Alternatives to Microsoft Teams
Microsoft's chat and meetings bundled with 365
Microsoft Teams ranks #2 of 8 in Team chat, with an Alt Score of 78. It is proprietary, freemium from $4.00/user/month and available on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and Web. 12 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Organizations of any size, from small businesses to large enterprises, plus schools and individual users, who need a central hub for team communication and collaboration at work.
Persistent channels and direct chat for team conversations, video/audio meetings with real-time translation and recording, and Teams Phone for cloud-based calling. Files, Loop and OneNote pages, and third-party apps can be pinned into channels alongside the conversation. Deep integration with Microsoft 365 apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint) and Copilot brings document collaboration and AI assistance directly into chats and meetings.
Users join or create teams made up of channels organized by topic, project, or department, where they chat, share files, and hold meetings. Conversations, meeting recordings, and shared documents stay attached to their channel, and Copilot or third-party agents can act on that context to summarize, draft, or automate follow-up tasks.
Why people leave Microsoft Teams
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
Sign in to add a reason — new reasons go through moderation before appearing.
Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
How Microsoft Teams compares with its alternatives, feature by feature.
| Team chat checklist | Microsoft Teams | Mattermost | Zulip | Rocket.Chat | Element | Discord |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| Message history limit (free) | ||||||
| Threads | ||||||
| Huddles / audio rooms | ||||||
| Video calls | ||||||
| Guest access | ||||||
| Federation | ||||||
| Self-hostable | ||||||
| E2E encryption | ||||||
| Integrations count | ||||||
| Workflow automations | ||||||
| Search quality (filters) | ||||||
| Compliance exports |
Every fact and feature listed for Microsoft Teams is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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License Proprietary verified 2026-07-10
Microsoft-hosted proprietary service.
Microsoft Teams Essentials $4.00 user/month, paid yearly (Annual subscription—auto renews)
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/compare-microsoft-teams-options -
Starts at $4.00/user/month verified 2026-07-10
Microsoft Teams Essentials $4.00 user/month, paid yearly (Annual subscription—auto renews)
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/compare-microsoft-teams-options -
Pricing model Freemium verified 2026-07-10
Free tier + paid Essentials/Business.
Microsoft Teams Essentials $4.00 user/month, paid yearly (Annual subscription—auto renews)
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/compare-microsoft-teams-options -
Platforms Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web verified 2026-07-10
Teams clients: Win/macOS/Linux desktop, iOS/Android, web.
select Meet now or Meet now in the top-right corner.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/meet-instantly-26e06837-853d-4df1-a729-06bf700d4ecf -
Status active verified 2026-07-10
Workflows let you automate repetitive tasks or processes that connect one or more apps to Teams.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/overview-of-workflows-in-microsoft-teams-4998095c-8b72-4b0e-984c-f2ad39e6ba9a -
Message history limit (free) No verified 2026-07-10
Messages Determined by user* ... available until they are deleted, the user leaves the conversation, or permission are updated
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/how-long-do-files-and-data-remain-available-for-in-teams-1d2d9efd-1ba9-4b2b-a788-e89517dfb883 -
Threads Partial verified 2026-07-10
Channel replies, not Slack-style threads.
Replies to a channel message stay attached to the original message.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/teams/teams-channels/send-or-reply-to-a-channel-message-in-microsoft-teams -
Huddles / audio rooms Yes verified 2026-07-10
select Meet now or Meet now in the top-right corner.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/meet-instantly-26e06837-853d-4df1-a729-06bf700d4ecf -
Video calls Yes verified 2026-07-10
Chat, call, and video conferencing
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/compare-microsoft-teams-options -
Guest access Yes verified 2026-07-10
Anyone with a business or consumer email account, such as Outlook, Gmail, or others, can join your team as a guest.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/teams/teams-channels/add-guests-to-a-team-in-microsoft-teams -
Federation Yes verified 2026-07-10
With External Access for Teams, you can add or invite anyone outside of your Teams org who uses Teams, Teams Free, and Skype for Business to a one-to-one chat.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/add-or-invite-people-outside-your-org-to-a-chat-in-microsoft-teams-6897ab47-9f60-4db6-8b95-18599714fe57 -
Self-hostable No verified 2026-07-10
Microsoft-hosted cloud only; no self-host.
Microsoft Teams Essentials $4.00 user/month, paid yearly (Annual subscription—auto renews)
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/compare-microsoft-teams-options -
E2E encryption Partial verified 2026-07-10
1:1 calls only.
For situations that require high confidentiality, Teams offers end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for one-on-one calls.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/use-end-to-end-encryption-for-microsoft-teams-calls-1274b4d2-b5c5-4b24-a376-606fa6728a90 -
Integrations count Yes verified 2026-07-10
Over 250 integrated business apps for Teams
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/compare-microsoft-teams-options -
Workflow automations Yes verified 2026-07-10
Workflows let you automate repetitive tasks or processes that connect one or more apps to Teams.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/overview-of-workflows-in-microsoft-teams-4998095c-8b72-4b0e-984c-f2ad39e6ba9a -
Search quality (filters) Yes verified 2026-07-10
To filter results further, select Messages .
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/search-for-messages-and-more-in-microsoft-teams-4a351520-33f4-42ab-a5ee-5fc0ab88b263 -
Compliance exports Yes verified 2026-07-10
Rich eDiscovery in-place capabilities, including case management, preservation, search, analysis, and export are available
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/information-protection-in-teams-d71ce838-d8a6-4841-bc08-3d4e93ac22a5
FAQ
Yes. Discord, Twist and Slack have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
Zulip, Rocket.Chat and Element — every license claim links its source.