Slack is one of the most popular team messaging platforms, known for real-time chat, file sharing, app integrations, and threaded conversations. However, its free plan comes with limitations—such as a 90-day message history, limited integrations, and fewer features for scaling teams. Many organizations and open-source communities now seek free Slack alternatives that offer better storage, customization, or self-hosting.
Whether you’re managing a remote team, growing a community, or collaborating on a startup, these free Slack alternatives help you chat, share files, organize discussions, and boost productivity—without breaking the bank.
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1. Discord
Originally designed for gamers, Discord has become a powerful Slack alternative for communities and teams. It offers voice, video, and text chat, organized in channels, with roles, permissions, and bots to extend functionality.
The free plan includes unlimited message history, voice channels, and app integrations. Discord works well for casual team chat and online communities alike.
Best for: Teams and communities looking for real-time communication with voice and video.
2. Microsoft Teams (Free Version)
Microsoft Teams Free supports up to 100 participants per chat and includes messaging, file sharing, video meetings, and Office 365 integration. It’s great for teams already using Outlook, Word, and Excel.
While the interface may feel corporate, the free version supports unlimited chat messages and up to 5 GB of file storage per user.
Best for: Businesses already using Microsoft tools or needing structured collaboration.
3. Mattermost (Free Self-Hosted)
Mattermost is an open-source, self-hosted team messaging platform that mirrors Slack’s interface. It offers threaded messaging, channels, file sharing, and strong user permission controls.
The free Community Edition is perfect for developers and companies that want to run their own secure internal chat on private infrastructure.
Best for: Privacy-conscious teams and open-source developers needing full control.
4. Rocket.Chat
Rocket.Chat is another open-source Slack alternative offering real-time chat, video, and file sharing. It’s free to self-host and allows unlimited users, integrations, and message history.
It also supports federation, meaning you can connect with other Rocket.Chat servers—ideal for decentralized teams and communities.
Best for: Teams that want a fully customizable, open-source messaging stack.
5. Zulip
Zulip is a unique Slack alternative that combines real-time and asynchronous messaging using threaded conversations organized by topic. It’s especially great for distributed teams who don’t want to lose messages in cluttered channels.
The free plan supports unlimited users and up to 10,000 messages of history on Zulip Cloud (self-hosting offers unlimited history).
Best for: Remote or async-first teams who prefer organized discussions over chat noise.
6. Flock
Flock offers team chat with channels, to-do lists, reminders, and video conferencing—similar to Slack but with some built-in productivity tools. Its free plan includes unlimited 1:1 and group messaging, 10K message history, and 5 GB storage per team.
It’s lightweight and ideal for startups needing an intuitive, Slack-like interface with extras.
Best for: Small businesses wanting simple chat with built-in task management.
7. Twist
Twist is built by the creators of Todoist and emphasizes asynchronous team communication. It replaces real-time chat with organized, thread-based messaging so that team members can focus without constant pings.
The free plan includes unlimited users, 30-day message history, and up to 5 integrations.
Best for: Teams prioritizing focused work and deep collaboration over live chat.
8. Chanty
Chanty is a Slack alternative with built-in task management features. It offers team chat, voice messaging, Kanban boards, and integrations with tools like Trello, GitHub, and Google Drive.
The free plan supports up to 10 users with unlimited public and private messages and 20 GB file storage total.
Best for: Small teams that want messaging and lightweight project management in one app.
9. Tawk.to (for Customer Support Chat)
If you’re looking for a Slack alternative for external communication, Tawk.to offers a free live chat solution for websites, mobile apps, and customer support. While not an internal team tool like Slack, it’s useful for team-based customer interaction.
The dashboard allows multiple agents, canned responses, and desktop alerts—all for free.
Best for: Support teams or businesses needing live visitor chat across their websites.
10. Ryver (Free Trial / Limited Use Cases)
Ryver combines team messaging, task management, and workflow automation in one interface. Though primarily paid, Ryver occasionally offers free trials or discounted plans for nonprofits and educators.
Its interface is Slack-like, but with built-in Trello-style boards for project tracking.
Best for: Teams testing Slack-like tools with integrated task workflows.
Choosing the Best Free Slack Alternative
If you want Slack-like features with no limits on message history, go with Discord, Zulip, or Rocket.Chat. For task-focused collaboration, Chanty, Twist, or Flock are great picks. If you’re managing private infrastructure, Mattermost and Rocket.Chat offer full control. For structured teams using Microsoft products, Teams Free is a top choice.
With so many powerful tools available at no cost, you don’t have to compromise on collaboration—even without a Slack subscription.
