Microsoft Teams vs Slack: Which Is Right for Your Office?

by Michael George June 27, 2021

written by Michael George June 27, 2021

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the remote work revolution that it spawned, utilizing the right technology to coordinate and collaborate in business is essential.

With as many as 36.74% of employers indicating that they intend to shift some of their staff to remote working permanently. This means it’s important to get the software to aid this move right.

And when it comes to choosing, there are two major contenders for the number one spot. Microsoft Teams vs Slack.

These two services provide a number of unique benefits and overlap in other areas. So we have gathered the most important details you need to know for choosing the right provider. Read on to learn more.

What Is Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams falls under the very familiar Microsoft brand and their Office suite of programs.

You may not have known about it until 2019 or even 2020 when it started to gain a lot more traction. It began to be used by established businesses and organizations that use Microsoft programs including many universities.

With the trusted and familiar brand behind this product, it is easy to understand why this is frequently the default choice for many businesses looking for collaboration programs as it comes with the other programs already in use, making ease of use very simple.

What Is Slack?

Slack may appear to be the underdog at first and judging by the number of daily active users on either service, Slack having 10 million+ is an impressive figure for a young company. When that’s compared against the competition, however, it dwarves in comparison. Because Teams has in excess of 145 million daily active users. So it’s easy to see why you might think Teams is the clear winner.

But what is very telling is how these users are different. For example, Teams take the clear lead on active daily users and these tend to be established businesses that quickly needed a service to cater to pandemic needs. However, Slack takes nearly 60% of the market of new startups when it comes to their choice of software.

Pros and Cons of Microsoft Teams

A major feature for Teams is the ability to host conference video calls with up to 300 users. This can be pushed even further by combining Teams, Microsoft Stream, and Yammer to host an event with up to 10,000 attendees.

Slack on the other hand maxes out its video conference calls at 15 users. And that’s with a paid plan.

That might sound great, but it does need to be noted that the majority of businesses will never have the need for so many people in a conference call so it may not be a necessary feature at all.

Integration with other apps is also an important consideration and Microsoft has approximately 427 integrations to choose from. This compared to a very modest 10 from Slack on their free plan, but with a paid service, it jumps all the way up to 2,000+.

Integrations can cover a variety of features, some a lot more useful, such as ticket integration for Teams which you can check out www.tikit.ai to learn more about. But others are much less impressive.

Pros and Cons of Slack

Consider the fact that many businesses already use alternative solutions to video conferencing such as Zoom and the difference in capacity becomes irrelevant.

But what are the benefits of Slack? One of the biggest advantages of Slack paid plans is the ability to add guests and external collaborators.

Teams max out external users at 5, even with paid plans, which can severely restrict your ability to communicate with clients and collaborators that are vital to your process.