Teamwire vs Wire (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Teamwire grades higher than Wire: 2.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Teamwire grades higher on features and ease of use. Wire grades higher on value for money. 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.
Teamwire
GDPR-focused business messenger hosted in Germany
Wire
End-to-end encrypted messaging and calls for organizations
Which one is for you
Pick Teamwire if
- Fits if you are a hospital, public body or utility that needs German hosting
- Makes sense if you need alerting and a central directory for 25 or more people
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you are a small team, as every plan has a 25-user minimum
- Tight if you need calls, because voice and video conferences are a paid add-on
- Skip it if you need above 500 users on Standard, since that is the cap
- Watch out: chat widget, WhatsApp and federation are quoted on request, and prices are in euros
Pick Wire if
- Fits if your messages, calls and files all have to be end-to-end encrypted
- Works for government bodies or regulated firms that need chat on their own servers
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want your chat wired into other tools, as no integrations or public API are on record
- Tight if you're staying free, with 5 team members and no conference calls beyond 2 participants
- Not for you if a well-rated phone app matters, going by its 3.07 from 920 App Store ratings
- Watch out: browser calling works only in Chrome, and the Linux app is an experimental community build
- Pricey if you budget in dollars or pass 100 people, as prices are in euros only and bigger teams need an Enterprise quote
How we grade them
| 2.2GPATeamwireFair | 2.0GPAWireFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DSmall Business is €79 a month for up to 25 users, so one person pays €79. That is in the dearest tenth of team chat tools. Standard drops to €3.45 per user, but also starts at 25. | CWire for SMB is €7.45 a person a month paid annually, €8.94 monthly, which is about what team chat costs, and single sign-on and SCIM are in from that first paid plan. Prices are published in euros only, and NGOs can apply for 40% off. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 15-day trial with no card, and no free plan. | CWire for Free stops at 5 people, and the harder limit is that it cannot start a conference call with more than 2 participants. You do get the essentials on every platform and up to 8 devices. Past five of you, it's the paid plan, as there's no trial listed. |
| Features | BChat, calls, alerting, location, roles, audit logs, LDAP sync and SDKs. Conferences are an extra €0.75 per user a month. | CEverything is end-to-end encrypted on the MLS protocol, messages, calls and files alike, with conferences up to 150, Wire Drive for documents, guests joining from a browser and on-premises or hybrid deployment. The listing's own note: calling in a browser works only in Chrome. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Directory sync, roles and hosting need an administrator to set up. | D3.07 from 920 App Store ratings, which is poor by any reading: nearly as many reviewers left one star as five. The Linux desktop app is an experimental community build, and browser calling is Chrome-only, so somebody is sorting out what people run it on. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iOS and Android, with SDKs and APIs. No desktop app is listed. | BWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android, up to 8 devices each, and federation so separate Wire backends talk to each other. But there are no integrations on record at all and no public API listed, so it doesn't join up with the rest of your tools. |
| Best for | regulated bodies needing a German-hosted messenger | end-to-end encrypted chat and calls for organisations |
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: Teamwire and Wire. How we grade
Price against what you get
Teamwire starts at about $88.26 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Wire starts at about $8.32 a month for each person and scores 2.0.
Teamwire scores higher, and starts $79.94 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other team communication apps on the chart, 12 score higher than Teamwire for less, and 26 score higher than Wire 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
- Wire is open source and end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
- Wire also covers file sharing.
At a glance
| Teamwire | Wire | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | €79 per month for up to 25 users, billed annually | €7.45 per person / month, paid annually |
| Free plan | None | Wire for Free: teams of up to 5 people with collaboration essentials on all platforms and up to 8 devices. It cannot start conference calls with more than 2 participants. |
| Free trial | 15-day free trial, no credit card needed. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Teamwire GmbH | Wire Swiss GmbH |
| Price read from | teamwire.eu | wire.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Teamwire
- Every plan has a 25-user minimum per organization; Standard tops out at 500 users.
- Voice and video conferences are an optional add-on at 0.75 euros per user per month on Small Business and Standard.
- Chat widget, WhatsApp Business integration and federation are quoted on request.
- Prices are shown in euros.
Wire
- Prices are listed in euros only.
- Wire for Free stops at 5 team members and cannot start a conference call with more than 2 participants.
- The SMB plan covers teams of up to 100 people; larger organizations need a custom Enterprise quote.
- The Linux desktop app is a community-supported experimental build, and browser calling works only in Chrome.
Key features
Teamwire
- Messaging and calls
- 1:1, group and broadcast chats, attachments, polls, 1:1 voice and video calls and a central user directory.
- Alerting and location
- Alert messages with an emergency button and acknowledgements, live location sharing and a push-to-talk interface.
- Role concept
- Operational roles shown beside names let groups follow responsibilities without manual updates.
- Administration and compliance
- Central user administration, data-retention policies, audit-proof archiving, audit logs and MDM support.
- Hosting choices
- German cloud in an ISO 27001 and BSI C5 certified data centre; private cloud or on-premise on the Professional plan.
- SDKs and APIs
- SDKs and APIs connect Teamwire to CRM, ERP, help desk and other systems and to chatbots.
Wire
- Encrypted messaging
- Group and 1:1 conversations with search, reactions, sketches, audio and video messages and self-deleting messages, all end-to-end encrypted with MLS.
- Calls and conferences
- Audio and video conferencing for up to 150 participants on web, desktop and mobile, with screen sharing and moderation tools such as muting participants.
- Wire Drive
- Integrated file management and online document collaboration, with files kept inside conversations tied to verified group membership.
- Guests and externals
- Externals are team members with limited access rights, while guests can join a conversation from a web browser without an account.
- Cloud, on-premises or hybrid
- Wire can be deployed in its cloud, on your own infrastructure or both, and federation lets separate Wire backends interact as if they were one.
- SSO, SCIM and admin controls
- Paid plans add SAML-based single sign-on, SCIM provisioning, administrative controls and feature configurations such as restricting file sharing.
Plans
Teamwire
Small Business€79
per month for up to 25 users, billed annually
Up to 25 users, 3 devices per user, German cloud hosting; the 25-user minimum applies.
Standard€3.45
per user / month, billed annually
25 to 500 users, 3 devices per user, German cloud, LDAP/AD sync and audit logs.
ProfessionalCustom
25 to unlimited users, 5 devices per user, private cloud or on-premise hosting; price on request.
Wire
Wire for Free€0
For small teams of up to 5 people: collaboration essentials on all platforms and up to 8 devices.
Wire for SMB€7.45
per person / month, paid annually (€8.94 paid monthly)
Teams of up to 100 people. Video conferences with up to 150 participants, SSO and SCIM, administrative controls, and external and guest roles.
Wire for EnterpriseCustom
More than 100 people. Federation with Wire Cloud, ID Shield, full deployment support, data sovereignty and multi-tenancy.
Ways to pay less
Teamwire
No public discounts listed.
Wire
- Annual discount
About 17% less with annual payment
Wire for SMB costs €7.45 per person / month with annual payment against €8.94 with monthly payment.
- Nonprofit
40% discount for NGOs
Wire's pricing FAQ says it offers NGOs a 40% discount, applied for by contacting the company.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Teamwire or Wire?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Teamwire starts at €79 per month for up to 25 users, billed annually, and Wire starts at €7.45 per person / month, paid annually. One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Teamwire or Wire?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Wire has a free plan. Teamwire does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Teamwire and Wire run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Wire lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps. Both list a web app and iOS and Android apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
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.