Microsoft Teams vs Swit (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Microsoft Teams: it is second in our ranking of team communication apps, and it grades higher too, 3.0 against 2.2.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Microsoft Teams grades higher on value for money, features and ease of use. They get the same grade on the free plan and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Microsoft Teams
Chat, video meetings and calling tied into Microsoft 365
Swit
Team chat with built-in task and project management
Which one is for you
Pick Microsoft Teams if
- Fits if your company already pays for Microsoft 365, because Teams usually comes with it
- Works for teams who want chat and meetings at $4.00 a person and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files together
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if your team runs Linux, because Microsoft says Teams is no longer supported there
- Tight if you're hoping for a free team chat, since the free version is for one person and group calls stop at 60 minutes
- Pricey if you need webinars, which start on Business Standard with Copilot at $23.50, or Phone and Premium at $10.00 each
- Not for you if a slow, busy app drives you mad, going by Hacker News and App Store reviews
- Watch out: the one-month trial needs a card and turns into a paid plan, and the lower-priced plans stop at 300 users
Pick Swit if
- Fits if you want chat and a task board without two separate tools
- Works for a team that wants a trial before paying, with no card needed
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you are small, since Startup is 25 seats at $450 a year
- Pricey if you want automation at $99, or approvals, goals and guests at $5 a person each
- Skip it if you need on-premises hosting, because the vendor says there is none
- Watch out: SAML sign-on starts at Business, and two-factor and audit logs at Business Pro
- Tight if you stay free, with the hub only, 5 integrations and 1 year of history
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAMicrosoft TeamsVery good | 2.2GPASwitFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BTeams Essentials is $4.00 a user a month paid yearly, the low end of the category: 300-person meetings of up to 30 hours, recordings with transcripts, 10 GB each. Business Basic at $7.00 adds Office and business email. Webinars, Phone and Copilot cost extra. | CStartup is $1.50 a seat but sold as 25 seats, $450 a year, so one person pays that. Growth is $6 a seat, near the middle of the category. |
| Free plan and trial | CMicrosoft's own page says the free version is for one person, so it won't run a team. Chat is unlimited, but group calls stop at 60 minutes and 100 people with 5 GB of storage. The one-month trial of the paid plans wants a card and turns into a subscription on its own. | CFree plan with unlimited seats, but only the chat hub, 5 integrations, 5 GB and 1 year of history. A 30-day trial of paid plans needs no card. |
| Features | BIn one window: chat and channels, 300-person meetings with breakout rooms and noise suppression, recordings with transcripts, shared Word, Excel and PowerPoint files, and Teams Phone if you want the office line in here too. Webinars, Phone, Premium and Copilot are all priced separately. | CChat, tasks and projects, with a task plug-in. Automation, approvals, goals and guests are paid add-ons. |
| Ease of use | A4.8 on the App Store from about 3.4 million ratings, and for most people it's already installed and signed in by work. Chat, meetings, calls and files are in one window, so there's no second app to learn. Hacker News regulars still call it slow and bloated. | CNo rating on record. Workspaces, projects and plug-ins all need setting up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android. No Linux desktop app: Microsoft says the Linux client is no longer supported and points you at a web app. The integrations on record are all Microsoft's own, Loop, OneNote, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Whiteboard, Exchange and Copilot. | BWeb, Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android. Only one integration is listed. |
| Best for | offices that already pay for Microsoft 365 | team chat with tasks and projects in the same place |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Microsoft Teams and Swit. How we grade
Price against what you get
Microsoft Teams starts at $4 a month for each person and scores 3.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Swit starts at $1.50 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
Microsoft Teams scores higher, and starts $2.50 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other team communication apps on the chart, 1 scores higher than Microsoft Teams for less, and 6 score higher than Swit for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Microsoft Teams also covers transcription, noise cancellation, whiteboard, video calls and file sharing.
- Swit also covers tasks, kanban boards, workflow automation and goals.
At a glance
| Microsoft Teams | Swit | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $4.00 per user / month, paid yearly | $1.50 per user / month, billed yearly, for 25 fixed seats ($450 a year) |
| Free plan | Microsoft Teams (free) is for one person: unlimited chat, group calls of up to 60 minutes and 100 participants, and 5 GB of cloud storage. | Unlimited seats, up to 2 workspaces, 5 GB of storage per organization, 25 MB attachments and 1 year of message history. |
| Free trial | One-month free trial of the paid plans; a credit card is required and it converts to a paid subscription. | 30-day free trial on paid plans, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Microsoft | Swit Technologies Inc. |
| Price read from | microsoft.com | swit.io |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Swit
- Startup is sold as 25 fixed seats; Growth caps at 100 seats.
- Plug-ins cost extra: Automation $99 for 100K actions a month, and Approvals, Goals and Guests $5 per user a month each.
- Swit is cloud only; the vendor says there is no on-premises version.
- SAML-based SSO starts at Business; two-factor authentication and audit logs are listed from Business Pro.
Key features
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.
Swit
- Channels and chat
- Unlimited channels and chats on every plan, with posts shareable across workspaces inside an organization.
- Tasks and projects
- Task cards carry checklists, subtasks, assignees and priorities, and a project dashboard shows progress and workload.
- Messages to tasks
- On the Hub plan, a channel message can become a task, and a task card can be dragged into a chat channel.
- AI plug-in
- Chat, Taskify, Summarize, Write, Rephrase and Translate are sold as a plug-in available on all paid plans.
- Plug-ins for work processes
- Automation, Approvals, Goals and Guests are add-ons, priced separately on the pricing page.
Plans
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.
Swit
Free$0
Hub only. Up to 5 integrations, unlimited channels, projects and chats, basic project features.
Startup$1.50
per user / month, billed yearly ($1.80 billed monthly)
Sold as 25 fixed seats, $450 a year. 5 GB per user, unlimited history and integrations, full projects.
Growth$6
per user / month, billed yearly ($11 billed monthly)
Up to 100 seats, up to 5 workspaces and 20 GB of storage per user.
Business$11
per user / month, billed yearly ($21 billed monthly)
Unlimited seats, up to 10 workspaces, 100 GB per user and SAML-based SSO.
Business ProCustom
Sold through sales, billed yearly. Adds 1 TB per user, two-factor authentication, audit logs and download control.
EnterpriseCustom
Sold through sales, billed yearly. 10 TB per user, EKM, IP-based access control and data residency.
Ways to pay less
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.
Swit
- Annual discount
Save up to 47% with yearly billing
The pricing page shows yearly rates against monthly ones, such as $11 per user on Business billed yearly versus $21 billed monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Microsoft Teams or Swit?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Swit is cheaper to start with: $1.50 a month for each person, against $4 a month for each person for Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Teams starts at $4.00 per user / month, paid yearly, and Swit starts at $1.50 per user / month, billed yearly, for 25 fixed seats ($450 a year).
Which has a free plan, Microsoft Teams or Swit?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Microsoft Teams and Swit have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.