Microsoft Teams alternatives
The best Microsoft Teams alternatives for a small business (2026)
Slack is a Microsoft Teams alternative for channels, external collaboration and huddles. Google Workspace suits teams needing email and video meetings together; Bitrix24 combines calls with CRM and projects. Mojobase connects Team chat to customer work but has no video calls. Basecamp suits project discussions, check-ins and updates that do not need a meeting.
Updated . Prices and features checked on each company's own site
Why do people look for alternatives to Microsoft Teams?
- Teams Essentials has 10 GB cloud storage per user; Microsoft 365 Business Basic adds custom email, Office web apps and 1 TB storage, so the bundle matters when comparing costs.
- Copilot in Teams requires a Teams license and a Microsoft 365 plan with Copilot. Meeting transcripts in Essentials are a different entitlement.
- Cloud phone calling is a separate Teams Phone Standard add-on at $10 per user a month paid yearly, with an eligible license required.
What are the best Microsoft Teams alternatives?
| Tool | Best for |
|---|---|
| Slack | Channels, external partners and quick huddles |
| Google Workspace | Video meetings alongside business email and office apps |
| Bitrix24 | Chat and calls beside a sales pipeline and project boards |
| Mojobase | Team conversations tied to email, customers and follow-ups |
| Basecamp | Project discussions and scheduled updates without more meetings |
1. Slack: best for channels, external partners and quick huddles
Slack combines channels, threads, canvases and lists with audio and video huddles. Pro adds unlimited message history, group huddles and external collaboration with up to 250 organizations. Choose it when team communication and partner conversations are the main job and office apps can stay where they are.
- Pro: $7.25 per user per month, when paying annually; $8.75 per user per month when paying monthly; $8.75 billed monthly1
- Pro includes: Unlimited message history; Unlimited app integrations; Group huddles and external messages (up to 250 orgs); Basic AI2
- Feature: Huddles for audio and video meetings with screen sharing (1:1 only on Free, group meetings on paid plans).3
- Feature: Slack Marketplace: over 2,600 apps.4
2. Google Workspace: best for video meetings alongside business email and office apps
Google Workspace includes Gmail, Chat, Meet, Drive, Docs, Sheets and Slides. Meet supports 100 participants on Starter; Standard adds recording and meetings for 150 participants. It suits a business moving its email and collaboration together rather than choosing a standalone chat app. Check Office-file requirements before moving.
- Feature: Included apps: Gmail, Meet, Chat, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Sites, Keep, Apps Script.5
- Business Starter includes: 30 GB pooled storage per user; Custom business email ([email protected]); Gemini AI assistant in Gmail; chat with Gemini (company data not used to train models); Video meetings, 100 participants; Google Vids; Security and management controls6
- Business Standard includes: Everything in Starter; 2 TB pooled storage per user; Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Meet and more; Gemini Notebook with expanded access; Meet: recording, noise cancellation, 150 participants; Appointment booking pages; eSignature with Docs and PDFs; Google Workspace Migrate tool7
- Feature: Video meetings hold 100 (Starter), 150 (Standard), 500 (Plus) or 1,000 (Enterprise) participants; recording starts on Standard.8
3. Bitrix24: best for chat and calls beside a sales pipeline and project boards
Bitrix24 brings chat, video calls with recording, shared calendars, a company drive, CRM and tasks into one platform. Essentials Basic includes five users, sales pipelines and email integration. Choose it when sales and delivery need a shared system as well as conversation, and compare its user bands with your actual team.
- Essentials: Basic: $49 flat per organization per month (not per user), billed annually (US$69 billed monthly); page says 'Save up to 40%' with annual; $69 billed monthly9
- Essentials: Basic includes: Includes 5 users; 24 GB storage; Sales pipelines, recurring deals, online payments; Email, WhatsApp and telephony integration; AI for everyday work (CoPilot)10
- Feature: Collaboration: chat, video calls with recording, company drive and online documents, shared calendars.11
- Feature: Tasks and projects: Kanban, Gantt, Scrum, checklists, subtasks, time tracking, workgroups, external users.12
4. Mojobase: best for team conversations tied to email, customers and follow-ups
Mojobase Team chat has channels, DMs, threads, Needs you and Catch up. AI summarizes decisions, offers tasks privately and answers from the business records the participants may see. It sits beside Email, Calendar, Customers, Documents and the Handbook. There are no video calls; keep a separate meeting service when calls matter.
- Price: $39 a month for the first person and $25 for each after; the first 10 companies pay $29 and $19, for life
- AI: included, with your choice of model, or bring your own
5. Basecamp: best for project discussions and scheduled updates without more meetings
Basecamp groups message boards, to-dos, files, schedules and Campfire chat around each project. Automatic Check-ins ask recurring questions, and Hill Charts show progress. Choose it when the main aim is replacing status meetings with readable project updates, rather than finding another video meeting room.
- Pro: $79 flat per account per month (not per user), billed monthly; Annual billing is marked unavailable in the package comparison13
- Feature: Message Boards for announcements and discussions, meant to replace email.14
- Feature: Automatic Check-ins that ask the team recurring questions on a schedule.15
- Feature: Card Tables (kanban) for tracking work through stages; Hill Charts for progress.16
Are you replacing Teams chat, video meetings or the Microsoft bundle?
Choose those three jobs separately. A team dissatisfied with chat may still need Teams meetings or Microsoft email, while a team replacing the whole bundle needs more than channels and DMs.
Teams Essentials, checked 7 November 2026, includes meetings for up to 300 participants and 30 hours, recordings, transcripts, guest chat and 10 GB storage per user. It connects to Outlook or Google calendars. Those are substantial meeting capabilities to preserve if your business uses them. Start with the last week's work: which conversations needed a room, which needed an answer, and which needed a task owner?
How do Teams alternatives compare on price and meeting coverage?
Slack, Google Workspace and Bitrix24 cover live communication in different ways; Mojobase and Basecamp are useful when the goal is better work around conversations. Compare each against the Microsoft licenses you retain, not just the price of Teams by itself.
The linked company pages were checked 7 November 2026. Monthly billing is shown where verified. Teams Essentials has only a verified annual-commitment rate here, and Google's displayed monthly rate needs its commitment confirmed before purchase.
| Tool and plan | Price basis | Communication and surrounding work |
|---|---|---|
| Teams Essentials | $4 per user per month, paid yearly | 300-participant meetings, recordings, transcripts and guest chat |
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic | $8.4 per user, monthly subscription | Teams plus custom email, web Office and 1 TB storage per user |
| Slack Pro | $8.75 per user billed monthly | Channels, unlimited history, group huddles and external collaboration |
| Google Workspace Standard | $14 per user per month, one-year commitment, billed monthly | Chat, Meet for 150 with recording, Gmail and office apps |
| Bitrix24 Essentials Basic | $69 per organization billed monthly, includes 5 users | CRM and tasks alongside chat, calls and shared files |
| Mojobase | $39 a month for the first person, $25 each after | Team chat and the business around it; no video calls |
| Basecamp Pro | $79 per account per month | Up to 10 users and 8 active projects, with project communication |
Mojobase costs $139 a month for five people. Its price covers Email, Team chat, Calendar, Documents, Tasks, Customers, Numbers and the Handbook. Keep the cost of any remaining call service in the budget.
Use the small-business software budget to compare the subscriptions that remain after a move.
Which option fits outside partners and customers?
Choose by the relationship you need: a recurring shared channel, a guest in one project, or a customer asking for support. Giving everyone the same kind of access makes the move harder to manage.
Slack Connect, checked 7 November 2026, supports one-to-one external messages on Free and collaboration with up to 250 organizations on paid plans. Basecamp lets clients join projects, with every person counting toward the plan's user limit. Teams Essentials already includes guest chat, so guest access alone is not a reason to leave.
Mojobase guests enter the chosen Team chat channels. They do not gain access to unrelated email, documents or customers. A support request belongs in Customers' Inbox or its website Messenger instead of making every customer a chat guest. Test one contractor and one customer workflow separately before copying the whole membership list.
What does Mojobase change about catching up on chat?
Mojobase makes the unanswered question and the resulting action visible together. Team chat opens on Needs you; Catch up summarizes busy channels with links to the messages behind each decision.
When someone promises to send a quote on Friday, AI privately offers that person a task. A decision can become a suggested Handbook update. Ask “What did we agree with the customer, and what is still open?” and the answer draws on accessible mail, files, calendar, tasks and chat. It does not reveal private customer material in a guest channel: a shared answer uses only information everyone present may see.
Mojobase is built for 1 to 25 people, and it works well for teams up to 100. It hosts email on your domain or connects Gmail and Outlook. There are no video calls. Calendar and meeting-note follow-ups organize the meeting's surrounding work; use your chosen call service for the call itself.
How do AI assistants and MCP affect the decision?
Teams already has agent access, and several alternatives do too. The useful distinction is whether the assistant can reach the context for the job and what it is authorized to change.
Microsoft's Work IQ MCP overview, checked 7 November 2026, documents Teams chat access under the signed-in user's permissions. Copilot in Teams requires a Teams license and a plan with Copilot. Transcripts in Essentials do not establish that Copilot entitlement.
Mojobase's MCP server gives ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Hermes or your own setup one connection across the business. Agents act as a person, under that person's access. Scheduled runs draft and suggest; other changes follow Suggest or Auto by kind and appear in Activity with Undo where applicable. Ask each candidate to find a decision, show its source and propose the next task. Compare the evidence as well as the summary.
How do you switch without splitting team communication?
Move one working channel with its decisions, files and owners, then designate a clear home for new discussion. Copying every old channel into a new tool can preserve the same confusion under different names.
- List active channels, private groups, guests, recurring meetings and integrations people rely on.
- Separate important decisions from transient messages; preserve readable copies and the files they refer to.
- Test guest access and AI visibility before inviting a whole client group.
- Run a real recurring meeting on the selected call service, including the recording and follow-up requirements.
- Give each active channel a switch date and a clear pointer to the new discussion location.
- Keep Microsoft licenses until email, files, calendar access and any phone requirements are accounted for.
This page does not promise a complete Teams history import into Mojobase. Read the direct Teams comparison for that choice, or the alternatives hub for a different part of the stack.
Questions people ask
Which Microsoft Teams alternative is best for video meetings?
Google Workspace includes Meet, with 100 participants on Starter and 150 plus recording on Standard. Slack offers huddles, with group huddles on paid plans, and Bitrix24 lists video calls with recording. Mojobase has no video calls, so choose it for the surrounding work only if another service covers meetings.
Is there a free alternative to Microsoft Teams?
Slack Free covers 90 days of message history, up to ten apps and one-to-one huddles. Bitrix24's free plan covers one or two users with basic CRM, tasks, chat and video calls. Compare group access, searchable history and storage before deciding whether a free plan fits the team.
Does changing chat let me cancel Microsoft 365?
Only if the rest of your Microsoft requirements are covered. Business Basic includes custom email, web Office apps and storage alongside Teams. A separate chat subscription can add cost if you retain the same Microsoft bundle. Map mailbox, file, spreadsheet and meeting needs before treating a chat switch as a saving.
Does Mojobase offer private channels and guests?
Yes. Team chat has public and private channels, DMs, group DMs and threads. Guests enter chosen channels rather than the whole business. AI answers in a shared conversation only from information everyone there may see; a private answer goes to the person who asked.
Does Teams already let agents read chat through MCP?
Yes. Microsoft documents Teams chat access through the Work IQ MCP server under the signed-in user's permissions. Mojobase's one MCP server connects Team chat with email, calendar, documents, tasks and the Handbook under the same access rules as its screens. Compare the work you need the agent to do.
Sources
- Slack: Pro. slack.com/pricing, checked 7 Nov 2026.
- Slack: Pro includes. slack.com/pricing, checked 7 Nov 2026.
- Slack: Feature. slack.com/pricing, checked 7 Nov 2026.
- Slack: Feature. slack.com/pricing, checked 7 Nov 2026.
- Google Workspace: Feature. workspace.google.com/pricing, checked 7 Nov 2026.
- Google Workspace: Business Starter includes. workspace.google.com/pricing?hl=en_us, checked 7 Nov 2026.
- Google Workspace: Business Standard includes. workspace.google.com/pricing?hl=en_us, checked 7 Nov 2026.
- Google Workspace: Feature. workspace.google.com/pricing, checked 7 Nov 2026.
- Bitrix24: Essentials: Basic. bitrix24.com/prices/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
- Bitrix24: Essentials: Basic includes. bitrix24.com/prices/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
- Bitrix24: Feature. bitrix24.com/prices/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
- Bitrix24: Feature. bitrix24.com/prices/, checked 7 Nov 2026.
- Basecamp: Pro. basecamp.com/pricing, checked 7 Nov 2026.
- Basecamp: Feature. basecamp.com/features, checked 7 Nov 2026.
- Basecamp: Feature. basecamp.com/features, checked 7 Nov 2026.
- Basecamp: Feature. basecamp.com/features, checked 7 Nov 2026.
- Microsoft Teams: Microsoft Teams Essentials. microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/essentials, checked 7 Nov 2026.
- Microsoft Teams: Microsoft 365 Business Basic (includes Teams). microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business/microsoft-365-business-basic, checked 7 Nov 2026.
- Microsoft Teams: Microsoft Teams Phone Standard. microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/compare-microsoft-teams-business-options, checked 7 Nov 2026.
- Google Workspace: Business Standard. workspace.google.com/pricing?hl=en_us, checked 7 Nov 2026.