’s 2,600-plus directory.

3. Pumble — the cheapest like-for-like switch

Pumble is the closest thing to Slack’s chat experience with a genuinely free tier: unlimited users, unlimited searchable message history, 10 GB of workspace storage, one-on-one voice and video calls, and even 24/7 human support — free. Paid plans start at $2.49 per user per month on annual billing, roughly a third of Slack Pro. That unlimited-history-free combination is exactly what Slack withholds. The trade-off: the integration library is far smaller than Slack’s, so teams hooked on Slack’s app ecosystem will feel the gap.

4. Discord — best free community platform

Discord’s free tier is unusually generous for work-adjacent use: unlimited message history, always-on voice channels, group video calls, and screen sharing at no cost — communities pay nothing per seat. Nitro ($2.99 to $9.99 per month) is optional and adds perks like 1 GB uploads and 4K streaming rather than unlocking core chat. The always-on voice rooms are something Slack’s Huddles only partially replicate, making Discord natural for voice-first startups and gaming-adjacent teams. The trade-off: it lacks enterprise admin controls, SSO, and compliance tooling, and threaded search is capped at roughly the 10,000 most recent messages.

5. Mattermost — best for regulated teams that need data control

Mattermost is the pick when data residency matters: the free self-hosted edition costs $0 and runs on your own servers, which is a non-starter in Slack’s cloud-only world for defense, healthcare, and government teams. Paid plans start at $10 per user per month for Professional, with compliance-grade admin tooling — granular retention and eDiscovery — in a familiar Slack-like channel and threads interface. The trade-off: self-hosting requires real IT resources, and the free tier caps history at roughly 10,000 messages per channel per recent comparisons.

6. Rocket.Chat — best open-source all-rounder

Rocket.Chat offers a free Starter tier with self-managed hosting for up to 50 users and unlimited chat and file history, plus a fully open-source Community Edition for unlimited users — you own the server and the data, unlike Slack’s SaaS-only model. Paid Pro starts at $8 per user per month on annual billing. It also packs features Slack lacks: built-in Matrix federation and omnichannel customer-messaging capabilities. The trade-off: the free tier is self-hosted only (no free cloud option), and scaling past about 50 users pushes you toward paid tiers.

7. Chanty — best chat plus tasks in one app

Chanty bundles task management into team chat: any message converts to a task with an assignee and due date, so small teams can skip a separate Asana or Trello. The free plan covers up to 5 team members with unlimited searchable message history, 20 GB of team storage, one-on-one calls, and 10 integrations, and Business is $3 per user per month on annual billing. That unlimited-history-free tier again answers Slack’s 90-day cap. The trade-off: the integration library is small, and 5 users on free means teams outgrow it quickly.

8. Zoho Cliq — best cheap paid entry for Zoho users

Zoho Cliq is one of the cheapest paid entries of any Slack alternative: the free plan covers unlimited users with 100 GB of file storage, and paid tiers run $18 per month for up to 25 users (Standard), or about $2–4 per user for Pro and Enterprise — cents on Slack’s dollar. Deep native integration with Zoho CRM, Projects, and the rest of the Zoho suite makes it natural for existing Zoho shops. The trade-off: outside the Zoho ecosystem it’s unremarkable, and Zoho has restructured these tiers before, so confirm the current plan layout on their pricing page.

Verdict

Start with what you already pay for: Microsoft 365 teams get Teams, Google Workspace teams get Chat — both beat Slack’s free tier on history and cost you nothing extra. For a straight Slack replacement on a budget, Pumble is the closest like-for-like at a third of the price with unlimited history free. Discord wins for free communities, Mattermost and Rocket.Chat for self-hosted and open-source control, Chanty for tiny teams that want tasks built in, and Zoho Cliq for the cheapest paid seat in a Zoho shop.

FAQ

Which Slack alternative has unlimited message history free?

Pumble (unlimited users and history), Chanty (up to 5 users), and Discord all offer unlimited history on their free tiers. Google Chat keeps history per your organization’s retention settings with no time cap, while Slack’s free plan cuts off at 90 days.

What’s the cheapest paid Slack alternative?

Zoho Cliq’s paid tiers work out to under $2 per user per month, and Pumble Pro starts at $2.49 per user on annual billing. Both are roughly a third or less of Slack Pro’s $7.25 per user.

Can I self-host a Slack alternative?

Yes — Mattermost (free self-hosted edition), Rocket.Chat (open-source Community Edition), and Zulip all offer self-hosted options where you keep all data on your own infrastructure. None of Slack’s paid plans offer self-hosting.

Is Microsoft Teams really free?

Teams has a genuinely free tier with unlimited chat and 60-minute group meetings. The cheapest paid option, Teams Essentials, starts from $4 per user per month — but note Microsoft announced 2026 price adjustments, so check their official pricing page for current rates.

Prices checked Oct 9, 2026 — verify before buying, plans change often.