8.2

Our Rating

Slack Review (2024)

Best Features, Pricing, Verdict & Alternatives

Who doesn't know Slack. Well, maybe you if you've landed here. Let's give you a rundown of the basics of Slack and how it works as a popular team communication tool.

Slack App, Home

What is Slack?

Slack is a team communication tool that is well-known in the space.

What does Slack do?

Slack does a range of things, mainly allowing you and your team to communicate using chat functionality as well as video and audio meetings.

There are features inside of Slack that help boost collaboration, and much like a mark of teams, it helps you to do a range of things including screen sharing, screen recordings, and also collaborate in things called huddles.

Slack - Chat Window

This feature is called Slack Huddles and essentially, they allow you to do audio messages in real time with each other. This is perfect for collaborating after a meeting or maybe even not switching a video on and making and setting things up. Now, Slack is owned and managed by Salesforce, and also, you can tell that because it weaves into the larger picture of Salesforce CRM as a powerful tool to connect with that. Slack also offers things like threads for chats, integration, and loads of other abilities like Slack Canvas, which we'll talk about a little bit more in this review.


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Best Slack Features

Noting some of Slack's best features, here are some of them: You can create a channel and essentially start from there to organize a set of communication.

Record Videos in Slack
  • They are also threaded within channels, which makes it ideal for collaborating on a specific type of piece work, meaning that it doesn’t disrupt the main channel's communication style and overload everyone with discussions that are constantly pinging. There’s also an ability to manage file sharing, search across all of your conversations and files, as well as a really friendly iOS and mobile application.
  • Slack Canvas is one of the better features that allows you to collaborate together on a document in real time. This is great for meeting notes, but the fact that it's available inside in real time of the Slack experience and that it can be popped open into a new window, makes things a lot more accessible than opening up another tab for the likes of Google Documents.
  • Video chats are available inside Slack, allowing you to do built-in voice and video calls with screen sharing support as well. This also allows you to leave asynchronous messages to other people, much like other apps like Loom that allow you to leave messages in real time but allow people to respond asynchronously.

How much does Slack cost?

Slack is free but starts from £5.75 per month for the basic plan with 1 user.

Slack Pricing, Updated March 2024

Used by over 100,000 teams worldwide — Try it now for free / No credit card needed

Run all your work on one platform with customizable products that scale with your needs.


Verdict: Is Slack worth it for your team?

So, should you and your team get Slack?

Previously, Slack was very poor at asynchronous communication for remote teams, unlike specialist tools like Twist, which is designed around asynchronous communication. But to be honest, in this year, 2024, many people are looking at Slack because while it does offer a bunch of real-time communication, it is actually a decent offering as a package now.

Slack Huddles

The ability to have a range of remote and hybrid communication through the application makes communication a lot more accessible, and features like Slack Huddle, asynchronous video messages, and also other abilities like Canvas do allow for more relaxed forms of communication, which teams are trying to aim towards.

However, Slack is pretty expensive, and for many teams that are trying to scale, it is a very expensive offering. When you look at other alternatives, even using WhatsApp in a small- to medium-sized team is preferred over paying the cost that Slack presents. So, it’s well worth evaluating all of the features that Slack offers so that you don’t over-optimise the subscription that you go for.

For small teams, this is a great way to formalize.

Slack Alternatives

Looking for more Slack-like tools and alternatives:

  • Threads - a neat a-sync alternative for remote teams.
  • Twist - great developer Doist brings an a-sync favourite.

Huddles

Managing a team chat without being on video? Create a Slack Huddle, much like Discord, for non-video quick huddles post-meeting.

Video

Slack now does video calls - perfect for saving time, you can share your team and even send a-sync video messages to others too.

Integrations

Slack has one of the largest libraries of integrations. Since Salesforce bought Slack this has expanded even further into a couple 1,000s options.


Used by over 100,000 teams worldwide — Try it now for free / No credit card needed

Run all your work on one platform with customizable products that scale with your needs.


What features differentiate Slack from other communication platforms?

Slack has a few features that make it slightly different from other communication tools. Although Microsoft Teams is probably the most similar, when you compare Slack to other apps like Twist and Threads, it does present a few additional offerings. Huddle is one of them, allowing you to have a channel communication that isn’t video-based.

You can also send video clips to people, allowing you to share your screen and leave asynchronous messages much like you would in Loom. There’s also the ability to manage your documents in Slack Canvas, which I don’t think most of the other providers have.

How does Slack enhance team productivity and collaboration?

A lot of teams use Slack because it is a friendly alternative to Microsoft Teams for those who don’t want to commit to going into Microsoft's set of products. This is actually one of the better solutions out there for team communication. It also enhances team productivity because it allows for both remote and hybrid communication, which a lot of people are working towards right now, meaning you can work in real time or asynchronously.

A lot of people like it because it also plugs in with a whole host of integrations, and there’s also the Slack Marketplace which presents thousands of applications which people have built to enhance using Slack every single day. There are even AI automations that Slack is working on to enhance the existing relationship between you using Slack and your chat.

Can Slack scale with my business as it grows?

Slack offers a generous free plan with 90 days of message history, and as part of that, you can also have one-to-one audio and video meetings.

The Pro plan gives you unlimited message history as well as unlimited app integration and group audio and video messaging, which makes it much more suitable for teams. This is priced at in the UK £5.75 per month and is fairly reasonable for what you get in terms of the workspace and features and functions, as it does implement a lot of integrations that you can get set up, and it could replace a video conference tool like Zoom.

But if you’re scaling your business, then the free plan is pretty decent because it gives you most of the features that you might want to use as a small business, and 90 days message history, which, for many people growing, might not be as important. There seems to be no limit to how many people you can add to that free plan as well.

How user-friendly is Slack for team members not tech-savvy?

Slack is probably one of the most approachable for team communication because what it does very well is it sort of looks like a chat application like WhatsApp but it has the features behind it that allow you to do a lot more. Some people say that it’s sort of like an advanced version of WhatsApp, and many people, especially those who are not tech-savvy, get on with it quite well from day one.

Slack: Team Collaboration Tool

Understanding Slack further

Does Salesforce own Slack?

Slack was acquired by Salesforce for a wild $27.7B and are the owners of Slack.

What is Slack chat?

Slack chat refers to the text-based messaging feature within the Slack app. It allows users to send messages, share files, and have conversations in channels or direct messages.

Can I use a Slack Huddle for video calls?

No, Slack Huddles are specifically for audio conversations. If you need video functionality, you can use Slack's separate video call feature or integrate with video conferencing tools like Zoom or Google Meet.

Can I invite external users to a Slack Huddle?

Slack Huddles are limited to participants within your Slack workspace. You cannot invite external users who are not part of your Slack organization to join a Huddle.

How do I join a Slack channel?

Click the "+" button next to "Channels" in the sidebar and select "Join a channel." Enter the channel name or browse the available channels and click "Join" to become a member.

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