Microsoft Teams vs Twist
We give Microsoft Teams and Twist the same GPA: 3.4 out of 4.0. Microsoft Teams grades higher on value for money and features. Twist grades higher on ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan.
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
How we grade them
| 3.4GPAMicrosoft TeamsVery good | 3.4GPATwistVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | ATeams Essentials is $4.00 a person a month, paid yearly, with meetings for 300 and recordings with transcripts. Slack Pro is $7.25. And if your company's on Microsoft 365, you probably have it already. | BUnlimited is $6 a user a month billed yearly, or $8 monthly, which is about what team chat typically costs. There's only the one paid plan and it has the lot: full history, unlimited integrations and unlimited file storage. You can't mix free and paid members, mind, so everyone gets billed. |
| Free plan and trial | BThe free version covers one person: unlimited chat, group calls of 60 minutes with up to 100 people and 5 GB of storage. That's for family, not for a team. The one-month trial of the paid plans needs a card. | BFree for up to 500 members and 500 guests, which is generous on headcount. But you can only see and search the last month of comments and messages. Older stuff is kept, just hidden until you upgrade. It's also 5 integrations and 5 GB of file storage. |
| Features | AChat, channels, meetings for 300, breakout rooms, recordings with transcripts, a whiteboard and shared Office files. Phone lines, webinars and Copilot are there too, if you pay more. | BTitled threads inside channels, an inbox with Active, Done and Saved views, direct and group messages, and search you can narrow by author, channel and date range. Good at what it's for. But video meetings run through a Jitsi Meet integration, and no new features are coming for the time being. |
| Ease of use | B4.8 from about 3.4 million App Store ratings, which is hard to argue with. But the written reviews grumble about clutter and phone bugs, and Hacker News regulars call the desktop app slow. | A4.7 from 1,080 App Store ratings. The inbox gathers every thread you've been notified about, and you work through it a bit like email. With no status lights, nobody expects an instant answer. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWindows, Mac, iPhone, Android and four browsers, and Microsoft's pricing page counts over 250 business apps that plug in. But there's no Linux app. Microsoft says Teams is no longer supported there. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android. It connects to Todoist, GitHub, GitLab, Google Calendar, Jira Software and Trello, plus Zapier, Make and n8n, and there's a developer API for your own automations. |
| Best for | offices that already pay for Microsoft 365 | async teams who'd rather write than ping |
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 Twist. How we grade
Where they differ
- Microsoft Teams starts at $4.00 per user / month, paid yearly. Twist starts at $6 per user / month, billed yearly.
- Only Twist lists a Linux app.
- Microsoft Teams also covers transcription, noise cancellation, whiteboard and video calls.
At a glance
| Microsoft Teams | Twist | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $4.00 per user / month, paid yearly | $6 per user / month, billed yearly |
| 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. | Access to the last month of comments and messages, up to 5 integrations, 5 GB of file storage, and up to 500 members and 500 guests. |
| Free trial | One-month free trial of the paid plans; a credit card is required and it converts to a paid subscription. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Microsoft | Doist Inc. |
| Price read from | microsoft.com | twist.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
Twist
- Distributed teams that reply across time zones rather than in real time
- Teams that want written discussions kept findable by topic
- Working with clients or contractors: single-channel guests are free
- Teams already using Todoist, which has several Twist integrations
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.
Twist
- Twist's own What's New page says development is on hiatus: no new features and no fixes for small bugs for the time being. Its last entry is from May 2023.
- The Free plan shows and searches only the last month of comments and messages; older content is kept but hidden until the team upgrades.
- Free teams are limited to 5 integrations and 5 GB of file storage.
- On Unlimited every member and multi-channel guest is billed, so a team cannot mix free and paid members.
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.
Twist
- Threads
- Each conversation in a channel is a titled thread with its own comments. Threads can be closed, pinned, muted or moved to another channel.
- Public and private channels
- Channels group threads by team, project, topic or client, and can be public to the whole team or private to invited members.
- Inbox
- The inbox lists every thread a member has been notified about across channels, with Active, Done and Saved views for working through them.
- Direct and group messages
- Messages sit alongside threads for one-on-one or small-group exchanges, with file attachments, GIFs and emoji reactions.
- Search with filters
- Search covers threads and messages and can be narrowed by author, channel, thread title and date range.
- Integrations and API
- The directory covers tools such as GitHub, Google Calendar, Jira Software and Todoist, plus Zapier, Make and n8n, and a developer API for custom automations.
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.
Twist
Free$0
Up to 1 month of comment and message history, 5 integrations, 5 GB of file storage, 500 member accounts and 500 guest accounts.
Unlimited$6
per user / month, billed yearly ($8 billed monthly)
Full history, unlimited integrations and file storage, unlimited members and guests, priority support, custom groups and Google sign-in.
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.
Twist
- Annual discount
25% less with yearly billing
Twist Unlimited costs $6 per user / month billed annually against $8 billed monthly. Doist's help center says no other discounts are currently offered.
