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The Microsoft Teams Insider’s Guide

Everything we know about Microsoft Teams 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.

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ToolGPAOctober 2026

Microsoft Teams

The Insider’s Guide

Chat, video meetings and calling tied into Microsoft 365

Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among team communication apps, read from Microsoft Teams’s own pages.

Made by Microsoft · checked Oct 5, 2026 · toolgpa.com

3.0GPA

Contents

  1. 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
  2. 02Insider tipsWhat most people miss: ways to pay less, settings worth changing and the catches
  3. 03What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
  4. 04What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
  5. 05Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
  6. 06After you payGetting your money back, getting out, and getting help
  7. 07The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
  8. 08Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
  9. 09About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it

ToolGPA put this guide together from Microsoft Teams’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Microsoft Teams’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 5, 2026.

Part 01 · Overview

Welcome

What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first

3.0

GPA, above 29 of the 33 other team communication apps we grade

Microsoft Teams combines chat, channels, video meetings, calling and file sharing in one app. It is sold on its own as Teams Essentials or Teams Enterprise and is also included in Microsoft 365 business and enterprise suites, alongside Outlook, OneDrive and the Office apps. A free version covers personal use, and phone service, Teams Premium and Microsoft 365 Copilot are paid add-ons.

To get you started, here are 10 things to know about Microsoft Teams, taken from its own pages and our grades.

Chat, meetings, calls and files are in one window, so there's no second app to learn.
From our grade for ease of use
  1. 1

    Best for offices that already pay for Microsoft 365

    If your team runs Linux or wants a free team chat, look elsewhere.

  2. 2

    Paid plans start at $4 a month for each person

    As its pricing page puts it: $4.00 per user / month, paid yearly.

  3. 3

    There is a 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.

  4. 4

    It runs on 5 platforms

    Web, macOS, Windows, iOS and Android.

  5. 5

    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.

  6. 6

    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.

  7. 7

    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.

  8. 8

    Refunds: 7 days

    Teams has no billing of its own: it is a Microsoft 365 business subscription, and Microsoft's commerce rules apply. You get seven days from the start or the renewal to cancel and have the unused part refunded, which is a real window but a short one.

  9. 9

    A 3.0 GPA, above 29 of 33

    That is against the other team communication apps we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.

  10. 10

    Keep it

    To replace Microsoft Teams you would be making chat that a whole team counts on staying up. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.

Microsoft Teams at a glance

Pricing
Free plan, from $4.00 per user / month, paid yearly
Free plan
Yes
Free trial
One-month free trial of the paid plans; a credit card is required and it converts to a paid subscription.
Runs on
Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android
Made by
Microsoft
Category
Team Communication
Our grade
3.0 GPA, very good
Store rating
4.8 on the App Store, 3,377,810 ratings

The report card

Best for offices that already pay for Microsoft 365

Microsoft Teams is the chat and meetings app that comes with Microsoft 365, with chat, 300-person meetings, calling and shared Office files in one window, and bought alone it's $4.00 a person a month. But the free version is for one person, the trial needs a card, webinars, phone service and Copilot cost extra, and plenty of users say it's slow and cluttered. If your team runs Linux or wants a free team chat, look elsewhere.

ToolGPA report cardMicrosoft TeamsGraded Oct 10, 2026
SubjectGradeComment
Value for moneyBTeams 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.
Free plan and trialCMicrosoft'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.
FeaturesBIn 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.
Ease of useA4.8 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.
Platforms and integrationsBWeb, 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.
Grade point averageVery good, out of 4.03.0

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 Microsoft Teams is for

  • 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

Who it is not for

  • 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

Good to know

Good for

  • 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

Worth knowing

  • 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.

Part 02 · Tips

Insider tips

What most people miss: ways to pay less, settings worth changing and the catches

6

Things most people miss, each from its own help pages

The things about Microsoft Teams that are easy to miss until they cost you: ways to pay less, settings worth changing and the catches at renewal or when you leave. Each one is from Microsoft Teams’s own pages, linked beside it.

Read on Oct 17, 2026. Read from Microsoft Support (Teams keyboard shortcuts, read receipts, scheduled messages) and Microsoft Learn (cancelling and ending business subscriptions, recording expiration) on 17 October 2026. Not tried out: these tips are what its own pages say.

  1. 1

    Renewal

    You get 7 days after buying or renewing to cancel with a refund

    For business plans bought from Microsoft or a partner, Microsoft's admin docs give a prorated refund only if you cancel within seven days of the start or renewal. After that you can only turn off recurring billing. On a yearly plan paid monthly, you keep paying every month until the term ends.

    learn.microsoft.com
  2. 2

    Leaving

    After a plan ends, only admins can reach the data, and not for long

    An ended business subscription sits as Expired for 30 days with normal access, then Disabled for 90 days, when only admins can get at and back up the data. Then it's deleted. Buying the same plan again later doesn't bring the data back, so export chats and files before it lapses.

    learn.microsoft.com
  3. 3

    Setting

    Meeting recordings expire after 120 days unless your admin changes it

    Recordings and transcripts go to the recycle bin 120 days after the meeting by default. An admin can change that in the Teams admin center, under Meetings, Meeting policies, Recording & transcription, but only for new recordings. Once the recycle bin is emptied, they're gone for good.

    learn.microsoft.com
  4. 4

    Shortcut

    Hold Ctrl+Space to talk while muted in a meeting

    Ctrl+Space (Option+Space on a Mac) unmutes you only while you hold it. Ctrl+Shift+M toggles mute, Ctrl+Shift+O your camera and Ctrl+Shift+K raises your hand. Outside meetings, Ctrl+E goes to search and Ctrl+N starts a chat. Ctrl+. shows the full list.

    support.microsoft.com
  5. 5

    Privacy

    You can turn read receipts off, if your admin lets you

    Go to Settings and more next to your profile picture, then Settings, Chats and channels, and switch off Read receipts. Microsoft says your admin decides whether you're allowed to. In group chats, "Read by" only works when there are 20 people or fewer.

    support.microsoft.com
  6. 6

    Easy to miss

    Write it tonight, send it at 9am with Schedule message

    Type the chat message, click the Actions and apps icon, choose Schedule message, pick a date and time, then Continue and Send. You can edit or reschedule it before it goes. On a phone, press and hold the Send button instead. You need an existing chat with the person first.

    support.microsoft.com

Part 03 · Pricing

What it costs

Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved

$4

A month to start, for each person. There is a free plan too

Microsoft Teams has a free plan. Paid plans start at $4.00 per user / month, paid yearly.

Microsoft's own page says the free version is for one person, so it won't run a team.
From our grade for free plan and trial

  • 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.

The 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.

Trying it first

One-month free trial of the paid plans; a credit card is required and it converts to a paid subscription.

Read from microsoft.com on Oct 5, 2026.

Ways to pay less

  • 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.

    Stated on microsoft.com

What the app costs elsewhere

Each country’s App Store price for “Microsoft 365 Personal Monthly”, against $9.99 in the United States, in dollars at the day’s rate. The four cheapest and the four dearest of 11.

CountryPrice thereIn dollarsAgainst the US
Turkey₺329,99$6.7133% less
India₹ 689$7.1229% less
IndonesiaRp 136ribu$7.6124% less
Philippines₱ 489.00$7.7822% less
BrazilR$ 50,90$10.17about the same
Australia$16.00$11.1712% more
Germany10,00 €$11.2112% more
United Kingdom£8.49$11.2212% more

Part 04 · Features

What it does

Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it

5

Places it runs: Web, macOS, Windows, iOS and Android

Chat, video meetings and calling tied into Microsoft 365. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: AI features, transcription, noise cancellation, whiteboard, team chat, video calls, file sharing.

Webinars, Phone, Premium and Copilot are all priced separately.
From our grade for features
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.

Where it runs

  • Web
  • macOS
  • Windows
  • iOS
  • Android

What it works with

  • Microsoft Loop
  • OneNote
  • PowerPoint
  • Word
  • Excel
  • Microsoft Whiteboard
  • Microsoft 365 Copilot
  • Exchange

Who makes Microsoft Teams

Microsoft makes Teams and sells it by subscription, on its own and as part of Microsoft 365, alongside a free version. Teams is one product of a listed company that also sells Windows, Azure and Xbox.

Founded
1975news.microsoft.com
Based
Redmond, Washingtonnews.microsoft.com
Ownership
Publicly traded. Microsoft Corporation's common shares trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol MSFT, according to its investor relations FAQ.microsoft.com
Team
223,000 employees worldwide as of June 30, 2026, of whom 121,000 are in the United States.news.microsoft.com
Founders and leaders
Hiring
Microsoft's careers site lists 2,321 jobs across the whole company, with no filter applied.apply.careers.microsoft.com
Partner program
Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program: gives member firms benefits, offerings and incentives, among them Azure credits, cloud services, product licences, technical consultation, developer tools and marketing benefits.learn.microsoft.com
Lately
Follow

Read on Oct 6, 2026 from the company’s own pages and from news reports. What is not stated there is left out.

Part 05 · Standing

Where it stands

Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own

29/33

Other team communication apps it is graded above

Microsoft Teams's GPA of 3.0 is higher than 29 of the 33 other team communication apps we grade, and level with 1.

It stands best on ease of use (A, above 28 of 33) and worst on free plan and trial (C, above 0).

Its paid plans start at $4 a month for each person, against a middle price of $7 for the category: 7 of the 28 others that charge start lower.

On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 3.3 out of 4. 1 tool scores higher and costs less.

Each grade against the category

Every bar is all 34 team communication apps we grade, cut by the letter each got. Microsoft Teams’s own letter is outlined.

  • BValue for moneyAbove 24 of 33
  • CFree plan and trialAbove 0 of 33
  • BFeaturesAbove 26 of 33
  • AEase of useAbove 28 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. Microsoft Teams is the marked dot.

D1.0C2.0B3.0A4.0Free$2$5$10$20$50$100More for lessCosts more, scores moreCosts less, scores lessCosts more, scores lessMicrosoft TeamsPumbleJitsi MeetSlackWire

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 Microsoft Teams you would be making chat that a whole team counts on staying up. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.

It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 3.0 is higher than 29 of the 33 other team communication apps we grade. It costs $48 a year.

What you could not

  • Chat that a whole team counts on staying up.
  • Video calls.
  • Audio cleaned up live as you speak.
  • Storing and serving files for other people.
  • Speech turned into text you can trust.
  • An endless canvas that stays smooth with hundreds of things on it.
  • Apps for macOS, Windows, iOS and Android that stay in step with each other.
  • It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team.
  • It plugs into other products, Microsoft Loop, OneNote and PowerPoint among them.
  • AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
  • The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.

What this rests on. Microsoft Teams’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 06 · Refunds

After you pay

Getting your money back, getting out, and getting help

BRefunds
ASupport

What happens once you have paid: whether you can get your money back, how to leave, and how to reach a person when something goes wrong. Each is graded from Microsoft Teams’s own terms and help pages.

Refunds and cancelling

BGrade

Good · checked Oct 18, 2026

Teams has no billing of its own: it is a Microsoft 365 business subscription, and Microsoft's commerce rules apply. You get seven days from the start or the renewal to cancel and have the unused part refunded, which is a real window but a short one. Miss it and all you can do is switch off recurring billing and ride out the term. Cancelling is self-serve in the admin centre, as long as you are under 25 licences, so it is a B.

Refund window
7 days
How you cancel
Yourself, in settings
Getting your money back

Microsoft says that on a Microsoft Customer Agreement billing account you can cancel and get a prorated credit or refund only within seven days of the subscription starting or renewing, paid back in one to two days. After that you can only turn off recurring billing. On the older Microsoft Online Subscription Agreement, cancelling at any point gives a prorated credit or refund in the next billing cycle.

Stated on learn.microsoft.com
How to cancel Microsoft Teams

A billing admin cancels in the Microsoft 365 admin centre, under Subscriptions or Billing then Your products. Subscriptions with more than 25 licences must be cut to 25 or fewer first, and one bought through a reseller is cancelled through the reseller. Outside the seven-day window the only option offered is to switch recurring billing off, which stops the renewal and leaves access running to the end of the term.

  1. Have users save their OneDrive and SharePoint files somewhere else first
  2. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin centre and open Subscriptions, or Billing then Your products
  3. Select the subscription you want to end
  4. Under the subscription's billing or payment settings, select Cancel subscription
  5. Inside the cancellation window, pick a reason and confirm; outside it, choose to edit the recurring billing settings
  6. If you are turning off the renewal, set recurring billing to Off and save
Stated on learn.microsoft.com
What you keep afterwards

Microsoft's page on what happens when a business subscription ends says it moves from Active to Expired, then Disabled, then Deleted: for most offers, 30 days Expired and 90 days Disabled. While Expired everyone keeps normal access; while Disabled only admins can reach the data to back it up and the apps fall into a read-only mode. Once Deleted the data is gone and the subscription cannot be reactivated.

Stated on learn.microsoft.com
Renewals

Subscriptions renew by recurring billing unless it is switched off in the admin centre, which Microsoft's cancellation page presents as the standard way to stop a plan outside the seven-day window. The same page warns that an annual subscription paid monthly keeps being charged every month for the rest of its term, and that a free trial rolls into a paid subscription unless recurring billing is turned off first.

Stated on learn.microsoft.com

In your favour

  • Seven days from the start or any renewal to cancel and get the unused part back.
  • Microsoft says a prorated refund inside that window is paid back within one to two days.
  • A billing admin does it all in the admin centre, with nobody to phone.
  • After the end date you get 30 days of normal access and then 90 more for admins to pull the data out.

Watch out for

  • Seven days is a narrow window, and after it the only move left is to stop the renewal.
  • An annual plan paid monthly keeps billing every month until the term runs out.
  • A subscription with more than 25 licences has to be cut down to 25 before you can cancel it online.
  • Once the subscription reaches Deleted the data is gone and cannot be brought back.

Customer support

AGrade

Excellent · checked Oct 18, 2026

Admins on any paid Microsoft 365 business plan can get a person on the phone, and Microsoft states the hours: technical support in English round the clock, billing from 9 to 5 on weekdays. The online route shows the expected wait before you commit to it. Add Microsoft's enormous written help and a public community and that is an A. It is admin-only, though, and the free Teams tier gets none of it.

Ways to get help

  • Phone

    Microsoft lists support phone numbers by country for Microsoft 365 for business. Technical support is in English, with local languages in some countries. Callers from an unregistered number are sent a verification code to the address or number held in the admin centre profile.

    Stated on learn.microsoft.com

  • Contact form or ticket

    An admin opens Help and support in the Microsoft 365 admin centre, types the question into the Support Assistant, and if the suggested articles do not help picks Contact Support and asks for a callback by phone or email. The pane shows the expected wait time.

    Stated on learn.microsoft.com

  • Help centre

    The Microsoft Teams help and learning site holds written articles, training and videos on meetings, chat, channels and administration, open to anyone without signing in.

    Stated on support.microsoft.com

  • Community or forum

    The Microsoft Teams area of the Microsoft Community Hub is a public forum where users, IT admins and Microsoft staff post questions, answers and announcements.

    Stated on techcommunity.microsoft.com

Not listed on Microsoft Teams’s pages: live chat.

When people answer

Microsoft says technical support for Microsoft 365 for business is provided in English 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and in local languages in some countries. Billing support in most countries is in English from 9 AM to 5 PM, Monday to Friday, with local-language cover varying by country.

Stated on learn.microsoft.com
How fast it says it replies

Its pages do not say.

What depends on your plan

The page says these routes are for admins of a business subscription, and that you must have at least one subscription bought through Microsoft: buy everything through a partner and the partner handles support instead. Volume licensing customers have a separate team. Nothing on the page offers a faster queue for a more expensive edition.

Stated on learn.microsoft.com

In your favour

  • Technical support is stated as English, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
  • Phone support comes with any paid business subscription, not only the expensive ones.
  • The online form shows the expected wait before you ask for a callback.
  • Nothing suggests a cheaper edition is sent to a slower queue than a dearer one.

Watch out for

  • Only an admin can use these routes, so an ordinary user has to go through their IT team.
  • Buy everything through a reseller and Microsoft sends you to the reseller for support.
  • Billing questions are weekday office hours only in most countries, unlike technical ones.
  • No page states how long a reply or a fix should take, only the hours the lines are open.

What these two grades rest on. Read on 18 October 2026: Microsoft's commerce documentation on cancelling a business subscription and on what happens to data and access when one ends, its Microsoft 365 admin support page, the Teams help and learning site, and the Teams area of the Microsoft Community Hub. These are Microsoft 365 business rules, not a policy written for Teams. Nobody here cancelled a plan or contacted support. They are graded apart from the five that make the GPA. How we grade refunds and support.

Part 07 · Alternatives

The alternatives

The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side

Slack, Zoom, Google Meet, Google Chat and Webex

The 5 tools Microsoft Teams is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.

  • 2.8GPA

    Slack

    Free plan · from $7.25/mo

    Channel-based team messaging with huddles, workflows and AI.

    • Only Slack lists a Linux app.
    • Microsoft Teams also covers transcription, noise cancellation and whiteboard.
    • Slack also covers workflow automation and documents.
    Microsoft Teams and Slack compared in full
  • 2.6GPA

    Zoom

    Free plan · from $14.16/mo

    Video meetings bundled with team chat, phone and AI notes.

    • Only Zoom lists a Linux app.
    • Only Zoom lists a browser extension.
    • Microsoft Teams also covers transcription, noise cancellation and file sharing.
    Microsoft Teams and Zoom compared in full
  • 2.8GPA

    Google Meet

    Free plan · from $7/mo

    Browser-based video meetings included with Google Workspace.

    • Only Microsoft Teams lists macOS and Windows apps.
    • Microsoft Teams also covers whiteboard, team chat and file sharing.
    • Google Meet also covers meeting notes.
    Microsoft Teams and Google Meet compared in full
  • 2.8GPA

    Google Chat

    Free plan · from $7/mo

    Team messaging and spaces built into Google Workspace.

    • Only Microsoft Teams lists macOS and Windows apps.
    • Microsoft Teams also covers transcription, noise cancellation, whiteboard and video calls.
    • Google Chat also covers tasks.
    Microsoft Teams and Google Chat compared in full
  • 2.8GPA

    Webex

    Free plan · from $12/mo

    Cisco's app for video meetings, messaging and calling.

    • Only Webex lists a Linux app.
    • Microsoft Teams also covers transcription.
    • Webex also covers screen recording.
    Microsoft Teams and Webex compared in full

Part 08 · Questions

Quick answers

The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two

18

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 Microsoft Teams free?

Microsoft Teams has a 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.

How much does Microsoft Teams cost?

Microsoft Teams lists 6 plans. Microsoft Teams (free): $0.

What platforms does Microsoft Teams work on?

Microsoft Teams is available on Web, macOS, Windows, iOS and Android.

Does Microsoft Teams offer any discounts?

Microsoft Teams publicly lists the following: 75% off Microsoft 365 Business Premium for nonprofits.

How is Microsoft Teams rated?

Microsoft Teams's iPhone and iPad app averages 4.8 out of 5 from 3,377,810 ratings on the App Store in the United States, as read on Oct 7, 2026.

Does Microsoft Teams have a Linux app?

No Linux app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 5, 2026. Microsoft Teams is listed for Web, macOS, Windows, iOS and Android.

Is Microsoft Teams open source?

Microsoft Teams is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 5, 2026.

What does Microsoft Teams integrate with?

Microsoft Teams's listing names Microsoft Loop, OneNote, PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Microsoft Whiteboard, Microsoft 365 Copilot and Exchange.

Does Microsoft Teams have a free trial?

Yes. One-month free trial of the paid plans; a credit card is required and it converts to a paid subscription.

Who makes Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams is made by Microsoft. Microsoft Corporation's common shares trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol MSFT, according to its investor relations FAQ.

What are the alternatives to Microsoft Teams?

The closest alternatives to Microsoft Teams in our directory are Slack, Zoom, Google Meet, Google Chat and Webex.

Does Microsoft Teams give refunds?

Microsoft says that on a Microsoft Customer Agreement billing account you can cancel and get a prorated credit or refund only within seven days of the subscription starting or renewing, paid back in one to two days.

How do I cancel Microsoft Teams?

A billing admin cancels in the Microsoft 365 admin centre, under Subscriptions or Billing then Your products.

What happens to my data if I cancel Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft's page on what happens when a business subscription ends says it moves from Active to Expired, then Disabled, then Deleted: for most offers, 30 days Expired and 90 days Disabled.

How do I contact Microsoft Teams support?

Microsoft Teams's pages list these ways to get help: phone, contact form or ticket, help centre and community or forum.

How does Microsoft Teams compare with other team communication apps?

Microsoft Teams's GPA of 3.0 is higher than 29 of the 33 other team communication apps we grade, and level with 1.

Is Microsoft Teams good value for money?

ToolGPA grades Microsoft Teams B for value for money. Its paid plans start at $4 a month for each person, against a middle price of $7 for the category: 7 of the 28 others that charge start lower.

Could I make my own version of Microsoft Teams?

To replace Microsoft Teams you would be making chat that a whole team counts on staying up.

Where this guide comes from

The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from Microsoft Teams’s own pages on Oct 5, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 10, 2026. Based on Microsoft's Teams pricing pages for business and for individuals, its download page, its client documentation and its What's new page as of 9 October 2026, its App Store reviews and Hacker News threads about it. Also tested with a demo account on 2026-02-16.

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 Microsoft. Prices change, so check microsoft.com before you buy.

Part 09 · 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

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, "Microsoft Teams: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 5, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/microsoft-teams

Know someone choosing between team communication apps?

Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/microsoft-teams/guide

ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa

See our other guides

The best-graded team communication apps after Microsoft Teams, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.

ToolGPA

Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.

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Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what Microsoft Teams’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. Microsoft Teams is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Microsoft. Prices and plans change: check microsoft.com before you buy.