The Slack Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about Slack 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.
Slack
The Insider’s Guide
Channel-based team messaging with huddles, workflows and AI
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among team communication apps, read from Slack’s own pages.
Made by Slack Technologies, LLC, a Salesforce company · checked Oct 9, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02Insider tipsWhat most people miss: ways to pay less, settings worth changing and the catches
- 03What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 04What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 05Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 06After you payGetting your money back, getting out, and getting help
- 07The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 08Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 09About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from Slack’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Slack’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
2.8
GPA, above 21 of the 33 other team communication apps we grade
Slack is a messaging app for teams, organized around channels for each project, topic or team alongside direct messages. It adds huddles for audio and video meetings, canvases for documents, lists for tracking work and a no-code Workflow Builder. Slack Connect extends channels and DMs to people at other companies, and AI summaries, AI search and the Slackbot agent are spread across the paid plans.
To get you started, here are 10 things to know about Slack, taken from its own pages and our grades.
- 1
Best for channel-based chat that plugs into everything
Slack is channel-based team chat: a channel for every project, huddles when typing gets slow, more than 2,600 apps to plug in, and shared channels with up to 250 other organizations on Pro.
- 2
Paid plans start at $7.25 a month for each person
As its pricing page puts it: $7.25 per user / month, billed annually.
- 3
There is a free plan
90 days of searchable message history, up to 10 app integrations, and huddles and external Slack Connect messages limited to 1:1.
- 4
It runs on 6 platforms
Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android.
- 5
Channels and direct messages
Conversations are organized into channels for each project, topic or team, alongside direct messages. Paid plans keep the full message and file history searchable; Free keeps 90 days.
- 6
Huddles and clips
Huddles are audio and video meetings with screen sharing, 1:1 on Free and for groups on paid plans. Clips are recorded audio or screen updates shared in a conversation.
- 7
Slack Connect
Message people outside the company. Free allows 1:1 external direct messages; paid plans add group chats and shared channels with up to 250 organizations.
- 8
Refunds: no set window
Nothing Slack publishes promises your money back. What you get instead is credit: unused time on a seat turns into Slack credits, and the fair billing policy says plainly that those credits are non-refundable and die with the subscription.
- 9
A 2.8 GPA, above 21 of 33
That is against the other team communication apps we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 10
Keep it
To replace Slack 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.
Slack at a glance
- Pricing
- Free plan, from $7.25 per user / month, billed annually
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- None stated
- Runs on
- Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android
- Made by
- Slack Technologies, LLC, a Salesforce company
- Category
- Team Communication
- Our grade
- 2.8 GPA, good
- Store rating
- 4.1 on the App Store, 52,974 ratings
The report card
Best for channel-based chat that plugs into everything
Slack is channel-based team chat: a channel for every project, huddles when typing gets slow, more than 2,600 apps to plug in, and shared channels with up to 250 other organizations on Pro. The free plan keeps only 90 days of messages searchable, stops at 10 apps and limits huddles to 1:1, and there's no Pro trial. Single sign-on and AI search wait for Business+ at $15 a user, double the category's usual starting price.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C | Pro is $7.25 a user a month billed annually, $8.75 monthly, which is a shade above the $7 this category typically starts at. The parts people actually ask for next, SAML single sign-on and AI search, wait for Business+ at $15, double the middle figure. |
| Free plan and trial | C | The free plan keeps only 90 days of messages searchable, which for a team is the cap that hurts: ask what was decided in March and it's gone. Add 10 app integrations and huddles and external messages limited to 1:1, and there's no trial of Pro either. |
| Features | A | Channels, direct messages, threads, huddles with screen sharing, clips, canvases, lists and a no-code Workflow Builder, and two things its rivals here don't list: more than 2,600 apps in the directory, and Slack Connect shared channels with up to 250 other organizations. |
| Ease of use | C | 4.1 on the App Store from about 53,000 ratings, the lowest of the big three here. Channels are simple enough to join, but a workspace left to itself sprawls, and the canvases, lists and Workflow Builder are each another thing to learn. |
| Platforms and integrations | A | Web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android, plus the biggest app directory in the category at 2,600-odd, Salesforce, Google Drive, Jira, Asana, Notion, GitHub, Zendesk and HubSpot among them. One oddity: in a browser, huddles work only in Chrome and Firefox. |
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 Slack is for
- Fits if your team wants conversations sorted by channel instead of email threads
- Works for teams that share channels with outside partners or plug many apps into chat
Who it is not for
- Tight if you're staying free, as only 90 days of messages stay searchable and you get 10 apps
- Skip it if you want group huddles or Slack Connect for free, as both are 1:1 until Pro, which has no trial
- Pricey if you need single sign-on, SCIM or AI search, which start at Business+ for $15 a user a month
- Watch out: enterprise search and data loss prevention are on Enterprise+ at $45 a user, bought through sales
- Not for you if you'd run huddles in a browser other than Chrome or Firefox, as they aren't supported there
Good to know
Good for
- Teams that want conversations organized by channel rather than email threads
- Companies that work with outside partners in shared channels
- Organizations that already run on Salesforce
- Teams that connect many third-party apps to their chat
Worth knowing
- The Free plan keeps only 90 days of message history searchable, allows 10 apps, and limits huddles and Slack Connect to 1:1.
- SAML single sign-on and SCIM start at Business+; ongoing Slackbot access is on Business+ and Enterprise+, with a limited trial on Free and Pro.
- Enterprise search, multiple SAML configurations and native data loss prevention are limited to Enterprise+, listed at $45 per user / month paid annually and bought through sales.
- In a browser, huddles are supported only in Chrome and Firefox.
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 Slack 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 Slack’s own pages, linked beside it.
Read on Oct 17, 2026. Read from Slack's help centre (Fair Billing Policy, free plan limits, import and export tools, notification schedule, keyboard shortcuts, search) on 17 October 2026. Not tried out: these tips are what its own pages say.
- 1
Pay less
You aren't charged for people who stop using Slack
Slack's Fair Billing Policy only bills active members. Anyone who hasn't used Slack in over 28 days stops counting, and you get a prorated credit for their unused time. Single-channel guests are free. The catch: credits only go towards future bills and vanish if the subscription ends.
slack.com - 2
Leaving
On Free, anything over a year old is deleted for good
The free plan only lets you see the last 90 days of messages and files. Its plans page adds that free workspaces only store content for one year, and anything older is permanently deleted. If old decisions matter to you, export them before staying on Free.
slack.com - 3
Privacy
On Business+, owners can export your DMs too
On Free and Pro, owners and admins can export public channels; private channels and DMs need legal process, members' consent or a legal requirement. Business+ owners can apply for a tool that exports everything, private channels and direct messages included. Worth knowing before you DM.
slack.com - 4
Setting
Set your working hours so Slack goes quiet in the evening
Click your profile picture, then Preferences, and under Working hours pick Every day, Weekdays or Custom with a start and end time. Notifications pause outside them. Someone DMing you can still push one urgent message through once a day. Type /dnd for 15 mins to pause on the spot.
slack.com - 5
Shortcut
Ctrl+K jumps anywhere, and the up arrow edits your last message
Ctrl+K opens the quick switcher for any channel or DM. Ctrl+Shift+A shows all unreads, Alt+Shift+down moves to the next unread conversation and Shift+Esc marks everything read. On a Mac swap Ctrl for Cmd and Alt for Option. Ctrl+/ lists the rest.
slack.com - 6
Easy to miss
Search with from:, in: and during: to find that one message
Add modifiers to a search: from:@Sara, in:#team-marketing, during:august, before: or after: a date, is:thread or has:pin. Put a phrase in quotes for an exact match, and a minus sign in front of a word, in: or from: to leave it out.
slack.com
Part 03 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$7.25
A month to start, for each person. There is a free plan too
Slack has a free plan. Paid plans start at $7.25 per user / month, billed annually.
Free
$0
90 days of message history, up to 10 app integrations, and 1:1 huddles and external messages.
Pro
$7.25
per user / month, billed annually ($8.75 billed monthly)
Unlimited message history and app integrations, group huddles, Slack Connect channels with up to 250 organizations, and AI conversation summaries.
Business+
$15
per user / month, billed annually ($18 billed monthly)
Adds AI search, daily recaps, file summaries and workflow generation, the Slackbot agent, SAML single sign-on and SCIM user management.
Enterprise+
$45
per user / month, billed annually
Bought through sales. Adds enterprise search across connected apps, multiple SAML configurations, EMM support, native data loss prevention and unlimited workspaces.
The free plan
90 days of searchable message history, up to 10 app integrations, and huddles and external Slack Connect messages limited to 1:1.
Read from slack.com on Oct 9, 2026.
Ways to pay less
Annual discount
About 17% less with annual billing
Pro is $7.25 per user / month paid annually against $8.75 paid monthly, and Business+ is $15 against $18. Salesforce's Slack pricing page puts the saving at approximately 16%.
Stated on slack.comOther savings
50% off the first 3 months for new teams
A limited-time offer for teams that buy Pro or Business+ online within 7 days of creating the workspace. It applies to monthly billing only, and standard pricing follows after 3 months.
Stated on slack.comNonprofit
Free or 85% off for eligible nonprofits
Eligible nonprofits get a free Pro upgrade for workspaces with 250 or fewer members and 85% off above that size. Business+ is 85% off at any size.
Stated on slack.comEducation
85% off for educational institutions
The Slack for Education program gives approved institutions an 85% discount on the Pro or Business+ plan, applied at checkout.
Stated on slack.comBy country
Lower price shown to buyers in India
On October 9, 2026 Slack's pricing page showed a reader in India Pro at ₹245.25 per user / month paid yearly, beside a crossed-out ₹545. Its US page lists Pro at $7.25 per user / month paid annually.
Stated on slack.com
How its prices have moved
- Oct 9, 2026Enterprise+: Contact sales for pricing → $45 per user / month, billed annuallySlack's US pricing page gave no price for Enterprise+ in the archive copy of October 4, 2026; the copies of October 6 and 9 list it at $45 per user a month paid annually, still bought through sales.
- Jun 18, 2025Business+: $12.50 per user / month, billed annually ($15 billed monthly) → $15 per user / month, billed annually ($18 billed monthly)The archived copy of 18 June 2025 shows $15 paid annually and $18 paid monthly; the US dollar copy before it, of 2 June 2025, shows $12.50 and $15. The price changed between the two.
- Nov 19, 2022Pro: $6.67 per user / month, billed annually ($8 billed monthly) → $7.25 per user / month, billed annually ($8.75 billed monthly)The archived copy of 19 November 2022 shows $7.25 paid annually and $8.75 paid monthly; the US dollar copy before it, of 31 August 2022, shows $6.67 and $8. The price changed between the two.
- Nov 19, 2022Free plan: Access to the 10,000 most recent messages → Access to the most recent 90 days of message historyThe archived copy of 31 August 2022 gives the free plan the team's 10,000 most recent messages; the copy of 19 November 2022 gives it the most recent 90 days instead. The limit changed between the two.
- Jun 14, 2021Pro: Called Standard: $6.67 per user / month, billed annually ($8 billed monthly) → Called Pro: $6.67 per user / month, billed annually ($8 billed monthly)The archived copy of 6 May 2021 lists Free, Standard and Plus; the copy of 14 June 2021 lists Free, Pro and Business+ at the same prices. Standard became Pro between the two.
- Jun 14, 2021Business+: Called Plus: $12.50 per user / month, billed annually ($15 billed monthly) → Called Business+: $12.50 per user / month, billed annually ($15 billed monthly)The archived copy of 6 May 2021 lists Free, Standard and Plus; the copy of 14 June 2021 lists Free, Pro and Business+ at the same prices. Plus became Business+ between the two.
Part 04 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
6
Places it runs: Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android
Channel-based team messaging with huddles, workflows and AI. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: public API, AI features, workflow automation, documents, team chat, video calls, file sharing.
One oddity: in a browser, huddles work only in Chrome and Firefox.
- Channels and direct messages
- Conversations are organized into channels for each project, topic or team, alongside direct messages. Paid plans keep the full message and file history searchable; Free keeps 90 days.
- Huddles and clips
- Huddles are audio and video meetings with screen sharing, 1:1 on Free and for groups on paid plans. Clips are recorded audio or screen updates shared in a conversation.
- Slack Connect
- Message people outside the company. Free allows 1:1 external direct messages; paid plans add group chats and shared channels with up to 250 organizations.
- Canvases and lists
- A canvas holds text, files, images and video inside Slack, and lists are used to manage projects and organize tasks with teammates.
- Workflow Builder and apps
- Workflow Builder automates routine processes without code, and the app directory lists more than 2,600 apps. A Free workspace can connect up to 10 of them.
- AI in Slack
- Pro includes AI conversation summaries. Business+ adds AI search, daily recaps, file summaries, workflow generation and the Slackbot personal agent, subject to plan limits.
Where it runs
- Web
- macOS
- Windows
- Linux
- iOS
- Android
What it works with
- Salesforce
- Google Drive
- Jira
- Asana
- Notion
- GitHub
- Zendesk
- HubSpot
Who makes Slack
Slack is made by Slack Technologies, LLC, which has been part of Salesforce since 2021. It earns money from paid plans sold alongside a free one; its About page counts more than 200,000 paid customers.
- Founded
- 2014slack.com
- Based
- San Francisco, Californiaslack.com
- Ownership
- Part of a larger company. Owned by Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), which announced on July 21, 2021 that it had completed its acquisition of Slack. Slack's site signs itself "Slack Technologies, LLC, a Salesforce company".salesforce.com
- Founders and leaders
- Stewart Butterfield, Co-founder of Tiny Speck, the start-up where Slack beganslack.com
- Cal Henderson, Co-founder of Tiny Speck, the start-up where Slack beganslack.com
- Eric Costello, Co-founder of Tiny Speck, the start-up where Slack beganslack.com
- Serguei Mourachov, Co-founder of Tiny Speck, the start-up where Slack beganslack.com
- Hiring
- 17 open positions, in software engineering, data, sales and user experienceslack.com
- Partner program
- Partner programme for software partners, whose tools connect to Slack, and for consulting partners, who sign up through the Salesforce Partner Community. No commission or revenue-share terms are published.slack.com
- Lately
- Dreamforce 2026: Slack’s newest innovations turn AI into a true teammate · Sep 15, 2026
- Slack feature drop: where agents are heating up · Aug 31, 2026
- Slack Code: Where your team and agents build together · Aug 20, 2026
- Anyone can now build Agents on Slack: Introducing Add to Slack · Aug 20, 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 05 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
21/33
Other team communication apps it is graded above
Slack's GPA of 2.8 is higher than 21 of the 33 other team communication apps we grade, and level with 7.
It stands best on features (A, above 33 of 33) and worst on free plan and trial (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $7.25 a month for each person, against a middle price of $7 for the category: 15 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. Slack’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 2 of 33
- CFree plan and trialAbove 0 of 33
- AFeaturesAbove 33 of 33
- CEase of useAbove 6 of 33
- APlatforms and integrationsAbove 15 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. Slack 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 Slack 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 costs $87 a year.
What you could make
- Documents: an app builder makes this well.
What you could not
- Chat that a whole team counts on staying up.
- Video calls.
- Connections to other products, each kept working as those products change.
- Storing and serving files for other people.
- Apps for macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android that stay in step with each other.
- 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.
- The depth: we grade its features A, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Slack’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
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 Slack’s own terms and help pages.
Refunds and cancelling
Ordinary · checked Oct 18, 2026
Nothing Slack publishes promises your money back. What you get instead is credit: unused time on a seat turns into Slack credits, and the fair billing policy says plainly that those credits are non-refundable and die with the subscription. Getting out is easy, though, with a downgrade to Free you run yourself and can time for the renewal date. That is the ordinary deal, so a C.
- Refund window
- No set window
- How you cancel
- Yourself, in settings
- Getting your money back
None of the help pages read states a refund of money paid. The fair billing policy says that when a paid member goes inactive or is deactivated, a prorated credit for the unused part of the billing period is added to the Slack account and set against future payments, and that those credits have no currency or exchange value, are non-transferable and non-refundable, and expire once the paid subscription ends.
Stated on slack.com- How to cancel Slack
A workspace owner, or the member who upgraded the workspace, downgrades to the free subscription from Admin, then Manage billing, then Change subscription details. You choose whether the change takes effect immediately or on the next renewal date. The same page is used to step down from Business+ to Pro, which Slack says credits the account for the unused part of the paid subscription.
- On the desktop app, click Admin in the sidebar, or your workspace name if Admin is not shown
- Select Manage billing from the menu
- On the Overview tab, select Change subscription details
- Select Downgrade to Free
- Choose whether the change takes effect immediately or on your next renewal date
- Click Continue to checkout, review the details, then click Downgrade Slack
- What you keep afterwards
On the free version the workspace keeps only the most recent 90 days of message and file history, and Slack says all workspace data more than one year old is deleted. Slack Connect channels disconnect, guest accounts are deactivated, group huddles become one-to-one and canvases turn read-only. Slack suggests reviewing workspace analytics, and exporting from there, before downgrading.
Stated on slack.com- Renewals
The fair billing policy says a card is charged on the monthly renewal date if you pay monthly and on the annual renewal date if you pay annually, with the first charge on the day you buy. None of the pages read mentions a reminder before a renewal, or a refund after one.
Stated on slack.com
In your favour
- You downgrade to Free yourself from Manage billing, with nobody to email and no notice period.
- You can set the downgrade to take effect on the renewal date, so you use what you already paid for.
- Seats you stop using turn into credit automatically, billed back to you on the next statement.
- Slack spells out, feature by feature, what you lose on the free version before you decide.
Watch out for
- No page we could read promises money back, and the credits you do get are explicitly non-refundable.
- Those credits expire when the paid subscription ends, so leaving entirely forfeits them.
- Subscriptions renew on their own and no page mentions a warning before the annual charge.
- Back on Free, only the last 90 days of history show and data older than a year is deleted.
Customer support
Good · checked Oct 18, 2026
Pay for Slack and the pricing table promises round-the-clock support, with a four-hour first response target from Business+ up. The free plan gets a dash in that row. Everyone reaches the same written contact form, and the help centre is one of the better ones out there. It is a B rather than an A because no page we read says a person, rather than the Agentforce bot, answers you live.
Ways to get help
Contact form or ticket
A request sent from the Contact us page, where you give an email address, pick a topic such as billing and subscriptions, describe the problem and set your time zone. The page suggests asking Agentforce, an AI agent, first for a faster answer, and says a copy of the conversation is emailed to you.
Stated on slack.comHelp centre
A large written help centre covering getting started, using Slack, workspace administration, billing and subscriptions, with tutorials and videos. It is open without signing in and offered in several languages and regions.
Stated on slack.com
Not listed on Slack’s pages: live chat, phone.
- When people answer
The pricing table's customer support row reads 24/7 support on Pro, 24/7 support with a four-hour first response time on Business+, and 24/7 priority with a four-hour first response time on Enterprise+. The Free column of that row shows a dash.
Stated on slack.com- How fast it says it replies
The pricing table states a four-hour first response time on Business+ and on Enterprise+, where it is also described as priority. No first response time is stated for Pro, which the same row lists only as 24/7 support.
Stated on slack.com- What depends on your plan
Access to customer support is listed as a paid-plan feature: the Free column of that row is a dash, Pro gets 24/7 support, and Business+ and Enterprise+ add a four-hour first response time, with Enterprise+ marked as priority. The Contact us page itself is open to anyone and says it would still like to hear from people who cannot sign in.
Stated on slack.com
In your favour
- Every paid plan is promised 24/7 support, not business hours in one time zone.
- Business+ and Enterprise+ get a stated four-hour first response time, which is a real commitment.
- The help centre is thorough, free to read and has step-by-step articles on billing and cancelling.
- The contact form is open even if you cannot sign in.
Watch out for
- The pricing table gives the Free plan a dash for access to customer support.
- Pro is promised 24/7 support with no first response time attached to it.
- Slack points you at Agentforce, an AI agent, before a human queue.
- No page we read states that a person answers live by chat or by phone.
What these two grades rest on. Read on 18 October 2026: Slack's help articles on changing or cancelling a paid subscription, its fair billing policy, managing billing details and the feature limits of the free version; its Contact us page; and the support row of its pricing table. The Main Services Agreement is a PDF on Salesforce's site and was not read. Nobody here cancelled a plan or contacted Slack's 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
Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, Discord, Mattermost and Pumble
The 5 tools Slack is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 3.0GPA
Microsoft Teams
Free plan · from $4.00/mo
Chat, video meetings and calling tied into Microsoft 365.
- Only Slack lists a Linux app.
- Slack also covers workflow automation and documents.
- Microsoft Teams also covers transcription, noise cancellation and whiteboard.
- 2.8GPA
Google Chat
Free plan · from $7/mo
Team messaging and spaces built into Google Workspace.
- Only Slack lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps.
- Slack also covers workflow automation, documents and video calls.
- Google Chat also covers tasks.
- 3.6GPA
Discord
Free plan · from $2.99/mo
Free text, voice and video chat built around servers.
- Slack also covers workflow automation and documents.
- 2.4GPA
Mattermost
Free plan
Self-hosted team messaging with playbooks, calls and boards.
- Mattermost is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Slack also covers documents, video calls and file sharing.
- Mattermost also covers kanban boards and AI agents.
- 3.6GPA
Pumble
Free plan · from $2.49/mo
Team chat with unlimited message history on the free plan.
- Slack also covers workflow automation and documents.
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 Slack free?
Slack has a free plan. 90 days of searchable message history, up to 10 app integrations, and huddles and external Slack Connect messages limited to 1:1.
How much does Slack cost?
Slack lists 4 plans. Free: $0.
What platforms does Slack work on?
Slack is available on Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android.
Does Slack offer any discounts?
Slack publicly lists the following: About 17% less with annual billing; 50% off the first 3 months for new teams; Free or 85% off for eligible nonprofits; 85% off for educational institutions; Lower price shown to buyers in India.
How is Slack rated?
Slack's iPhone and iPad app averages 4.1 out of 5 from 52,974 ratings on the App Store in the United States, as read on Oct 6, 2026.
Is Slack open source?
Slack is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 9, 2026.
Does Slack have an API?
Yes. Slack offers a public API, according to its own site.
What does Slack integrate with?
Slack's listing names Salesforce, Google Drive, Jira, Asana, Notion, GitHub, Zendesk and HubSpot.
Does Slack have a student discount?
85% off for educational institutions. The Slack for Education program gives approved institutions an 85% discount on the Pro or Business+ plan, applied at checkout.
Who makes Slack?
Slack is made by a company of the same name. Owned by Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), which announced on July 21, 2021 that it had completed its acquisition of Slack.
What are the alternatives to Slack?
The closest alternatives to Slack in our directory are Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, Discord, Mattermost and Pumble.
Does Slack give refunds?
None of the help pages read states a refund of money paid. The fair billing policy says that when a paid member goes inactive or is deactivated, a prorated credit for the unused part of the billing period is added to the Slack account and set against future payments, and that those credits have no currency or exchange value, are non-transferable and non-refundable, and expire once the paid subscription ends.
How do I cancel Slack?
A workspace owner, or the member who upgraded the workspace, downgrades to the free subscription from Admin, then Manage billing, then Change subscription details.
What happens to my data if I cancel Slack?
On the free version the workspace keeps only the most recent 90 days of message and file history, and Slack says all workspace data more than one year old is deleted.
How do I contact Slack support?
Slack's pages list these ways to get help: contact form or ticket and help centre.
How does Slack compare with other team communication apps?
Slack's GPA of 2.8 is higher than 21 of the 33 other team communication apps we grade, and level with 7.
Is Slack good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Slack C for value for money. Its paid plans start at $7.25 a month for each person, against a middle price of $7 for the category: 15 of the 28 others that charge start lower.
Could I make my own version of Slack?
To replace Slack 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 Slack’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 Slack's own pages on 9 October 2026, and its App Store rating. Also tested with a demo account on 2026-06-12.
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 Slack Technologies, LLC, a Salesforce company. Prices change, so check slack.com before you buy.
- slack.com/pricing
- web.archive.org/web/20261009122228/https://slack.com/pricing
- slack.com/intl/en-in/pricing
- salesforce.com/slack/pricing/
- slack.com/help/articles/218915077-Slacks-Fair-Billing-Policy
- slack.com/blog/news/june-2025-pricing-and-packaging-announcement
- slack.com/downloads
- slack.com/help/articles/115002037526-System-requirements-for-using-Slack
- slack.com/integrations
- slack.com/about
- slack.com/help/articles/204368833
- slack.com/help/articles/206646877-Apply-for-the-Slack-for-Education-discount
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
- Slack, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/slack
- 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, "Slack: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 9, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/slack
Know someone choosing between team communication apps?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/slack/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded team communication apps after Slack, 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 Slack’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. Slack is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Slack Technologies, LLC, a Salesforce company. Prices and plans change: check slack.com before you buy.