As businesses expand and teams spread across different locations, the need for collaboration tools has become increasingly important. Among the top choices in this space are Microsoft Teams and Slack.

Both platforms offer distinct advantages and have passionate fan bases. However, when choosing the best option for your business, it’s important to objectively consider functionality, compatibility, pricing, and other categories. Let’s take a closer look at what each platform brings to the table and explore how they compare across key features to help you decide which one fits your business best. 

Microsoft Teams: A hub built for productivity

Microsoft Teams is a communication platform that combines instant messaging, voice and video calling, file sharing, and various app integrations in one place. As part of the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, Teams connects seamlessly with familiar Microsoft Office software such as Word, Excel, Outlook, and SharePoint. For organizations already using Microsoft 365, Teams often becomes the natural choice, but its wide range of productivity and collaboration features also make it a strong contender for various businesses.

Slack: A flexible communication platform

Slack built its reputation on simplicity, primarily focusing on chat features. It offers a simple, intuitive interface that supports direct messaging, group conversations, file sharing, and a host of app integrations. Slack also offers a wide range of customization options, allowing users to personalize their interface and notifications according to their preferences. Overall, the platform is designed to be lightweight, intuitive, and excellent in creating an open digital workspace for teams to collaborate in real time. 

Microsoft Teams vs. Slack

To help you decide on the right collaboration platform, we put them head to head across some various categories. 

User interface

At first glance, Microsoft Teams offers a more structured layout. The left-hand navigation bar makes it easy to toggle between chats, calendar, files, and calls. Within each Team, you can create multiple channels, organize files, and assign tasks. Users also get an activity feed, which previews everything from mentions to file edits in one convenient dashboard. For those who appreciate order and a more traditional UI, Teams feels familiar, especially for people accustomed to Outlook and other Microsoft tools.

Conversely, Slack keeps things simple. The user interface is cleaner and more conversational, with a strong emphasis on messaging. Channels, direct messages, mentions, and pinned items are all just a click away. It’s ideal for fast communication, but navigating large volumes of threads can get tricky without strict channel discipline.

Verdict: Teams works better for structured collaboration; Slack favors fast-paced messaging.

Notifications

Notification fatigue is real. Both tools offer options to fine-tune alerts, but the level of control differs. Slack typically shines in this area because you can customize notifications by channel, keyword, time of day, or even mute entire conversations without missing direct mentions. It’s helpful for team members who juggle multiple conversations but only need to keep an eye on specific threads.

Teams allows notification customization too, but it can feel a bit buried in the settings. You can manage alerts by chat, channel, or activity, but the menus for tweaking preferences aren’t quite as intuitive as Slack’s.

Verdict: Slack offers more refined notification controls with an easier setup experience.

Conferencing

When it comes to meetings, Microsoft Teams leads the way. It supports scheduled meetings, instant HD video chat, screen sharing, meeting transcripts, guest access for external users, instant translation, live notifications, and breakout rooms where participants can split off into smaller groups. In a Teams meeting, companies can set up conferences with up to 300 participants, while higher-tier plans allow up to 1,000 attendees for full interactivity (audio, video, and content sharing). There are also webinar and live event features available that can accommodate up to 10,000 view-only participants.

In contrast, Slack is far less equipped for conferencing. While it does offer audio and video conferencing rooms (or huddles), Slack users can only have a maximum of 50 participants in a call. 

Verdict: Microsoft Teams blows Slack out of the water for team collaboration and communication, especially in terms of conferencing capabilities. 

In-app productivity

Microsoft Teams offers a broad toolkit that helps teams work in sync, even across departments or time zones. For starters, users can create shared to-do lists and assign tasks directly within a channel, helping teams keep track of responsibilities without needing an external task manager. Teams also integrate shared calendars and schedules, so it’s easy to coordinate meetings, project timelines, and availability in one place. Moreover, Teams has built-in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint integrations, allowing users to collaborate on documents in real time without having to switch between applications. 

On the other hand, Slack supports collaboration through its channel-based structure and flexible messaging format. You can easily loop people into conversations, share files, and pin important documents to collaborate. However, some of the deeper collaborative functions (e.g., shared to-do lists, project management, and document coauthoring) often require other apps or third-party integrations, which can create a more fragmented experience.

Verdict: Microsoft Teams delivers a more integrated work experience for task management and content collaboration.

Security features

Enterprise-grade security is critical, and both platforms take it seriously. Microsoft Teams benefits from Microsoft’s security framework. It includes data encryption at rest and in transit, multifactor authentication, advanced threat protection, and compliance with a wide range of industry regulations.

Slack also provides strong security features, including enterprise key management, granular admin controls, and support for compliance standards. However, some of the more advanced options are reserved for the higher-priced tiers.

Verdict: Both are secure, but Teams offers increasingly more advanced security measures when businesses subscribe to more premium versions of Microsoft 365. 

Integrations

Slack offers an open playground of integrations, with over 2,000 apps available, ranging from customer relationship management tools to project management tools. It’s ideal for businesses that rely on a wide mix of third-party software.

Similarly, Teams supports integrations, especially those from the Microsoft family. Tools such as Planner, OneNote, and Power BI integrate deeply, giving users a unified workspace without needing to jump between tabs.

Verdict: Slack can integrate with more third-party tools, but Teams wins in cohesion with Microsoft tools.

Pricing

Both Slack and Microsoft Teams offer free versions, but when you scale up, the pricing of paid plans becomes a key consideration. Microsoft Teams comes bundled with Microsoft 365 Business subscriptions, which also include Word, Excel, Outlook, OneDrive, and more. Costs can start as low as $6 per user/month for the Business Basic package and can go up to $22 per user/month for Business Premium packages that come with advanced security measures.

Slack’s paid plans start at $8.75 per user/month for the Pro version and up to $15 per user/month for Business+. While the features are solid, they may not offer as much bang for the buck if you still need to subscribe to Microsoft 365 separately for productivity software. Many startups and small businesses will often just subscribe to Slack’s free plan because they still get basic messaging, 90-day chat history, and limited app integration.

Verdict: Microsoft 365 and, by extension, Teams tend to be more cost-effective when considering the number of tools and features available for a lower monthly cost. However, Slack’s pricing and free plan may be more suitable for smaller teams or businesses with specific needs. 

Which tool is right for your business?

If your team values simplicity and you already use a range of third-party apps, Slack could be a great fit. However, if your business relies on Microsoft products and prefers more advanced security, productivity, and conferencing features, Teams is hard to beat.

Choosing the right platform ultimately depends on your team’s habits, the tools you already use, and the level of structure your workflow requires. If you need advice on choosing the right technology for your business, Dynamic Solutions Group can consult with you. Our experts assess your needs and recommend the best options for your needs and budget. Call us now to get started.