No affiliate links or sponsorship. Prices and limits come from Slack’s and Microsoft’s official pages (US dollars), checked October 28, 2026. We didn’t run a hands-on test of either app for this comparison.
Quick answer
Slack vs Microsoft Teams for small teams: choose Teams if you already use, or plan to buy, Microsoft 365, because Teams comes with Business Basic at $7.00 per user per month (paid yearly) alongside Office web apps, email and 1 TB of storage. Choose Slack if chat is the center of your work and you rely on many third-party app integrations. Slack Pro costs $7.25 per user per month billed annually. Slack’s Free plan only shows 90 days of message history, while Teams Essentials, at $4.00 per user per month, is the cheapest paid way to get unlimited group meetings.
Key takeaways
- Cheapest paid option: Microsoft Teams Essentials at $4.00/user/month (paid yearly), with group meetings up to 30 hours and 300 people.
- Bundled value: Microsoft 365 Business Basic ($7.00) adds web and mobile Office apps, custom business email and Teams.
- Slack Pro: $7.25/user/month annually or $8.75 monthly, with unlimited message history and over 2,600 apps in the Slack Marketplace.
- Free plans: Slack Free keeps 90 days of history visible and deletes content older than a year; free Teams (for home use) limits group meetings to 60 minutes.
- Calls: Slack Free huddles are one-to-one only; group huddles need a paid plan.
Our verdict
Choose Microsoft Teams if you want the lowest cost, already live in Word, Excel and Outlook, or need meetings with many people. For most small businesses, Microsoft 365 Business Basic or Standard with Teams is better value than paying separately for chat, email and storage.
Choose Slack if your team works mostly in channels, connects lots of outside tools, or collaborates with other companies in shared channels, and you’re happy to pay per seat for chat alone.
How we compared
We compared Slack and Microsoft Teams using their official pricing and help pages, re-checked October 28, 2026 (PKT). Prices are US list prices before tax and can change; Slack showed a new-customer discount on our check, which we note but don’t use in comparisons. We didn’t use either app for this article.
Slack vs Teams at a glance
| Slack | Microsoft Teams | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 90 days of message history; 1:1 huddles | Free Teams for home: 60-minute group meetings, 100 people, 5 GB |
| Cheapest paid plan | Pro: $7.25/user/month (annual), $8.75 monthly | Teams Essentials: $4.00/user/month (paid yearly) |
| With office apps | Not included | Microsoft 365 Business Basic: $7.00/user/month (paid yearly) |
| Next tier | Business+: $15 (annual), $18 monthly | Business Standard with Copilot: $23.50 (paid yearly) |
| Group meetings | Group huddles on paid plans | Up to 30 hours and 300 people on Essentials |
| App integrations | Over 2,600 apps | Microsoft 365 apps built in |
| Storage | Plan-based | 10 GB/user (Essentials); 1 TB/user (Business Basic) |
Pricing for small teams
Teams is cheaper, especially if you count what comes with it. Microsoft lists Teams Essentials at $4.00 per user per month, paid yearly, with chat, calls, video meetings, file sharing, meeting recordings with transcripts and English live captions, and 10 GB of cloud storage per user. Microsoft 365 Business Basic costs $7.00 per user per month, paid yearly, and adds web and mobile Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, custom business email and 1 TB of storage per user. Business plans cover up to 300 users (Microsoft).
Slack lists Pro at $7.25 per user per month when paying annually or $8.75 monthly, Business+ at $15 annually or $18 monthly, and Enterprise+ at $45 per user per month annually through sales. On our check, Slack also advertised 50% off for 3 months on monthly plans for new customers (Slack).
Quick math
For 10 people on annual billing, list prices come to about $480 a year for Teams Essentials ($4 × 10 × 12), $840 for Microsoft 365 Business Basic ($7 × 10 × 12), and $870 for Slack Pro ($7.25 × 10 × 12), before tax. Slack’s price covers chat and calls only; Business Basic also includes email and Office web apps.
Free plans compared
Slack Free hides older messages; free Teams limits meetings. Slack’s help center says the Free plan gives 90-day access to message and file history, that messages and files are only stored for one year, and that content more than a year old is permanently deleted. Huddles and working with external people are one-to-one only on Free (Slack Help Center).
Microsoft’s free version of Teams is aimed at home use. It offers 1:1 calls for up to 30 hours, group calls and meetings for up to 60 minutes, up to 100 participants per meeting and 5 GB of cloud storage per user (Microsoft). For a business, Teams Essentials is the paid step up.
Meetings and calls
If your team runs a lot of video meetings, Teams gives you more for less. Teams Essentials allows unlimited group meetings for up to 30 hours with up to 300 people (Microsoft). Slack’s paid plans add group audio and video meetings with screen sharing through huddles (Slack).
Need a business phone number too? Microsoft sells Teams Phone separately (Microsoft), and our VoIP providers for business guide covers other options.
Apps, integrations and Office
Slack’s strength is integrations. Slack says paid plans include unlimited app integrations from over 2,600 apps in its directory, including Salesforce, Jira, Google Drive and ChatGPT (Slack). That makes it a good fit if your team works across Google Workspace and many other tools.
Teams is built around Microsoft 365. Business plans add Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, SharePoint and other Microsoft apps, with Copilot on the “with Copilot” plans (Microsoft). If you’re choosing your whole office suite, see our Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace comparison first; that choice usually decides the chat app.
Message history and storage
- Slack Pro and above: unlimited message history; every message, file and conversation is saved and searchable (Slack).
- Slack Free: 90 days visible, and content older than one year is permanently deleted (Slack Help Center).
- Teams: storage comes with the plan: 5 GB per user free, 10 GB per user on Essentials and 1 TB per user on Microsoft 365 Business plans (Microsoft, Microsoft).
Whichever you pick, turn on multi-factor sign-in and remove ex-staff accounts promptly. Our small business cybersecurity checklist and password managers for small teams guide can help.
Which should you use?
- Lowest cost for chat and meetings: Microsoft Teams Essentials.
- You also need business email and Office apps: Microsoft 365 Business Basic or Standard (includes Teams).
- You use Google Workspace and lots of SaaS tools: Slack Pro.
- You work in shared channels with clients or partners: Slack paid plans (Free limits external work to one-to-one).
- Big meetings with up to 300 people: Teams.
- A tiny team testing the waters: start on Slack Free, but remember history older than 90 days isn’t visible.
FAQ
Is Slack or Teams better for a small business?
If you already pay for Microsoft 365, Teams is usually the better value because it’s included. If chat and third-party integrations are central to your work and you don’t use Microsoft 365, Slack is the stronger chat app.
Is Microsoft Teams free?
There’s a free version of Teams for home use with 60-minute group meetings, up to 100 participants and 5 GB of storage. For business, Teams Essentials costs $4.00 per user per month, paid yearly.
How much does Slack cost?
Slack Pro costs $7.25 per user per month billed annually or $8.75 monthly. Business+ is $15 annually or $18 monthly. There’s also a Free plan with limits.
What are the limits of Slack’s free plan?
Slack Free shows 90 days of message and file history, permanently deletes content older than one year, and limits huddles and external collaboration to one-to-one.
Does Microsoft 365 include Teams?
Microsoft 365 Business Basic and Business Standard both include Teams on Microsoft’s comparison page. Microsoft also sells “no Teams” versions of some business plans at a lower price, so check which one you’re buying.
Can Slack and Teams be used together?
Many companies use both, for example Teams for meetings and Slack for chat, but paying for both adds up. For a small team, pick one as your main tool.
Sources
Official Slack and Microsoft pages. All checked October 28, 2026 (PKT).
Changelog
- October 29, 2026: First published. Slack and Microsoft Teams plans, US prices, free-plan limits, meeting limits and storage checked against official pages on October 28, 2026. No hands-on testing or screenshots.
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