Lark vs Microsoft Teams

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.