Slack vs. Microsoft Teams: Which Is Best? (2025 Comparison)

Find out how the two collaborations platforms compare on price, ecosystem, AI, and more

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Slack vs. Microsoft Teams Which Is Best (2025 Comparison)
CRMInsights

Published: January 21, 2025

Rebekah Carter

While many will debate all the unique differences between Slack and Microsoft Teams, they ultimately both serve a similar purpose: to align and empower teams.

Microsoft Teams is the more commonplace, surpassing 320MN monthly active users in 2024. However, Slack remains a key competitor, with brands like AirBnB, T-Mobile, and Target leveraging the platform.

Moreover, Slack outperforms Microsoft Teams on user review sites (as of January 2025). For instance, on G2, Teams scores an overall 4.3 out of five rating, while Slack scores 4.5.

On Garter Peer Insights, Slack achieves an overall 4.6 out of five rating. Microsoft Teams records a score of 4.4.

However, the difference is small, and – when weighing up the two platforms – there’s much more to consider than user reviews.

Slack vs Microsoft Teams: Key Considerations

Ultimately, selecting Slack or Microsoft Teams depends on several key factors, from how the platforms align with the existing tech stack to the team’s more general communication preferences.

Some of the main factors to consider include:

  • Alignment with the existing tech stack: What technology do employees already use? If the organization relies on Microsoft 365, Teams will better align with that tech stack. If the business is Salesforce-orientated, Slack is likely the better option.
  • Team size and scalability: How big is the team, and how much will it grow? Some people find Teams better for large-scale organizations, while Slack is a good choice for agile and smaller companies – although both support large deployments.
  • Communication preferences: Do teams prefer asynchronous collaboration with chat and messaging options? Or do they spend a lot of time communicating over the phone, or through audio and video calls? Generally, Slack aligns better with the former, and Teams better with the latter.
  • Budget considerations: Cost is a deciding factor for many companies. Microsoft Teams can be a less expensive option on the surface, but businesses may need to account for additional fees for Copilot and adjacent apps like Queues.
  • Customer service considerations: Will the business align its collaboration tools with the contact center? Slack is fully integrated with Service Cloud, while Microsoft Teams integrates with the Dynamics 365 Contact Center and Customer Service.

Slack vs. Microsoft Teams: Strengths and Weaknesses

Microsoft Teams and Slack share many similarities, but they also have very specific strengths and weaknesses.

For instance, Slack is widely considered a popular choice for those in search of an easy-to-use, flexible collaboration platform focused predominantly on messaging.

The platform integrates with thousands of external apps and allows users to create their own apps for specific needs.

Additionally, it’s closely aligned with the Salesforce ecosystem, making it great for CX teams leveraging Salesforce’s Customer 360 apps.

Lastly, it will benefit considerably from the rise of Agentforce, as Salesforce positions Slack as a hub not only for humans but also for AI employees.

However, Slack has limited video conferencing capabilities compared to Microsoft Teams, and it doesn’t offer the same direct routing and operator connect capabilities. These make it easier to connect external phone providers to the collaboration platform.

Notably, though, businesses can leverage call center integrations with Salesforce and align those with Slack.

Microsoft Teams is ideal for brands that already rely heavily on Microsoft’s tools, like the Microsoft 365 apps and Dynamics 365.

Its UI will also be familiar to many users who have worked with Microsoft apps over the years. That’s a big bonus, as employees may more easily navigate the system.

Additionally, Teams embeds a Copilot that cooperates with various third-party software providers. So, for example, Teams users may leverage Copilot to retrieve knowledge from an SAP app or kickstart an automation in ServiceNow.

However, overall, Microsoft Teams integrates with fewer third-party tools than Slack, and it can have a higher learning curve for people unfamiliar with the Microsoft ecosystem.

Slack vs Microsoft Teams: Our Comparative Analysis

Based on the key considerations above, here’s an overview of how Microsoft Teams and Slack compare on critical buyer’s criteria.

Pricing Options

Both Microsoft Teams and Slack offer a free, lite version of their platform that may meet the needs of SMBs.

Yet, in terms of paid plans, Teams start at $4 per month per user for the Essentials package. The most expensive option – the Business Standard plan – is available at $12.50 per month per user. Although, businesses can select add-ons that come at a higher price.

Meanwhile, the cheapest paid version of Slack is the Pro plan, which is priced at $8.75 per month per user. A Business+ option is also available at $14.10 per month per user. For the enterprise edition, there is no set price. Businesses must contact Slack to discuss their needs.

All these prices are accurate as of January 2025.

User Interface

Slack is one of the more straightforward tools for collaboration, with its simple message-based format and channels for organizing conversations. It is highly customizable, with access to templates that businesses can configure to their heart’s content. However, that can mean it sometimes has a higher learning curve for beginners.

Microsoft Teams features a streamlined interface with chats organized by team structure. It’s simple to navigate and manage, with easily accessible apps and widgets. Still, it might take a little while for people unfamiliar with Microsoft’s tools to master it.

Ecosystem and Integrations

In the Slack vs. Microsoft Teams ecosystem debate, Slack’s strengths lie in its robust connection with Salesforce, the world’s leading CRM, and its huge app marketplace. There are thousands of apps that can integrate directly with Slack, and users can build their own custom apps.

Microsoft Teams benefits from being deeply integrated with Microsoft’s existing tools, from Microsoft 365 apps to Copilot and Microsoft Dynamics. It also has a diverse app market and the option to build apps with the Microsoft Power Platform. But there are fewer direct integrations available here.

On the plus side, users can easily connect Teams with third-party telephony providers and contact center vendors, thanks to its extensive certification program.

Communication Features

Although Slack does support audio and video conferencing through “Huddles”,  its functionality across these channels is limited. Slack mainly encourages interaction through messaging and asynchronous chat.

Microsoft Teams, on the other hand, has similar chat capabilities and deep video and audio conferencing solutions. Microsoft’s conferencing tools also support AI-powered speech translation and transcription, recording, summarization, and virtual backgrounds.

Finally, Microsoft Teams supports external calling through integrations with third-party vendors that support Direct Routing and Operator Connect services.

AI and Automation

In recent years, Slack has made major upgrades to its AI solutions, building on the “Slackbot” with the full Slack AI toolkit for intelligent search, summarization, and daily recaps. Its strong integration with Salesforce also means companies can now create intelligent agents with Agentforce and embed them into Slack workflows.

Indeed, Agentforce in Slack became generally available in January 2025.

Microsoft also has strong AI capabilities, with Copilot embedded into Teams chat, meetings, phone calls, and other Microsoft tools. There are dedicated Copilots for Microsoft Dynamics, too. Plus, users can create Copilot Agents with Microsoft’s new Agentic AI tools in the new-look Copilot Studio.

Customer Service Features

For brands looking to align the UCaaS and CCaaS experience, Slack offers limited contact center options. Ultimately, they’ll likely need to work with an expert to combine their contact center platform with Slack and Salesforce through integrations. Microsoft Teams is easier to transform into an all-in-one solution with direct routing and Operator Connect.

It also integrates with Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 contact center system and offers specific features for customer service teams, like Teams Queues and auto attendant capabilities.

Slack vs Microsoft Teams: The Verdict

So, which platform is best? Well, Microsoft Teams is likely better placed for enterprises already investing in the Microsoft ecosystem. Moreover, those looking for advanced video conferencing capabilities, streamlined AI, and intuitive ways to align UCaaS and CCaaS may be tempted to pick Teams.

Alternatively, Slack is great for simple and agile collaboration. It’s ideal for teams who value flexibility, deep integration with the Salesforce environment, and extensive third-party apps.

Our advice? Test both platforms yourself. Free options are available for both Microsoft Teams and Slack, so you can determine which works best for your business.

 

Microsoft TeamsUCaaS

Brands mentioned in this article.

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