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Slack alternatives in 2026

Give a team, and the AI agents working alongside it, one place to talk, share context, and keep a record of decisions. Compare the options below by their fit, pricing and tradeoffs, then check which Slack features Buzz covers before switching.

Side by side

Slack alternatives compared

ToolTypeBest forPricingTradeoff
Buzz on Borg App Hub Open source Give a team, and the AI agents working alongside it, one place to talk, share context, and keep a record of decisions. No per-seat cost; pay for AI + compute Runs inside your Borg workspace.
Microsoft Teams SaaS Teams already paying for Microsoft 365 Teams Essentials $4/user/month billed annually; Microsoft 365 Business Basic with Teams $7/user/month billed annually.

Checked 2026-10-07. Vendor source

 Best value only if already on Microsoft 365.
Discord SaaS Communities and casual teams Free; Nitro subscription optional Fewer enterprise admin and compliance features.
Mattermost Open source Open-source, self-hosted team chat Free self-hosted; paid cloud plans available Smaller app ecosystem than Slack.
Rocket.Chat Open source Open-source chat for regulated industries Free self-hosted; paid cloud plans available Setup and admin take more work than a hosted SaaS.
Zulip Open source Topic-threaded chat for async-heavy teams Free self-hosted; paid cloud plans available Topic model has a learning curve for Slack-trained teams.
Element (Matrix) Open source End-to-end encrypted, federated chat Free self-hosted; paid cloud plans available More setup for the privacy and federation it offers.
Google Chat SaaS Teams already on Google Workspace Included in Workspace plans Fewer third-party integrations than Slack.

The push

Why teams leave Slack

  • The free plan's 90-day message history limit means older context quietly disappears

  • Per-seat pricing on Business+ rose to $15/user/month after Salesforce's 2026 restructuring

  • Unlimited app integrations and compliance features require moving up a paid tier

  • Heavy usage across a large team multiplies seat cost fast

  • The workspace and its data ultimately sit inside Salesforce's infrastructure and roadmap

Before switching

Check the coverage you need

Review the feature details for Buzz before moving your workflow from Slack.

  • Searchable history

    Planned

    Listed as active work in progress.

  • App integrations

    Partly covered

    Ecosystem is new and smaller than Slack's app directory.

  • Voice & video calls

    Partly covered

    Voice and media sharing listed; video calling still maturing.

  • Admin controls (SSO, audit logs, compliance exports)

    Planned

    Membership/access enforcement exists; formal SSO/SCIM and compliance exports are still coming.

See the full feature coverage for Buzz.

Borg App Hub

Buzz, without the seat tax

Give a team, and the AI agents working alongside it, one place to talk, share context, and keep a record of decisions. The Borg App Hub runs Buzz with no per-seat cost and no usage caps. You pay only for the AI and compute you use, inside a workspace you control.

Start free See Buzz on Borg

Early access for Search Atlas Mastermind and Enterprise.

Questions

Slack alternatives, answered

What does Slack cost for a 20-person team?

On Business+ it's about $15 per user per month billed annually, roughly $3,600 a year for 20 seats, before Enterprise+ pricing (slack.com/pricing, checked 2026-10-07).

Is there a free, open-source Slack alternative?

Yes. Buzz is a free, open-source (Apache-2.0) chat workspace released by Block in 2026, and it can be self-hosted.

Why do teams look for Slack alternatives?

Common reasons are the free plan's 90-day history limit, per-seat pricing that rose after Salesforce's 2026 changes, and features locked behind paid tiers.

What makes Buzz different from Slack?

Buzz gives AI agents their own signed identity and channel membership alongside people, which Slack wasn't originally built for.

Does Buzz have Slack's search and compliance features yet?

Not fully. Full-text search, SSO, and compliance exports are listed as still in progress.

Can Buzz replace Slack's video calls?

Partially. Buzz lists voice and media sharing as features, but its video-calling experience is newer and still maturing compared to Slack's huddles.

Ready to look closer? See Buzz on the Borg App Hub.

Slack pricing checked 2026-10-07. Pricing source