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Slack vs. Teams: Which Communication and Collaboration Tool to Use

by Gaurav Bidasaria

Slack is probably the most popular team communication and collaboration tool in the market right now. But all that may change with the launch of Teams by Microsoft. Slack has a first mover advantage here and a large user base under its belt. From SMBs to MNCs, Slack is used and loved by all. In fact, at TechWiser, we use Slack all the time. Slack is valued at over $7.1 billion right now and at one point, rumor has that Microsoft was considering buy it before they decided to build their own app- Teams.

So how do you enter a market and make a name and place for yourself that is already dominated? How do you disrupt the disruptor? Microsoft seems to have the answer. They are offering more features in the free plan to entice new users hoping they will choose to upgrade rather than change base at a later stage.

Let’s take a look at what Slack and Teams have to offer, how they are similar and how they differ, and which one is more suitable for you, the end user.

Also Read: How to Send Self-Destructing Messages on Slack

Slack vs. Teams

1. User Interface and Experience

Slack has a clean UI that is very easy to navigate and move around. All the chats, personal and team, are neatly organized in the sidebar. Once you choose whom you want to communicate with, you can do so from the main window. More than one slack accounts? You can switch from the menu icon easily.  There is a handy search bar at the top and you can work with 3rd party apps by clicking on the ‘+’ icon near the message bar. If you are new, you will feel right at home.

slack vs. teams comparison 1

Teams has adopted the tried and tested layout with channels and team members appearing in the sidebar and conversation in the main window. A search bar at the top and some handy shortcuts like chat, files, and help in the extreme left.

slack vs. teams comparison 2

 

Slack offers a number of themes that you can choose from but Teams has only three options. One is the default and the other two are dark and contrast. The last one is more suitable for people with vision problems.

There are some additional tabs available like Wiki under Activity and Files in the sidebar. We will discuss these options later but for now, Teams has an equally functional and well-designed layout which offers a good experience.

2. Teams, Channels, Conversations

This is where most of the action takes place. Where you communicate ideas and discuss deadlines.

Both Slack and Teams allow you to create teams inside which you then create channels for different topics or areas of interest or products. You then add members to this team who can either chat directly one-to-one or share stuff in channels which acts as a group.

Both slack and Teams handle global search similarly however commands works differently. In Slack, you can use commands in the conversation text while in Teams, you can use commands in the Search bar.

slack vs. teams comparison 3

This matters because to use commands in Slack, you need to go to Slackbot channel whereas in Teams, you can use commands anywhere because the search bar is present on all screens.

slack vs. teams comparison 4

To format text in Slack, you will have to use keyboard shortcuts or know simple formatting steps. For example, select text and press Ctrl+B or insert * at the beginning and end of the word.

slack vs. teams comparison 5

Teams offers WYSIWYG editor which makes it dead simple for users who are not so computer-savvy. Also, there are more formatting options available like font size and color, table, and para options which are missing in Slack.

slack vs. teams comparison 6

You can share files in both Slack and Teams and they are easily accessible. You can access it from the menu in Slack while in Teams, there is a separate tab named Files which makes it quick and easy to access.

slack vs. teams comparison 7

In Teams, every channel has a unique email ID which is super convenient. You can now forward emails directly to a channel for members to see. This can save so much time as emails are still relevant and very much used.

So far, Teams is better designed than Slack. Microsoft recognized some of the irks of Slack and incorporated them in their design process. Files and commands are more accessible and WYSIWYG editor is a welcome feature.

3. App Integrations and Bots

This is a big one and a really important factor in deciding whether you will be choosing Slack or Teams. Slack works with major project management apps like Asana, cloud storage sites like Drive and Dropbox, and more. The API has been designed to scale and there is a long list of supported apps that you can find through here. These integrations are what makes Slack really powerful useful.

When Teams was initially launched, there were limited choices. Everyone knew it was going to support Office 365 by default, but what about other apps? Soon, third-party integrations followed and now there are over 180 which is still less than Slack but frankly, quite a lot. Most of the popular choices I mentioned above there.

Slack vs. Teams 9

Both Slack and Teams also support Zapier which itself works with numerous other apps.

Same way, Slack has a directory of bots that you can add to channels which will then take the load off of your shoulders. You can rely on these bots to do certain tasks when certain conditions are met. Same way, Teams comes with its own set of bots that you can deploy to take care of conversations and employees.

Also Read: Best Slack Apps That Will Make Your Communication Effective

Teams take the lead here. See, Slack comes with a default bot called Slackbot that will answer questions for you. Like what you can do and how to use and so on. You can use it to send commands too. Teams have two separate bots. The first one is T-Bot which works exactly like the Slackbot. Microsoft offers two ways to use T-Bot. You can either have a conversation with it, again like Slackbot, or you can go for the usual search and discover interface which will work like Cortana. Think of it as a UI enhancement.

Slack vs. Teams 10

The second one is WhoBot. See the above screenshot. This one is for working with employees, the lifeline of your organization. Using WhoBot, you can pull different types of information about employees like department,  package, role, hierarchy in the company and so on. This is very useful for people management.

If you have a developer in the house, Slack and Teams have tutorials that you can use to build your own bots. How about that?

4. Other Features

Teams has a lot of cool and nifty features that are hiding in plain sight. For example, when you initiate a video call, there is an option to blur the background. You may want to blur it to maintain the privacy or remove distractions. Memes are cool and both the apps support them however with Teams, you can also create your own memes.

Talking about Privacy, both Slack and Team are GDPR compliant.

Teams has a really functional UI that differs from Slack in small but useful ways. Take the tabs for example. You can create a tab for a note where you can jot down important stuff that you can’t afford to forget. A tab can be anything. It can be used to display rich content and data from the web or an app that the users can interact and work with directly in its own space. Here is a tab with a PowerPoint presentation.

Slack vs. Teams 11

By default, Teams has a Wiki tab that we saw earlier in the screenshots. This is powerful. You can use it to write FAQs or guidelines for the users to follow and adhere to. This can reduce unnecessary back and forth conversation with employees who are looking for help on trivial matters.

Also Read: 22 Slack Slash Commands for Power Users

5. Platforms and Pricing

Slack is free for upto 10,000 searchable messages with 10 app integrations allowed for teams. You can make voice and video calls but only 1-on-1. Cloud space is capped at 5GB. Teams also has a free version but it offers more. You cannot add more than 300 people in a team. If you follow that rule, you get unlimited searchable messages, no limit on app integrations, 10GB cloud storage restricted to 2GB per user, and group audio and video calling.

Slack’s Standard plan will cost $8 per user per month and remove apps and messages restrictions. You can now make group calls with screen sharing. The plus plan will cost you $15 per user per month and offer more admin control and SSO.

The free version of Teams is not connected to Office 365. If you want more, you will have to subscribe for Office 365 plans which will not only give you access to Teams and but all the other apps that Microsoft has developed over the years. Office 365 Business plans begin at $6 per user per month and Enterprise plans begins at $8. If you pay $10 per user per month in the Business plan, you also get desktop apps for all Office 365 apps and not just Teams.

Both Teams and Slack are available on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Web. However, Slack is also available for Linux, but Team is not at the moment.

Slack vs. Teams: Comparison Table

Slack Teams
Direct messages Yes
 Yes
Searchable Messages Free up to 10,000 Unlimited
Group Chat
Yes
 Yes
Video/Audio Calls
Free
Free
Group Video Calls
Paid
Free
Apps
Free up to 10 Apps Unlimited
Cloud Storage
5GB
10GB
Platforms
Android, iOS, Windows,
macOS, Linux, and Web
Android, iOS, Windows,
macOS, and Web
Price
Free, $8/month/user Free, $6/month/user

Closing Words: Microsoft Is Winning

Microsoft has gained a lead not only in terms of the number of customers it has under its belt but also in terms of features. The free plan of Teams offers so much more and when you look at the prices, Slack is not only more expensive, but Teams has the added advantage of being an Office 365 product which brings a host of other apps to manage work.

If your company uses Microsoft Office, then Teams is a better choice. Slack on the other hand has more integrations and better suited if use Google Docs alot.

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