Microsoft Teams and Slack are the leading collaboration platforms used by millions for working remotely and efficiently. These online collaboration apps can help your team get the work done, but you have to consider the different features they offer. Continue reading to learn more about Microsoft Teams vs Slack to give you clear insights and to help you choose which workspace is best for you.
What is Microsoft Teams?
Microsoft Teams was launched in 2017 undeniably as Slack’s competitor. It is a collaboration app that lets your team stay organized and have conversations.
By using Microsoft Teams, you are able to hold meetings, share files, make private calls, and more. This app also integrates Microsoft Office 365 with all its productivity tools.
What is Slack?
Slack has been in the market since 2013 and offers the same collaborative functions as Microsoft Teams. Some may prefer this over other workspace apps since it has been launched first with the goal to replace emails with organized chats through different channels.
Slack also allows your team to communicate instantly through chats or video calls using Slack Calls or utilize your team’s favorite tools, like Google Hangouts, Zoom, Skype for Business, or Webex.
Microsoft Teams vs. Slack
During these times where we are forced to work remotely, it is essential for you to get a closer look at the features of these collaboration apps to determine which one suits your team more.
Microsoft Teams and Slack are both well-organized, functional, and have almost identical interfaces. However, some may prefer one over the other. Let us dig deeper to know why.
Users
In 2020, Microsoft Teams has gained over 75 million daily active users. On the other hand, Slack falls behind with around 12 million as of their last update in 2019. Teams also have higher app downloads with 2 million in January to March and Slack with 1.02 million.
Aside from the increased demand for an online platform for people working remotely during the pandemic, one of the main reasons why there is a surge of new users of Microsoft Teams is that it comes with Office 365 without an additional cost.
Design
At first glance, the apps have a very similar layout. However, Microsoft Teams display more tabs, thus making Slack look more organized.
Slack also provides you with more options to customize your workspace according to your preference. On the other hand, Microsoft only lets you choose between three pre-existing themes.
Storage
In a free plan, Microsoft Teams provide 2 GB per user and 10GB of shared storage, and 1 TB for an organization in paid plans. Slack provides 5 GB of storage in a free plan, and 10 or 20 GB depending on the plan.
In terms of storage in the free plan, Slack provides more than Microsoft Teams. However, the latter provides more in paid plans.
Guest Access
In terms of guest access, Slack accommodates unlimited guest collaboration in paid plans. While Microsoft Teams only allow a maximum of 5 per account even for paid plans.
Since collaboration is an integral part of an organization, allowing guests in your channels lets your team connect with people in the outside world to get a task or project done.
Guest access in Slack has two types: Single-Channel and Multi-Channel Guests. To get started as a guest, all you need to do is accept the invitation, set up your profile, and you can already join a workspace.
In Microsoft Teams, anyone who has a business account can be added as a guest with access to teams and channel experiences.
Calls
Both apps enable users to make calls with anyone within the organization. However, the people you could include in a call are limited depending on your subscription.
In Slack, you can either choose Slack calls directly or use another integrated app that is set up by an admin. While in Microsoft Teams, you can start calls right away with anyone in the team and even dial any phone number if you are using direct routing feature.
Messages
Sending messages in Microsoft Teams can be more casual than Slack. Teams allow you to send GIFs in chats and even change the font style. Moreover, Microsoft Teams also provides an unlimited archive of messages, while Slack limits them by 10k most recent messages.
In terms of providing a way to retrieve older messages, Microsoft Teams really gets it done for you.
Channel Meetings
Both Microsoft Teams and Slack include this feature. However, if you are hosting a meeting for a large group, Microsoft Teams makes that more possible.
Slack only allows up to 15 people during a meeting even in an upgraded plan. While Microsoft Teams allow 250 people in a meeting, thus making huge collaborations and hosting webinars easier.
Screen sharing
Screen sharing is an essential feature during meetings and presentations, and this feature is available in both apps. However, in Slack, it is not included in a free plan.
In Microsoft Teams, you can easily share your screen and even record your meeting for free.
Task Management
These apps keep everything organized, especially the tasks that are needed to be done. However, both need integration with other tools in order to manage tasks and projects.
Microsoft Teams provide integrations with Office Suite and a few ones from third-party apps, while Slack provides over 800 integrations available. All you have to do is to choose what you need and get started there.
App Integration
As mentioned above, Microsoft Teams as part of the Office Suite already has apps ready to be integrated, but only they are fewer than what Slack has to offer.
In Slack, you can choose which ones to integrate from hundreds of available tools. By giving you more options, you can easily determine which apps are essential to get the tasks started.
Pricing
In terms of a monthly subscription, both plans are available at 12.50 dollars. But, considering that Microsoft Teams comes with Microsoft Office Suite 365 if you have a Business Essentials plan, we can say that it is almost free.
For those who are just getting started, both apps have their free plan that you can use to help you distinguish what suits your team better.
Bots
If you are a Slack user, you are already familiar with Slackbot. It helps you in sending links to yourself of whatever information you need. Microsoft Teams has T-Bot and WhoBot. You can either use a conversational type interface or use the search bar.
Moreover, in Teams’ Who-Bot, you can really see the difference in its complexity. It has access to all of the information within your organization and can answer specific questions about your team.
Platforms
Both apps would work on the following platforms:
- Windows (32-bit) (64-bit) – on Microsoft Store
- MacOS – on the Mac App Store
- Linux (64-bit) – on Snap Store, though Slack also works on DEB 32-bit
- Android
- iOS
Note that both of them can be used as a web-based app and you can access it on any modern browser if you don’t want to consider installing it on your device.
Summary
Microsoft Teams and Slack each have their pros and cons. Determining which one is better highly depends on knowing what you need in a workspace.
For those who are just starting up, Slack provides an easy way to set up a workspace. However, if you already have a subscription to Office Suite 365, it would be more practical to use Microsoft Teams.
Which one do you think is better? Before answering that question, you must give more emphasis on what you need to get the work done.
