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Slack vs Microsoft Teams: Complete 2025 Comparison Guide

Slack or Microsoft Teams for your business? Compare features, pricing, integrations, and performance to choose the right team collaboration platform.

ToolVerdikt Team
January 18, 2025
10 min read

Slack vs Microsoft Teams: Complete 2025 Comparison Guide

Choosing between Slack and Microsoft Teams is one of the most important decisions for team collaboration. Both platforms have evolved significantly, but they take different approaches to helping teams communicate and work together.

This comprehensive comparison will help you decide which platform is right for your organization in 2025.

Quick Verdict: Which Should You Choose?

Choose Slack if:

  • You want the best user experience and interface
  • You need extensive third-party integrations
  • Your team values channels and organized conversations
  • You're not heavily invested in Microsoft 365

Choose Microsoft Teams if:

  • You already use Microsoft 365
  • You need tight integration with Office apps
  • You want video meetings and chat in one place
  • You prefer an all-in-one solution

Detailed Feature Comparison

User Interface and Experience

Slack

Slack pioneered the modern team chat interface and still leads in user experience:

  • Clean, intuitive interface
  • Fast, responsive performance
  • Easy to learn for new users
  • Excellent keyboard shortcuts
  • Customizable themes
  • Smooth mobile experience

Microsoft Teams

Teams has improved significantly but feels more complex:

  • Busier interface with more options
  • Occasional performance issues
  • Steeper learning curve
  • Integrated calendar and files
  • Microsoft's design language
  • Regular interface updates

Winner: Slack - More intuitive and user-friendly

Messaging and Channels

Slack

Channels are Slack's core strength:

  • Public and private channels
  • Shared channels with external organizations
  • Threaded conversations
  • Message reactions and emoji
  • Rich text formatting
  • Powerful search
  • Message pinning and bookmarking

Microsoft Teams

Teams takes a different organizational approach:

  • Teams and channels hierarchy
  • Standard and private channels
  • Threaded conversations in posts
  • @mentions and tags
  • Integrated file collaboration
  • Meeting notes in channels

Winner: Slack - Better organized conversations

Video and Audio Calls

Slack

Slack Huddles for quick calls:

  • Screen sharing
  • Up to 50 participants (paid plans)
  • Simple interface
  • Drawing tools
  • Recording available

Microsoft Teams

Teams excels at meetings:

  • Up to 300 participants
  • Background blur and effects
  • Together mode
  • Meeting recording and transcription
  • Breakout rooms
  • Live captions
  • Calendar integration
  • Webinar capabilities

Winner: Microsoft Teams - Superior meeting features

Integrations and Apps

Slack

Over 2,600 apps in the Slack App Directory:

Microsoft Teams

Strong Microsoft ecosystem, growing third-party:

  • Seamless Microsoft 365 integration
  • Over 1,000 third-party apps
  • Power Platform for automation
  • Tab customization
  • Native integrations:
    • Word, Excel, PowerPoint
    • OneNote
    • SharePoint
    • Planner
    • Power BI

Winner: Slack - More third-party integrations, but Teams wins for Microsoft users

File Sharing and Collaboration

Slack

Simple file sharing:

  • Drag and drop files
  • 10GB total storage (free), unlimited (paid)
  • File search
  • External file sharing
  • Integrates with cloud storage
  • Preview many file types

Microsoft Teams

Deep Microsoft 365 integration:

  • Files stored in SharePoint
  • Real-time co-editing
  • Version history
  • 10GB per user + 10GB organization (free)
  • 1TB+ storage (paid plans)
  • Office Online editing
  • Seamless OneDrive integration

Winner: Microsoft Teams - Better for document collaboration

Search Functionality

Slack

Powerful, fast search:

  • Search messages, files, people
  • Advanced filters
  • Search modifiers
  • Saved searches
  • Recent mentions
  • 10,000 searchable messages (free), unlimited (paid)

Microsoft Teams

Adequate but less refined:

  • Unified search bar
  • Search across chat, files, people
  • Filter by date, person
  • Slower than Slack
  • Less intuitive

Winner: Slack - Significantly better search

Security and Compliance

Slack

Enterprise-grade security:

  • SOC 2, SOC 3 certified
  • Enterprise Key Management
  • Data Loss Prevention (Enterprise)
  • SAML-based SSO
  • Compliance with major standards
  • E-discovery and eDiscovery
  • Audit logs

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft's enterprise security:

  • SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3
  • Advanced Threat Protection
  • Data Loss Prevention
  • Information barriers
  • Compliance center
  • Legal hold
  • Audit logs
  • Government cloud options

Winner: Tie - Both offer enterprise security

Mobile Experience

Slack

Excellent mobile apps:

  • Fast, responsive
  • Full feature parity
  • Push notifications
  • Easy file sharing
  • Huddles on mobile
  • Intuitive navigation

Microsoft Teams

Solid mobile experience:

  • Good performance
  • Most features available
  • Meeting participation
  • File access
  • Occasional lag
  • More complex navigation

Winner: Slack - Smoother mobile experience

Pricing Comparison

Slack Pricing

Free Plan:

  • 90-day message history
  • 10 integrations
  • 1:1 video calls
  • Up to 10,000 people

Pro: $7.25/user/month

  • Unlimited message history
  • Unlimited integrations
  • Group video calls (50 participants)
  • Guest accounts
  • 10GB storage per user

Business+: $12.50/user/month

  • 24/7 support
  • 99.99% uptime SLA
  • Data exports
  • SAML-based SSO

Enterprise Grid: Custom pricing

  • Unlimited workspaces
  • Advanced security
  • Compliance features
  • Dedicated support

Microsoft Teams Pricing

Free Plan:

  • Unlimited chat
  • Group video calls (60 min limit, 100 participants)
  • 5GB cloud storage
  • Web/mobile apps only

Microsoft 365 Business Basic: $6/user/month

  • No time limit on meetings
  • 1TB OneDrive storage
  • Web versions of Office apps
  • Email hosting

Microsoft 365 Business Standard: $12.50/user/month

  • Desktop Office apps
  • Webinars
  • Attendee registration

Microsoft 365 E3: $36/user/month

  • Advanced security
  • Compliance tools
  • Full feature set

Winner: Microsoft Teams - Better value if you need Office apps

Integration Ecosystems

Slack Integrations

Popular integrations:

Microsoft Teams Integrations

Native Microsoft integrations:

  • Outlook - Email and calendar
  • SharePoint - Document management
  • OneDrive - Personal storage
  • Planner - Task management
  • Power BI - Analytics
  • Power Automate - Workflow automation
  • Stream - Video hosting

Third-party integrations:

Use Case Recommendations

Best for Startups and Tech Companies

Winner: Slack

Tech-forward companies prefer Slack for:

  • Modern interface
  • Developer-friendly integrations
  • Startup culture fit
  • Flexibility

Best for Enterprise Organizations

Winner: Microsoft Teams

Large corporations choose Teams for:

  • Microsoft 365 integration
  • Compliance requirements
  • Enterprise support
  • Unified platform

Best for Remote Teams

Winner: Slack

Remote-first teams prefer Slack for:

  • Async communication focus
  • Better channel organization
  • Cleaner interface
  • Status and presence

Best for Meeting-Heavy Teams

Winner: Microsoft Teams

Teams that live in meetings prefer Teams for:

  • Calendar integration
  • Superior video features
  • Meeting recording
  • Breakout rooms

Best for Small Businesses

Winner: Microsoft Teams

Value-conscious small businesses choose Teams for:

  • Microsoft 365 bundling
  • Office app integration
  • Lower total cost

Migration Considerations

Moving from Slack to Teams

Microsoft provides migration tools:

  • Channel structure imports
  • File migration available
  • Message history may not transfer
  • Adjust to new workflows
  • Expect 2-4 week transition

Moving from Teams to Slack

Slack offers migration assistance:

  • Export Teams data
  • Recreate channel structure
  • Integrate Office 365
  • Team training required
  • Plan 3-6 week transition

Real User Experiences

What Slack Users Love

  • "Slack just feels faster and more responsive"
  • "Channel organization makes finding information easy"
  • "The integrations ecosystem is unmatched"
  • "Our whole team got it immediately"

What Slack Users Dislike

  • "Video calling isn't as robust as Zoom"
  • "It can get pricey for larger teams"
  • "Email integration could be better"

What Teams Users Love

  • "Everything we need in one place"
  • "Video meetings are excellent"
  • "Integration with Office is seamless"
  • "Included with our existing license"

What Teams Users Dislike

  • "The interface feels cluttered"
  • "Performance can be sluggish"
  • "Search isn't as good as Slack"
  • "Learning curve is steeper"

Performance and Reliability

Slack Performance

  • Fast, lightweight
  • Responsive interface
  • Occasional outages
  • Quick to load
  • Minimal lag

Teams Performance

  • More resource-intensive
  • Can slow down with many tabs
  • Generally reliable
  • Microsoft infrastructure
  • Improving over time

The Verdict: Which is Actually Better?

Slack is Better For:

✓ Teams prioritizing communication quality ✓ Organizations with diverse tech stacks ✓ Remote-first companies ✓ Startups and tech companies ✓ Teams valuing user experience ✓ Organizations using Google Workspace

Microsoft Teams is Better For:

✓ Microsoft 365 subscribers ✓ Meeting-heavy organizations ✓ Enterprises with compliance needs ✓ Budget-conscious businesses ✓ Traditional corporate environments ✓ Organizations invested in Microsoft ecosystem

Can You Use Both?

Some organizations successfully use both:

  • Slack for daily team communication
  • Teams for meetings and Office collaboration

However, this can lead to:

  • Split attention
  • Missed messages
  • Confusion about where to communicate
  • Higher costs

Most organizations benefit from choosing one primary platform.

Alternative Options to Consider

If neither Slack nor Teams fits perfectly:

Final Recommendation

For most businesses: Choose based on your existing tech stack.

  • Microsoft 365 users: Go with Teams - it's already included
  • Google Workspace users: Choose Slack for better integration
  • Standalone tool: Evaluate based on team preferences, but Slack offers better UX

Our pick for best overall collaboration:

Slack edges ahead for its superior user experience, better third-party integrations, and focus on thoughtful communication. However, Microsoft Teams delivers unbeatable value for organizations already using Microsoft 365.

Next Steps

  1. Try both free plans with your team
  2. Test your most-used integrations
  3. Run a 2-week trial with each
  4. Gather team feedback
  5. Make your decision based on actual usage

Related Comparisons

The right platform will improve your team's communication, productivity, and culture. Choose the one that fits your workflow, not the one with the most features.