Chatwork vs Lark

Chatwork

• Teams that chat with clients and partners outside their own company
• Small groups starting at no cost: the Free plan covers up to 100 users
• Teams that want task assignment inside the conversation

Lark

• Teams of up to 20 that want free chat, docs and meetings in one app
• Multilingual teams, since message translation is on every plan
• Companies replacing separate chat, docs, email and workflow tools

Chatwork

• Free plan members can only view messages from the last 40 days, and its 10GB of storage is shared by the whole organization.
• Group video calls need the Standard plan; the Free plan is limited to 1:1 video calls.
• No Linux desktop app is listed: the download page covers Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and web browsers.
• The English pricing page lists only Free and Standard; the Japanese page adds a Professional plan with security controls, priced in yen.

Lark

• The free Starter plan stops at 20 users, 100 GB of storage and 18 months of message history.
• Starter and Basic allow only 1-on-1 video meetings; group meetings need Pro at $12 per user / month.
• Single sign-on and advanced security controls are limited to Enterprise, and Basic and Pro stop at 500 users.
• Lark Basic is not sold in the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, Japan or South Korea, and payment is in USD, SGD or JPY depending on country.

Chatwork

Group, direct and personal chats

A group chat is set up for each team or project, direct chats reach anyone in your contact list, and My Chat is a private space for your own notes and files.

Tasks inside chats

Assign tasks to yourself or to colleagues from the chat screen and review them by due date. The person who assigned a task is notified when it is completed.

File sharing and management

Upload Word, Excel and image files to a chat, preview them in the browser, and see every file shared in a group in one list.

Voice and video calls

Start a call with screen sharing from a chat, on desktop or phone. The Free plan covers 1:1 video calls; group video calls need Standard.

Contacts outside your organization

Add people at other companies by email address or Chatwork ID. The Free plan allows 20 outside contacts per user; Standard removes the limit.

Admin and security controls

Admins add, remove and edit users from a management screen. Two-factor authentication is on both plans, and uploaded files are encrypted with AES-256.

Lark

Messenger

Team chat with real-time message translation on every plan. Starter keeps 18 months of message history, and the paid plans keep it without a limit.

Video meetings

Starter and Basic are limited to 1-on-1 video meetings. Pro and Enterprise host up to 500 participants, and Pro lists single meetings of up to 24 hours.

Minutes and AI Meeting Notes

Minutes turns meetings into searchable transcripts. AI Meeting Notes, which writes summaries and tracks action items, is a paid add-on at $1,699 for 1,800 notes.

Docs, Slides and Wiki

Documents, sheets and slides are created and shared inside Lark, and Wiki works as a central team knowledge base.

Base and Approval

Base builds workflows and dashboards without code, and Approval automates sign-offs. Tables hold 2,000 rows on Starter and Basic and 20,000 on Pro.

Email and Calendar

Lark includes team email and a shared calendar, with direct integrations for Exchange, Outlook, Google Calendar and Gmail.

Chatwork

• Free$0

  Up to 100 users, unlimited group chats, the last 40 days of messages, 10GB of storage per organization and 1:1 video calls.

• Standard$7

  per user / month, annual subscription ($8.40 billed monthly)

  Unlimited users, outside contacts and message history, group video calls, 10GB of storage per user, bulk user import from CSV and dedicated support.

Lark

• Starter$0

  Up to 20 users, 100 GB of storage, 1-on-1 video meetings, 18 months of message history and 1,000 automations a month.

• Basic$6

  per user / month, billed annually

  Up to 500 users, 5 TB of storage and unlimited message history. Video meetings stay 1-on-1.

• Pro$12

  per user / month, billed annually

  Up to 500 users, 15 TB of storage, 500-participant video meetings, 50,000 automations a month and Base advanced permissions.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Unlimited users, 15 TB plus 30 GB per user, single sign-on, 500,000 automations a month and advanced security and compliance controls.

Chatwork

• Annual discount

  About 17% less on an annual subscription

  Standard costs $7 per user / month on an annual subscription against $8.40 on a monthly one, a saving of about 17%.

Lark

• Annual discount

  Save 16.6% with yearly billing

  Lark's plans page states a 16.6% saving for yearly billing. Monthly subscriptions are available for Basic and Pro at a higher rate.