Slack vs Microsoft Teams vs Google Chat (2026)
Slack Business+ raised from $12.50 to $15/user/month (June 2025). New Enterprise+ plan introduced. Slack AI add-on discontinued — AI now bundled into paid plans. Teams and Google Chat remain effectively free with M365 and Workspace subscriptions.
Slack Business+ raised from $12.50 to $15/user/month (June 2025 increase). Slack AI add-on discontinued — AI features now bundled: conversation summaries and huddle notes on all paid plans, advanced AI on Business+. New Enterprise+ plan introduced. Teams and Google Chat pricing unchanged — both remain included with M365 and Google Workspace subscriptions.
- Slack — Best for startups and dev teams. Free (90-day history). Pro $7.25/user/month. Business+ now $15/user/month (raised from $12.50). 2,600+ integrations. AI summaries now bundled into all paid plans.
- Microsoft Teams — Best for Microsoft 365 organizations. Often free with existing M365 subscription. Essentials $4/user, M365 Business Basic $6/user. Strongest video meeting capabilities (1,000+ participants).
- Google Chat — Best for Google Workspace organizations. Included from $6/user/month (Business Starter). Cleanest interface. Native Google Docs, Drive, and Meet integration. Gemini AI built in.
| Your Situation | Best Fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Your team already pays for Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Teams (free with M365) | Teams is included — adding Slack costs $7.25+/user/month extra |
| Your team already pays for Google Workspace | Google Chat (free with Workspace) | Chat is included — adding Slack costs $7.25+/user/month extra |
| You are a startup or dev team with GitHub/Jira/PagerDuty workflows | Slack Pro $7.25 | 2,600+ integrations, best developer tool ecosystem |
| You need large video meetings (100+ participants) | Microsoft Teams | Best-in-class video (1,000+ participants), included with M365 |
| You saw Slack Business+ listed at $12.50/user | Verify pricing | Business+ raised to $15/user/month (June 2025). Slack AI now bundled in. |
| You want Gemini AI built into your messaging tool | Google Chat | Gemini AI integrated natively across Workspace including Chat |
| You need the simplest possible messaging interface | Google Chat | Cleanest, least cluttered interface of the three |
True Cost Calculator
All three charge per user. Teams and Google Chat are bundled with their respective productivity suites — if you already pay for M365 or Workspace, those are your baseline. Slack is always a separate subscription.
Slack: Pro $7.25 · Business+ $15/user (raised from $12.50 June 2025, AI now bundled) · Enterprise+ custom. Teams: Essentials $4 · M365 Business Basic $6 · Standard $12.50. Google Workspace: Starter $6 · Standard $12 · Plus $18. All annual billing. Verified May 2026.
Key Stats (May 2026)
At a Glance
Messaging-first platform. 2,600+ integrations. Business+ raised to $15/user (was $12.50). AI now bundled into all paid plans.
- 2,600+ app integrations — best developer tool ecosystem (GitHub, Jira, PagerDuty)
- Best channel organization, threading, and message search
- AI summaries and huddle notes now included on all paid plans
- Business+ ($15): advanced AI including recaps, translations, workflow generation, Salesforce AI
- Most beloved by developers, startups, and SaaS companies
- Slack Connect: collaborate with external organizations in shared channels
- Business+ raised from $12.50 to $15/user/month (June 2025 — 20% increase)
- Standalone subscription — no productivity suite included at base price
- Free plan: only 90 days of searchable history — older messages locked
- Huddles (audio/video) less polished than Teams video meetings
- Gets expensive at scale vs Teams/Google Chat which bundle with their suites
Best for M365 organizations. Included with Business Basic $6/user. Strongest video meetings (1,000+ participants). Copilot AI on higher plans.
- Included in all Microsoft 365 subscriptions — no extra cost if already paying for M365
- Best video meetings: up to 1,000 participants, breakout rooms, recording, live events
- Deep SharePoint, OneDrive, and Office 365 document collaboration
- Co-editing Word, Excel, PowerPoint directly within Teams channels
- Phone system capabilities on Business Voice and Enterprise plans
- Microsoft Copilot AI on M365 Business Standard and above
- Most complex and cluttered interface — steepest learning curve of the three
- Performance can lag with large teams, many channels, or low-spec machines
- Significantly less suitable for non-Microsoft environments
- Integration ecosystem smaller than Slack (1,000+ vs 2,600+)
Cleanest interface. Included with Google Workspace from $6/user. Native Google Docs/Drive/Meet integration. Gemini AI built in across all Workspace plans.
- Included in all Google Workspace plans — no extra cost if already on Workspace
- Cleanest, simplest interface of the three — easiest onboarding
- Native Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, and Meet integration
- Gemini AI integrated natively across all Workspace plans including Chat
- Google Meet in Workspace Starter: 100-participant meetings with recording (Standard+)
- Best for hybrid remote teams deeply embedded in Google Workspace
- Fewer third-party integrations than Slack — weaker outside Google ecosystem
- Limited standalone product if not already using Google Workspace
- Google Meet capped at 100 participants on Starter (500 on Standard) vs Teams’ 1,000
- Less suitable for developer tool workflows vs Slack’s 2,600+ app ecosystem
At-a-Glance Scorecard
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Slack | Microsoft Teams | Google Chat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | ✓ Unlimited messages, 90-day history | ✓ Basic free + included in M365 | ✓ Free with Google account |
| Starting paid price | Pro $7.25/user/month (annual) | Essentials $4/user · M365 Basic $6/user | ✓ Business Starter $6/user (Workspace) |
| Mid-tier price | Business+ $15/user (raised from $12.50) | M365 Business Standard $12.50/user | Workspace Standard $12/user |
| App integrations | ✓ 2,600+ (best) | 1,000+ | Hundreds |
| AI features (2026) | Summaries + huddle notes on all paid · Advanced AI on Business+ | Microsoft Copilot on M365 Standard+ | ✓ Gemini AI included all Workspace plans |
| Video meetings | Huddles (audio-first, up to 50) | ✓ Best — 1,000 participants | Google Meet: 100 (Starter), 500 (Standard) |
| Productivity suite bundled | ✗ Standalone only | ✓ Full M365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive) | ✓ Full Google Workspace (Docs, Drive, Gmail) |
| Best ecosystem | Dev tools: GitHub, Jira, PagerDuty, Datadog | Microsoft: SharePoint, Azure, Office | Google: Docs, Drive, Gmail, YouTube |
Verified Pricing (May 2026)
Key 2026 update: Slack raised Business+ from $12.50 to $15/user/month in June 2025, and bundled AI into paid plans (discontinuing the separate Slack AI add-on). Teams and Google Chat pricing is unchanged — both remain included in their respective productivity suites at no additional per-user cost.
| Plan | Slack | Microsoft Teams | Google Chat (Workspace) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Unlimited messages · 90-day history · 1:1 audio/video · 10 integrations | Meetings up to 60 min · basic chat · 5GB storage | Full Chat features · Google Meet (basic) · 15GB Drive storage |
| Entry paid | Pro $7.25/user/month annual · 12-month history · AI summaries + huddle notes · unlimited integrations | Essentials $4/user · Teams only, no Office apps · 300-participant meetings | Business Starter $6/user · Workspace (Chat + Gmail + Docs + Drive + Meet 100 pax) |
| Mid tier | Business+ $15/user (raised from $12.50, June 2025) · advanced AI (recaps, translations, Salesforce) · SSO · compliance exports | M365 Business Standard $12.50/user · Office desktop apps · 300-participant meetings · webinar hosting | Workspace Standard $12/user · Meet recording · attendance tracking · 500-participant meetings |
| Advanced/Enterprise | Enterprise+ custom · enterprise search · full AI + advanced governance | M365 Business Premium $22/user · advanced security · Intune device management | Business Plus $18/user · eDiscovery · 500-participant meetings · enhanced compliance |
| Watch out for | Business+ raised from $12.50→$15 (20% increase, June 2025). Slack AI add-on discontinued — AI now in Business+ base price. Free plan 90-day history limit: older messages become inaccessible to search without upgrade. At 100 users, Slack Pro costs $725/month vs $0 incremental for Teams with M365. | Free plan caps meetings at 60 minutes — not suitable for most business meetings. Teams performance degrades noticeably with large teams and complex channel structures. Full Office desktop apps require Business Standard ($12.50) or higher — Business Basic ($6) is browser-only. Microsoft Copilot AI (M365 Copilot) requires M365 E3 or E5 licensing, not included in standard Business plans. | Business Starter ($6) caps Google Meet at 100 participants and doesn't include meeting recording — need Standard ($12) for recording. Business Starter and Standard are capped at 300 users. Enterprise plans required for organizations over 300 users. Gemini AI available on all plans but deeper capabilities require Business Standard or higher. |
The Full Picture
Slack — Integration King, AI Now Bundled, Business+ Now $15
Slack pioneered modern team messaging and its integration ecosystem remains unmatched at 2,600+ apps. For development teams, the GitHub, Jira, PagerDuty, and Datadog integrations alone justify the subscription — these integrations replace entire monitoring workflows and significantly reduce context switching. Channel-based organization, threading, and search are the best of the three platforms. Slack Connect (available on paid plans) lets you collaborate securely with external organizations in shared channels, useful for agencies, vendors, and partners.
June 2025 was a significant pricing and packaging update. Business+ moved from $12.50 to $15/user/month (a 20% increase), but Slack bundled the previously separate Slack AI add-on directly into Business+ as compensation. The Slack AI add-on is no longer available for separate purchase. AI conversation summaries and huddle notes are now included on all paid plans (Pro and above), making Slack’s AI value proposition more accessible. A new Enterprise+ plan was introduced for the largest organizations, covering enterprise-wide AI search and advanced governance.
The persistent cost argument against Slack: for any organization already paying for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, Teams and Google Chat have zero marginal cost. At 100 users, Slack Pro adds $725/month on top of whatever you already pay for productivity software. The ROI calculation depends on whether Slack’s integration depth and messaging UX deliver enough value to justify that incremental spend — for dev-heavy teams, typically yes; for Microsoft-first enterprises, typically no.
Microsoft Teams — Video Meetings Champion, Deep Microsoft Integration
Microsoft Teams is the default for any organization running on Microsoft 365 — and for good reason. It’s included at no extra cost in every M365 Business and Enterprise plan, from Business Basic ($6/user) upward. For video meetings, Teams is best-in-class: up to 1,000 participants, breakout rooms, live captions, meeting recording, and integration with Teams Rooms for physical conference rooms. The collaboration features around Office documents are unmatched — co-editing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint directly within Teams channels eliminates the version chaos of email attachments.
Teams’ main weakness is interface complexity. The app is feature-dense in a way that’s initially overwhelming for new users. Performance can lag with large teams, complex channel structures, or on lower-specification hardware. The notification system is notoriously difficult to configure well. These UX frustrations are widely documented and remain the platform’s most common complaint even among committed Microsoft organizations. That said, these are manageable with training and configuration — and the economic case for staying on Teams when you already pay for M365 is very strong.
Microsoft Copilot AI in Teams is available on M365 Business Standard and above, and provides AI-generated meeting recaps, action items, chat summaries, and natural-language document queries. For organizations already on M365, it adds meaningful AI capability without a separate subscription.
Google Chat — Cleanest Interface, Gemini AI Native, Workspace Native
Google Chat is the simplest of the three. Its clean, minimal interface integrates naturally with Gmail, Google Docs, Drive, and Google Meet without the complexity that characterizes Teams. For hybrid teams that spend most of their work in Google Workspace, Chat reduces context-switching and keeps communication, documents, and video calls in one ecosystem. Like Teams, Chat is included in Google Workspace plans from $6/user/month (Business Starter) — there is no incremental cost for Chat if you already pay for Workspace.
Gemini AI is the 2026 story for Google Chat. Google has integrated Gemini across all Workspace plans, including the basic Business Starter tier, making it the most accessible AI integration of the three platforms at the entry price point. Gemini in Chat can summarize conversations, draft messages, create meeting notes, and assist with document-related tasks directly within the Chat interface. This is meaningfully different from Slack (where AI is in paid Business+ at $15) and Teams (where Copilot AI requires Business Standard or higher).
Outside the Google ecosystem, Chat’s limitations become more apparent. Third-party integrations number in the hundreds, far below Slack’s 2,600+. Google Meet on Starter is capped at 100 participants and doesn’t include recording — you need Business Standard ($12/user) for recording and 500-participant meetings. For organizations where developer tool integration depth matters, or where large-scale video meetings are frequent, Slack or Teams will be the stronger choice.
Who Should Use Each Tool?
Choose Slack if…
- You are a startup, SaaS company, or developer-heavy team
- GitHub, Jira, PagerDuty, or Datadog integrations are core to your workflow
- You don’t already pay for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace
- Team culture values async communication, threading, and search
- Advanced AI on Business+ ($15) is worth paying for separately
Choose Microsoft Teams if…
- Your organization already uses Microsoft 365
- Large-scale video meetings (100+ participants) are frequent
- Deep Office document collaboration and SharePoint matter
- Phone system capabilities are a requirement
- Enterprise IT governance, compliance, and device management are priorities
Choose Google Chat if…
- Your organization uses Google Workspace
- You want the simplest, cleanest messaging interface
- Gmail, Google Docs, and Drive are your primary work tools
- Gemini AI included at no extra cost matters to your team
- You want to reduce tool complexity and stay within one ecosystem
Best Tool by Use Case
Hidden Costs & Gotchas
Slack — Business+ raised from $12.50 to $15/user/month (June 2025)
Slack raised Business+ pricing by 20% in June 2025 — from $12.50 to $15/user/month (annual). The price increase was packaged alongside bundling advanced AI features (previously sold as a separate Slack AI add-on) directly into Business+. Any comparison, proposal, or budget showing Business+ at $12.50 is using pre-June 2025 pricing and should be updated. The Pro plan at $7.25/user/month was not raised.
Slack — 90-day free plan history limit compounds over time
Slack’s free plan limits message search to the last 90 days. Messages, files, and decisions older than 90 days become effectively invisible — searchable but inaccessible to read. For small teams making decisions in Slack channels, this creates institutional memory loss as the workspace grows. When teams finally upgrade to Pro for full history access, they discover the previous 12 months are available — but not everything beyond that window.
Teams — Free plan caps meetings at 60 minutes
The Microsoft Teams free plan limits group meetings to 60 minutes. This is a hard cap — the call automatically ends. For any substantive business meeting, the free plan is insufficient. Teams Essentials at $4/user/month removes this limit and supports 300-participant meetings, but doesn’t include Office apps. Business Basic at $6/user/month adds OneDrive storage and browser-based Office access. Desktop Office apps require Business Standard ($12.50/user).
Google Chat — Starter plan caps meetings at 100 participants, no recording
Google Workspace Business Starter ($6/user) caps Google Meet at 100 participants and does not include meeting recording. If your team regularly hosts large calls or needs to record meetings for async viewing, you need Business Standard ($12/user) for 500-participant meetings with recording and attendance tracking. Business Starter and Standard are also capped at 300 organizational users — enterprises with over 300 users need Enterprise plans.
All three — AI features have different access models
AI access varies significantly: Google Chat includes Gemini AI across all Workspace plans from Starter ($6/user) — most accessible. Slack includes AI summaries and huddle notes on all paid plans (Pro at $7.25) but advanced AI requires Business+ ($15/user). Microsoft Copilot AI in Teams requires M365 Business Standard ($12.50+) for basic features, and the full M365 Copilot AI assistant requires a separate $30/user/month add-on license on top of an M365 E3 or E5 subscription.
Slack vs Teams/Chat — The marginal cost argument
For any organization already paying for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, Teams or Google Chat has zero marginal cost — they’re included. Adding Slack costs $7.25/user/month (Pro) on top. At 50 users that’s $362/month extra ($4,350/year). At 200 users, $1,450/month ($17,400/year). Slack’s value proposition must clear that bar — and for organizations whose workflows don’t rely on Slack’s developer integrations, that’s a difficult case to make.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Slack free forever?
What happened to the Slack AI add-on?
Is Microsoft Teams free?
Which is better: Slack or Teams?
Can Slack replace email?
Ready to Pick Your Team Communication Tool?
All three offer free plans. If you already pay for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, Teams or Google Chat is free — Slack is a separate subscription from $7.25/user/month.