Microsoft Teams vs Slack – what’s the difference?

ramsac blog slack vs teams

The need for video conference calls and instant messaging platforms has never been so high, and many business owners have had to choose between the range of options out there, including Microsoft Teams and Slack. We take a closer look at the features of each, including the advantages and disadvantages of these popular business applications.

FeatureMicrosoft TeamsSlack
Instant messaging
Video calls
Online meetings for up to 10,000 users
File sharing
Multimedia files
Document storage
App syncing

Microsoft Teams Explained

Since the coronavirus outbreak, with more people working from home, Microsoft Teams has exploded in popularity.

What is Teams?

Microsoft Teams is essentially a comprehensive collaboration platform that has a wide array of functionalities. As with Slack, it can be used for instant messaging, video calls, and file sharing, however, it has a number of other capabilities which are ideal for business settings. These include document storage, and also the synchronisation with other Microsoft applications like OneDrive, SharePoint, and Planner. These allow you to coordinate work with other colleagues, and also make live edits to documents within the application.

Advantages of Teams

The main advantages of using Microsoft Teams are:

  • Users can be split into multiple teams and channels, such as for different departments or projects
  • Simple file sharing
  • Searchable chat history
  • Files can be modified within Teams
  • Access to calendar
  • Synchronisation with other apps – both Microsoft and third party

Find out more about how to use Microsoft Teams effectively, to thoroughly understand what this platform has to offer businesses.

Disadvantages of Teams

While Teams has a number of fantastic features, there are a few disadvantages to be aware of:

  • Alerts can appear disorganised
  • Storage of files can seem disorganised

Microsoft Teams is a part of Microsoft’s 365 software bundle, which varies in price from around £3.80 to £15.10 per user per month (for Microsoft 365 Business plans). Read our Office 365 comparison page to learn more about the different packages and what they include.

Microsoft Teams Overview

Microsoft Teams is now the flagship business application offered for business or personal use. Celebrated for its range of beneficial features, Teams ultimately has a lot to offer users, including:

  • Online meetings for up 10,000 users
  • Instant messenger
  • Integration with Office 365 apps
  • Enterprise-grade security
  • File sharing

Slack Explained

Free and easy to use, Slack is one of the most popular communication apps in offices all over the world.

What is Slack?

Slack is a communication and collaboration platform designed to facilitate digital conversation between colleagues. It can be used not only to chat but to share files such as documents and images among one or more users too. As well as instant messages, Slack can also be used for phone calls and video calls, and screen sharing during such calls.

Advantages of Slack

Some of the well-loved features of Slack that continue to make it such a popular app are:

  • The basic package is free
  • It’s very user-friendly
  • Users can be split into channels, such as for different departments or projects
  • Simple file sharing
  • Searchable chat history

Many companies find that the basic package is plenty, however for extra benefits such as more memory, or multi-user video calls, the price increases to either £5.25 or £9.75 per month*. (Prices are correct at the time of writing, according to slack.com.)

Disadvantages of Slack

However, despite its popularity, there are a few drawbacks to opting for Slack as your company’s main communication application. These include:

  • Limits to the number of users on a call (in the free package)
  • Limited storage (in the free package)
  • You cannot collaborate externally (with the free package)
  • There is nowhere to organise and store files in a folder on the application, only share via a chat

Those willing to pay the monthly fees can enjoy more services, however, the functionalities within Slack are somewhat limited compared to Teams and other applications.

Since more people are now working from home, the need to communicate and collaborate in creative ways has led to a significant growth of businesses signing up to use platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams. Each has their merits, but ultimately, Microsoft Teams offers more in the way of functionality and versatility.

As part of the Office 365 package, our experts here at ramsac will be able to talk you through everything you need to know about Teams, as well as about using the wider suite of software. We can help you migrate seamlessly, find out more about our Microsoft Office 365 service.

Related Posts

  • Say hello to the new Microsoft Teams

    Say hello to the new Microsoft Teams

    Microsoft 365

    Microsoft is retiring the classic version of Teams at the end of March 2024 and moving everyone to the new Teams [...]

    Read article

  • Does Microsoft 365 provide backup protection for organisations?

    Does Microsoft 365 provide backup protection for organisations?

    Microsoft 365

    Many organisations that use Microsoft 365 are unaware of the importance of a separate Cloud backup solution, this blog explores why these are so important. [...]

    Read article

  • What is Microsoft Purview?

    What is Microsoft Purview?

    Microsoft 365

    Microsoft Purview is a critical tool in the journey towards a secure and correct implementation of Microsoft 365 Copilot. [...]

    Read article

  • What is Viva Amplify?

    What is Viva Amplify?

    Microsoft 365

    Viva Amplify provides a simplified way to get important communications out to employees with as little fuss as possible. [...]

    Read article

  • How to Secure Your Data and Devices with Microsoft 365

    How to Secure Your Data and Devices with Microsoft 365

    Microsoft 365

    In this blog, we explain the meaning and benefits of Microsoft 365 security tools, such as MFA, MDM, MAM, DLP, and Conditional Access, and how ramsac can help you [...]

    Read article

  • Power BI Free vs Pro vs Premium: Which do you need?

    Power BI Free vs Pro vs Premium: Which do you need?

    Microsoft 365

    Power BI offers exceptional data tools to users, but which license should you choose? Find out more in our blog.  [...]

    Read article