Glue vs Microsoft Teams

Glue

• Teams that find channel-based chat noisy and want every topic in its own thread
• Teams that want an AI assistant and coding agents inside their chat threads
• Workspaces of five people or fewer, which can stay on the free Startup allowance

Microsoft Teams

• Organizations that already pay for Microsoft 365
• Small businesses that want meetings and chat without the full suite
• Companies that want phone calling inside their chat app
• Teams that co-edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files

Glue

• Only a Startup workspace's first 5 users are free, and it is capped at 5 groups and 1 admin; Glue's docs say this is not a freemium plan.
• Premium AI models from Gemini, Anthropic and OpenAI need Business or Enterprise; Startup uses open-source models.
• Data imports are not part of the Startup plan; Business allows up to 100 MB and Enterprise is unlimited.
• The plan cards and docs put SAML SSO and SCIM on Enterprise only, though the pricing page's comparison table also ticks SAML SSO for Business.

Microsoft Teams

• The free version is built for one person: group calls stop at 60 minutes and 100 participants, with 5 GB of cloud storage.
• Teams Essentials and the Microsoft 365 Business plans stop at 300 users; larger organizations need Teams Enterprise or Microsoft 365 E3 or E5.
• There is no Linux desktop app: Microsoft points Linux users to a progressive web app and says the Linux client is no longer supported.
• Webinar hosting is left out of Teams Essentials and Business Basic, and phone service, Teams Premium and Copilot are separately priced add-ons.

Glue

Named threads

Every conversation is a thread with a subject line, sent to any combination of groups and people. Any message can be turned into a new thread, and a finished thread can be closed.

Personal inbox

The threads that involve you are tracked in your own inbox, so you follow individual conversations instead of whole channels and archive them when you are done.

Groups

Groups collect people and threads for a department, team or project, and each has a group chat private to its members. Guests from outside the workspace can be added.

Glue AI

Mention @Glue AI in a thread to ask about a project's status or get a summary. It answers from the web and from the threads and groups the person asking is allowed to see.

Agents and MCP servers

Agents such as Cursor can be mentioned in a thread to work alongside the team, and the Apps section offers MCP servers next to the regular app integrations.

Integrations and public API

Pre-built integrations post updates and link previews from tools like GitHub and Linear. Zapier, webhooks and a public API cover custom integrations on every plan.

Microsoft Teams

Chat and channels

Chats and channels hold conversations, shared files, Loop and OneNote pages and third-party apps. Paid plans include unlimited chat messages, file attachments and search.

Video meetings

Business plans allow meetings of up to 300 participants and 30 hours, with screen sharing, breakout rooms, custom backgrounds, Together mode and noise suppression.

Recordings, transcripts and captions

Paid plans record meetings with transcripts. Live captions cover more than 30 languages on the Microsoft 365 business plans and English only on Teams Essentials.

Webinars

Webinar hosting with attendee registration and reporting comes with Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot and the enterprise suites, not with Business Basic or Essentials.

Teams Phone

A cloud phone system added to a Teams license. Teams Phone Standard is $10.00 per user / month paid yearly, and US bundles that add a calling plan start at $13.00.

Copilot and Teams Premium

Microsoft 365 Copilot and Teams Premium are add-ons. Teams Premium costs $10.00 per user / month paid yearly and needs a plan with a Teams Enterprise license.

Glue

• Startup$0 up to 5 users, then $6

  per user / month, billed annually ($7 billed monthly)

  Up to 5 groups and 1 admin, unlimited threads, message history, apps, webhooks and external users, public API access and open-source AI models.

• Business$12

  per user / month, billed yearly ($14 billed monthly)

  Everything in Startup plus unlimited groups, multiple admins, data imports up to 100 MB and premium AI models from Gemini, Anthropic and OpenAI.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Everything in Business plus unlimited data import, SAML and SCIM, priority support and guided onboarding.

Microsoft Teams

• Microsoft Teams (free)$0

  For one person: unlimited chat, group calls of up to 60 minutes and 100 participants, tasks and polling, and 5 GB of cloud storage.

• Microsoft Teams Essentials$4.00

  per user / month, paid yearly

  Teams on its own for up to 300 users: meetings of up to 300 people and 30 hours, recordings with transcripts, and 10 GB of storage per user.

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic$7.00

  per user / month, paid yearly

  Suite plan that includes Teams, plus web and mobile Office apps, custom business email and 1 TB of cloud storage per user. Up to 300 users.

• Microsoft Teams Enterprise$8.55

  per user / month, paid yearly

  Teams on its own for organizations of more than 300 people, with recordings, transcripts and 10 GB of cloud storage per user.

• M365 Business Standard with Copilot$23.50

  per user / month, paid yearly

  Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot: Teams with webinar hosting, desktop Office apps and Copilot in the apps. Up to 300 users.

• Microsoft 365 E3$39.00

  per user / month, paid yearly (annual commitment)

  Enterprise suite for any size that includes Teams with webinars, desktop Office apps and added security. Microsoft 365 E5 is $60.00.

Glue

• Annual discount

  About 14% less with annual billing

  Glue's billing docs list Business at $12 per user / month on an annual plan against $14 monthly, and Startup at $6 against $7, a saving of about 14%.

Microsoft Teams

• Nonprofit

  75% off Microsoft 365 Business Premium for nonprofits

  Eligible nonprofits can get Microsoft 365 Business Premium, a suite that includes Microsoft Teams, at a 75% discount after registering and confirming eligibility.