Slack vs Microsoft Teams: which one fits a small remote team

The honest answer to “Slack or Teams?” is usually decided before anyone opens a pricing page. If your company already pays for Microsoft 365, Teams is sitting in the licence and the question becomes whether Slack is worth paying for on top. If you run on Google Workspace or a mix of tools, Slack is the more natural fit and Teams Essentials is the budget challenger.

This comparison sets out what each vendor publishes about price, history, guests, integrations and meetings, so you can make that call with the numbers in front of you.

How we compared

We read both vendors’ own pricing, plan comparison and help pages and compared them on four things that matter to a 10 to 200 person remote or hybrid team: which suite you already pay for, integrations, guest and external access, and meeting limits. Prices checked 4 November 2026 on each vendor’s own pricing page. They change; check before you buy.

Side by side

Figures from Slack pricing, Slack huddles, Slack guests, Microsoft Teams plan comparison, Teams Essentials, Teams free.

Cost: the suite you already pay for

For a 20-person team, list prices work out like this (annual billing, before tax):

• Slack Pro: 20 × US$7.25 × 12 = US$1,740 a year.
• Teams Essentials: 20 × US$4 × 12 = US$960 a year.
• Microsoft 365 Business Basic: 20 × US$7 × 12 = US$1,680 a year, which includes business email and web versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint as well as Teams.

That last line is why Teams wins so many small-company decisions. If you need business email anyway, Business Basic costs less than Slack Pro alone. If you’re already on Google Workspace for email and docs, the comparison flips: Teams Essentials is cheap, but you would be running two ecosystems side by side.

Two billing details matter. Slack offers monthly billing on Pro and Business+, so a trial year doesn’t lock you in. Microsoft’s business plans are annual subscriptions that auto-renew, with a seven-day window for a prorated refund after a paid subscription starts.

Integrations and AI

Slack’s pitch has always been the app directory, and the numbers on each vendor’s page back that up: Slack cites 2,600+ apps, Microsoft lists over 250 integrated business apps for its business plans. If your team’s day runs on notifications from a CRM, a ticketing tool, GitHub and a dozen small services, Slack is the safer bet. The free plan caps you at 10 apps, which most active teams outgrow fast.

On AI, Slack says AI features are included in its plans, with the most on Business+ and Enterprise+, and it doesn’t list a separate AI add-on price. Microsoft sells Copilot in two ways: built into Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot, or as the Microsoft 365 Copilot Business add-on, listed at US$18 per user per month (down from US$21) on an annual commitment under a promotion that runs to 31 December 2026. Teams Premium is a separate US$10 per user per month add-on.

Guests and external access

Both handle contractors and clients, but differently.

Slack’s guest model is precise. Guests are a paid-plan feature. Single-channel guests are free, up to five for each paid member, and multi-channel guests are billed as regular members. Slack Connect lets you share channels with other companies; paid plans allow group external conversations with up to 250 organisations, while the free plan allows one-to-one external messages only.

Microsoft lists guest access on its business plans, and the Teams Essentials page describes unlimited chat including guest access. The comparison page also lists chat between work and personal accounts. For a team that works with lots of freelancers who have personal Microsoft accounts, that is convenient.

If you spend half your week in shared channels with agencies or clients, check which tool those partners already use. External collaboration works best when both sides are on the same platform.

Meetings

Teams is a meetings product first. Every business plan on Microsoft’s comparison includes meetings of up to 300 participants and up to 30 hours, with recordings and transcripts. Business Basic and Standard add live captions in over 30 languages (Essentials lists English only), and Business Standard adds webinar hosting with registration.

Slack huddles are designed for quick, informal calls rather than scheduled meetings: up to 50 participants on paid plans, with video for 25 at once. Most Slack teams also pay for a separate meeting tool. Count that in the price if you’re comparing totals.

Pick Slack if

• You’re on Google Workspace or a mix of tools, and you don’t want to add a second suite.
• Your team relies on lots of third-party integrations.
• You work in shared channels with other companies that are already on Slack.
• You want monthly billing while you’re still deciding.

Pick Teams if

• You already pay for Microsoft 365, or you need business email and documents anyway.
• Meetings are a big part of your week and you want them in the same tool as chat.
• Cost per seat is the deciding factor: Teams Essentials is the cheapest paid option here.
• Your team has fewer than 300 people and plans to stay that way for a while.

Also consider

• Google Chat: included in every Google Workspace plan, from US$7 per user per month on flexible billing. Best if you’re already on Gmail and Drive.
• Zulip: topic-based threads that suit async teams across time zones; Cloud Standard is US$6.67 per user per month billed annually, and it can be self-hosted.
• Pumble: a free plan with unlimited users and unlimited message history; paid plans from US$2.49 per seat per month billed annually.

More options, including self-hosted tools, are in our list of Slack alternatives for small teams.

The decision note for your wiki

Whichever you choose, write the decision down. It saves a repeat debate in 18 months. If you’re setting expectations for how people use it, our guide to managing remote teams without micromanaging and the job-by-job async tools map are good companions.

DECISION: Team chat tool
Date: ________   Decided by: ________   Review date: ________

We chose: [Slack / Microsoft Teams]
Plan and price: ________ per user/month, billed [monthly/annually]
Why:
  1. Suite we already pay for: ________
  2. Integrations we need: ________
  3. Guests/external partners: ________
What we gave up: ________
Meeting tool (if separate): ________
Exit plan: export method ________, notice period ________