What is the best free Slack alternative?

Discord is the strongest free option for a community or open-source project. For a company that needs threads and integrations without a paid plan, Mattermost self-hosted is a reasonable server-side choice.

Should internal chat and community chat live in the same tool?

Usually not. Internal discussion needs permissions and focus; a community needs discovery and public channels. Running Discord for users and Slack or Twist for the team is a common and healthy split.

Can I migrate Slack history to another tool?

Most tools import channels and messages, but threads, files and integrations usually need manual work. Start by archiving what matters, then run the new tool alongside Slack for a week before switching off notifications.

All alternatives

Team chat / Alternatives

Slack alternatives

Slack is the default company chat. These alternatives fit community-led products, Microsoft or Google stacks, async teams and self-hosted setups.

Slack set the shape of modern team chat: channels, threads, huddles and an integration ecosystem. The alternatives below are not interchangeable — Discord is a community product, Teams and Google Chat are bundled with suites, and Twist, Zulip and Mattermost optimize for calmer or more controlled communication.

6 alternativesReviewed October 2026Best for founders, remote teams and community builders

Reviewed by Rebupl editorialLast updated 7 November 2026How we review

Short answer: If you use Slack for team communication and community, start with Discord, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat. Each one is listed because it fits a specific part of that job — check the price note and audience before you switch.

The list

Best Slack alternatives

Ordered by fit for team communication and community, not by payment. Prices are a snapshot from the last review.

Discord

Free + paid

Voice, video and chat built for communities.

Discord's server and channel model fits public communities better than internal company chat. If your product is community-led, it is often the better home for users than a Slack workspace.

Community chatCommunities, creators and open-source projectscommunityvoicechat

Free; Nitro is an optional personal upgrade.

Visit

Microsoft Teams

Paid

Chat, meetings and files inside Microsoft 365.

The pragmatic choice when the company already lives in Outlook, Word and Entra ID. It is heavier than Slack, but the admin, compliance and meeting stack is already paid for.

Team chatCompanies already standardized on Microsoft 365microsoftmeetingsenterprise

Bundled with Microsoft 365 business plans.

Visit

Google Chat

Paid

Chat and spaces inside Google Workspace.

A no-extra-cost option if the team already pays for Workspace. Threads and rooms cover the basics, though the third-party integration culture is smaller than Slack's.

Team chatGoogle Workspace teamsgoogleworkspacechat

Included with Google Workspace.

Visit

Twist

Free + paid

Threaded team messaging designed for async work.

Twist organizes conversations by thread instead of a live feed, which reduces interruption. It is calmer than Slack and a worse fit for teams that need real-time presence all day.

Async messagingRemote teams that prefer async threadsasyncthreadsremote

Free plan; paid from around $6/user/mo.

Visit

Mattermost

Free + paid

Self-hosted team messaging with enterprise controls.

A Slack-shaped messenger you can run on your own infrastructure. It is built for regulated and on-prem teams; expect to own upgrades and operations.

Team chatSecurity-sensitive engineering teamsself-hostedsecuritychat

Free self-hosted; paid cloud and enterprise plans.

Visit

Zulip

Free + paid

Threaded chat that keeps every conversation findable.

Zulip's topic-based threading makes long technical conversations searchable. The interface is less polished than Slack, but the async model is genuinely better for deep work.

Team chatOpen-source and distributed engineering teamsthreadsopen sourceasync

Free self-hosted; cloud from around $6.67/user/mo.

Visit

How we picked them

Reviewed 7 November 2026. The list is built from the following sources. A product cannot buy a position.

Each platform's public pricing and submission pages, checked on the review date.
Rebupl's own pricing, FAQ and launch rules for the platform side of a comparison.
The reviewed Where to Launch directory, which records pricing, audience and link policy.

Full method: editorial policy · Markdown: slack.md

FAQ

Slack alternatives FAQ

3 answers

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