The Gather Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about Gather in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
Gather
The Insider’s Guide
Virtual office with presence, meetings and chat for remote teams
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among team communication apps, read from Gather’s own pages.
Made by Gather Presence Inc. · checked Oct 9, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from Gather’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Gather’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 9, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.2
GPA, above 2 of the 33 other team communication apps we grade
Gather is a virtual office for remote teams: each member has an avatar and a desk in a customizable 2D workspace, can see who is free, busy or in a meeting, and can walk over to start talking without a meeting link. Scheduled meetings, team chat, meeting recording and AI meeting notes are built in. Gather 2.0, the newer of its two supported platforms, is priced per member; the older Gather 1.0 remains available at the same per-user rate.
To get you started, here are 9 things to know about Gather, taken from its own pages and our grades.
- 1
Best for a virtual office for a fully remote team
Gather gives a remote team an office on screen: everyone has an avatar and a desk, you can see who's free, and you walk over to talk with no meeting link.
- 2
Paid plans start at $12 a month for each person
As its pricing page puts it: $12 per member / month, billed yearly.
- 3
You can try it first
30-day free trial of every feature for up to 50 members, no credit card required
- 4
It runs on 3 platforms
Web, macOS and Windows, with a browser extension too.
- 5
Virtual office and presence
See who is available, busy or in a meeting, hear nearby conversations if you choose, and wave a teammate over or join a conversation in one click.
- 6
Meetings
Unlimited scheduled meetings with simultaneous screen sharing, Google Calendar sync, coworking sessions and interactive whiteboards.
- 7
Team chat
Permanent chat with public and private channels, DMs and group chats, thread replies and file uploads, plus meeting chat and nearby chat.
- 8
A 2.2 GPA, above 2 of 33
That is against the other team communication apps we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 9
Keep it
To replace Gather you would be making video calls. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
Gather at a glance
- Pricing
- Free trial, from $12 per member / month, billed yearly
- Free plan
- No
- Free trial
- 30-day free trial of every feature for up to 50 members, no credit card required
- Runs on
- Web, macOS, Windows, Browser extension
- Made by
- Gather Presence Inc.
- Category
- Team Communication
- Our grade
- 2.2 GPA, fair
The report card
Best for a virtual office for a fully remote team
Gather gives a remote team an office on screen: everyone has an avatar and a desk, you can see who's free, and you walk over to talk with no meeting link. Chat, meetings, recording and AI notes come in one plan at $12 a member a month billed yearly. But there's no free plan after the 30-day trial, Gather 2.0 has no phone app or Linux support, and recording hours are metered.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C | One plan, $12 a member a month billed yearly or $15 monthly. That's above the $7 team chat typically starts at but short of the dear end, and it does include every feature. Single sign-on for 2.0 is in beta and sits on the Custom Plan. |
| Free plan and trial | C | No free plan. The 30-day trial is the whole product for up to 50 members and asks for no card, but when it ends only one admin can get into the workspace until somebody subscribes. |
| Features | C | Presence, walking over to talk, unlimited meetings with screen sharing, permanent chat with channels and threads, recording and AI notes. The limits are metered, though. Recording, transcription and guest time are monthly allowances per member, and Gather suggests 2.0 for offices up to 100. |
| Ease of use | C | No App Store rating on record, and the office is a thing you build: pick a template, choose an open, private or hybrid floor plan, edit rooms, walls and floors and place from more than 200 objects before anyone sits down. |
| Platforms and integrations | B | Web plus Mac and Windows desktop apps and a browser extension. No phone app for Gather 2.0 and no Linux, so you join from a computer or not at all. Google Calendar, GitHub and Spotify are the integrations listed. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who Gather is for
- Fits if your remote team wants the quick chat you'd get by walking to someone's desk
- Works for teams that want meetings, chat and presence in one place, at $12 a member
Who it is not for
- Skip it if you need a free plan, because after 30 days only one admin can get in
- Not for you if you join calls from your phone or work on Linux, as 2.0 supports neither
- Tight if you record a lot, with 2 recording hours per member a month on paid plans
- Watch out: Gather suggests 2.0 for offices of up to 100, and its single sign-on is in beta on the Custom Plan
- Too light for linking other tools, with Google Calendar, GitHub and Spotify the only integrations listed
Good to know
Good for
- Remote teams that want quick conversations without scheduling a call
- Teams that want availability and status visible at a glance
- Teams that want meetings, chat and presence in one workspace
Worth knowing
- There is no free plan: after the 30-day trial only one admin can enter the workspace until a subscription starts.
- Gather 2.0 has no mobile app and does not support Linux; its desktop apps are for Mac and Windows.
- Recording, transcription and guest time are monthly allowances tied to member count, with minimums of 20, 30 and 30 hours.
- Gather recommends 2.0 for offices of up to 100 people; single sign-on for 2.0 is in beta and listed under the Custom Plan.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$12
A month to start, for each person
Gather is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $12 per member / month, billed yearly.
Essential Plan
$12
per member / month, billed yearly ($15 billed monthly)
Every feature: custom virtual office, unlimited meetings and chat, and monthly recording, transcription and guest hours that grow with team size.
Custom Plan
Custom
For large teams: custom pricing and onboarding, larger offices, hybrid solutions, single sign-on and an extended trial.
Trying it first
30-day free trial of every feature for up to 50 members, no credit card required
Read from gather.town on Oct 9, 2026.
Ways to pay less
Annual discount
20% less with yearly billing
The Essential Plan costs $12 per member / month billed yearly against $15 billed monthly.
Stated on gather.townNonprofit
30% off monthly plans for nonprofits and schools
Gather's Classic (1.0) help center says spaces for nonprofits and educational institutions may be eligible for 30% off a monthly subscription, arranged through its sales team.
Stated on support.gather.townBy country
Regional pricing on the Custom Plan
The pricing page lists regional pricing among the Custom Plan's terms, arranged by contacting Gather for a quote. It names no countries or amounts.
Stated on gather.town
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
4
Places it runs: Web, macOS, Windows and Browser extension
Virtual office with presence, meetings and chat for remote teams. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: AI features, meeting notes, transcription, whiteboard, team chat, video calls.
Presence, walking over to talk, unlimited meetings with screen sharing, permanent chat with channels and threads, recording and AI notes.
- Virtual office and presence
- See who is available, busy or in a meeting, hear nearby conversations if you choose, and wave a teammate over or join a conversation in one click.
- Meetings
- Unlimited scheduled meetings with simultaneous screen sharing, Google Calendar sync, coworking sessions and interactive whiteboards.
- Team chat
- Permanent chat with public and private channels, DMs and group chats, thread replies and file uploads, plus meeting chat and nearby chat.
- Recording and AI meeting notes
- Meetings can be recorded and summarized as AI notes with a transcript. Paid plans include 2 recording hours and 3 transcription hours per member a month.
- Guest hours
- Clients and candidates join as guests after checking in with a member. Paid plans include 3 guest hours per member each month, with a minimum of 30.
- Office customization
- Start from a template, choose open, private or hybrid floor plans, edit rooms, walls and floors, and place more than 200 objects.
Where it runs
- Web
- macOS
- Windows
- Browser extension
What it works with
- Google Calendar
- GitHub
- Spotify
Who makes Gather
Gather Presence, Inc. makes Gather, a virtual office for remote teams. It sells subscriptions charged per user after a free trial, and it has raised money from venture investors.
- Founded
- 2020gather.town
- Based
- San Francisco, CAgather.town
- Ownership
- Privately held. Privately held and backed by venture investors, according to press reports of its funding rounds. Its terms of service name Gather Presence, Inc., a Delaware corporation with offices in San Francisco, as the company behind the product.gather.town
- Funding
- Raised $50 million in a Series B led by Sequoia and Index Ventures in November 2021, according to Venture Capital Journal, and $26 million in a Series A led by Sequoia Capital in March 2021, according to TechCrunch.venturecapitaljournal.comtechcrunch.com
- Lately
- Decrease others volume 🔉 · Sep 24, 2026
- Admin announcements 📣 · Sep 21, 2026
- New fall objects 🍂 · Sep 18, 2026
- Moving desks · Sep 11, 2026
Read on Oct 6, 2026 from the company’s own pages and from news reports. What is not stated there is left out.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
2/33
Other team communication apps it is graded above
Gather's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 2 of the 33 other team communication apps we grade, and level with 5.
It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 1 of 33) and worst on free plan and trial (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $12 a month for each person, against a middle price of $7 for the category: 19 of the 28 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 13 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 34 team communication apps we grade, cut by the letter each got. Gather’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 2 of 33
- CFree plan and trialAbove 0 of 33
- CFeaturesAbove 0 of 33
- CEase of useAbove 6 of 33
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 1 of 33
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 31 team communication apps. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Gather is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
To replace Gather you would be making video calls. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 26 of the 33 other team communication apps grade higher. It costs $144 a year.
What you could not
- Video calls.
- Chat that a whole team counts on staying up.
- A bot that joins your calls and turns the talk into notes.
- Speech turned into text you can trust.
- An endless canvas that stays smooth with hundreds of things on it.
- A real app for macOS and Windows. Something home-made would be a web page.
- It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
What this rests on. Gather’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
Roam, Tandem, Discord, Zoom and Slack
The 5 tools Gather is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 2.4GPA
Roam
Free trial · from $19.50/mo
Virtual office with drop-in meetings, chat and AI meeting notes.
- Only Gather lists a browser extension.
- Only Roam lists Linux, iOS and Android apps.
- Gather also covers whiteboard.
- 2.2GPA
Tandem
Free plan · from $64/mo
Virtual office with one-click calls and shared-cursor screen sharing.
- Tandem has a free plan. Gather does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Gather lists a web app.
- Only Tandem lists Linux, iOS and Android apps.
- 3.6GPA
Discord
Free plan · from $2.99/mo
Free text, voice and video chat built around servers.
- Discord has a free plan. Gather does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Gather lists a browser extension.
- Only Discord lists Linux, iOS and Android apps.
- 2.6GPA
Zoom
Free plan · from $14.16/mo
Video meetings bundled with team chat, phone and AI notes.
- Zoom has a free plan. Gather does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Zoom lists Linux, iOS and Android apps.
- Gather also covers transcription.
- 2.8GPA
Slack
Free plan · from $7.25/mo
Channel-based team messaging with huddles, workflows and AI.
- Slack has a free plan. Gather does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Gather lists a browser extension.
- Only Slack lists Linux, iOS and Android apps.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
13
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is Gather free?
No, Gather is a paid product, but you can try it first. 30-day free trial of every feature for up to 50 members, no credit card required.
How much does Gather cost?
Gather lists 2 plans. Essential Plan: $12 per member / month, billed yearly ($15 billed monthly).
What platforms does Gather work on?
Gather is available on Web, macOS and Windows. It also has a browser extension.
Does Gather offer any discounts?
Gather publicly lists the following: 20% less with yearly billing; 30% off monthly plans for nonprofits and schools; Regional pricing on the Custom Plan.
Does Gather have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 9, 2026. Gather is listed for Web, macOS and Windows.
Does Gather have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 9, 2026. Gather is listed for Web, macOS and Windows.
Is Gather open source?
Gather is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 9, 2026.
What does Gather integrate with?
Gather's listing names Google Calendar, GitHub and Spotify. A listing names up to eight integrations, so it may connect to more.
Who makes Gather?
Gather is made by a company of the same name. Privately held and backed by venture investors, according to press reports of its funding rounds.
What are the alternatives to Gather?
The closest alternatives to Gather in our directory are Roam, Tandem, Discord, Zoom and Slack.
How does Gather compare with other team communication apps?
Gather's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 2 of the 33 other team communication apps we grade, and level with 5.
Is Gather good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Gather C for value for money. Its paid plans start at $12 a month for each person, against a middle price of $7 for the category: 19 of the 28 others that charge start lower.
Could I make my own version of Gather?
To replace Gather you would be making video calls. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from Gather’s own pages on Oct 9, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 10, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Gather's own pages on 9 October 2026. Also tested with a demo account on 2026-07-12.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by Gather Presence Inc. Prices change, so check gather.town before you buy.
- gather.town/pricing
- gather.town
- gather.town/download
- support.gather.town/articles/2500085119-understanding-gather-s-pricing-changes-2025
- support.gather.town/articles/2244523252-discounts-and-sponsorships
- support.help.gather.town/articles/4876514502-start-manage-subscription
- support.help.gather.town/articles/6550936801-free-trial-faqs
- support.help.gather.town/articles/4822083973-meeting-recording-notes
- support.help.gather.town/articles/4769581716-managing-guests
- support.help.gather.town/articles/5381966259-sso
- support.help.gather.town/articles/1982412443-getting-started-guide
- support.help.gather.town/articles/3747344661-gather-1-0-vs-gather-2-0
- support.help.gather.town/articles/5276834572-system-requirements
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
3,189
Tools graded, in 94 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
3,189
tools graded
94
categories
426
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- Gather, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/gather
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "Gather: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 9, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/gather
Know someone choosing between team communication apps?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/gather/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded team communication apps after Gather, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- Team Communication Insider's GuideEvery one of the 34 team communication apps we grade, compared
- Discord Insider's GuideFree text, voice and video chat built around servers3.6 GPA
- Pumble Insider's GuideTeam chat with unlimited message history on the free plan3.6 GPA
- Zoho Cliq Insider's GuideTeam chat, calls and meetings from the Zoho suite3.4 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what Gather’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Gather is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Gather Presence Inc. Prices and plans change: check gather.town before you buy.