How Is Slack Different from Microsoft Teams? [2024]

Introduction

Slack and Microsoft Teams are two of the most popular cloud platforms for professional collaboration. Both were developed to help workplaces increase productivity. They offer tools that allow employees to communicate with one another, share files, organize projects, work together as a team, and so much more. But many companies have been looking into what a Slack to Teams migration would imply since the announcement of Microsoft Teams. What exactly sets them apart? Which one should you choose for your business?

Look at the major differences between Slack and MS Teams to find where each collaboration platform excels and decide which best fits your company.

Pricing Model

There are free plans available on both platforms. However, if you want to get the most out of Slack and Microsoft Teams, you should upgrade to a premium membership. Business Essentials is the most affordable Office 365 plan that includes Teams. It costs $5 per user per month to get started, and it must be paid annually.

The Standard Slack plan costs $6.67 per user each month and is payable annually. If you consider Microsoft Teams, you will pay $5 and gain access to Office 365, making the pricing strategy even more beneficial.

Both Slack and Microsoft Teams upgrade plans cost $12.50 per user each month. However, Teams comes with Office 365 included with the same plan cost.

Integration with Office 365 Productivity Apps

Microsoft Teams has the edge over Slack as it is included in the Microsoft 365 subscription packages allowing employees to work together within one window to strengthen teamwork. This means MS Teams connects with instant messaging, document collaboration, email, video chat, and cloud storage solutions in one place, enhancing your teamwork every day.

Your entire business can stay focused and in the loop by using just one solution to schedule meetings, handle projects, exchange files, and interact with other members of your team. Unlike other collaboration platforms that exist outside of your key business systems, Microsoft Teams makes every discussion, meeting, and file instantly searchable and accessible easy always.

Security and Compliance

Data security and compliance are essential for managing and protecting company-sensitive information against theft or accidental damage. Slack and Microsoft Teams plans include key security features like two-factor authentication. Slack, like Microsoft Teams, is ISO 27001 compliant. On both platforms, you’ll also have end-to-end encryption and a variety of controls over who gets access to what data. However, Microsoft Teams is slightly more advanced with better information management, access control, and security. Advanced Threat Protection Feature of Microsoft 365 protects Teams from harmful content being uploaded and saved in MS Teams.

Which Collaboration Platform is Best for Your Business?

Slack and Microsoft Teams will help businesses communicate and connect in the age of remote and hybrid work. These collaboration tools let users send messages, make audio and video calls, and perform other tasks. And deciding on the best platform is entirely reliant on the company’s needs.

Microsoft Teams is ideal if your company already uses and pays for Office 365 Business. It has many of the same capabilities as Slack, and because you’re already paying for it, a pro plan won’t cost you anything additional.

In case if you are one among such companies that migrated recently from traditional cloud storage to any other cloud-based productivity suite. Let’s say migrated from Dropbox to Google Drive, or if you use Google Drive extensively in your company, Slack is likely to be a better alternative.