Slack
Collaboration · Freemium
Overview
A messaging app for workplaces. Conversation is split into channels, each for a team, project, or topic, alongside direct messages and group chats. It began as an internal tool at a game company called Tiny Speck and launched publicly in 2014. Salesforce bought Slack in 2021. Beyond chat it now includes audio and video huddles, shared documents called canvases, lightweight project lists, a no-code automation builder, and AI features for summarizing conversations. Many companies use it as the main place where work discussion happens and as the hub where alerts from other software land.
What people use it for
Companies use Slack as their internal chat, replacing most internal email for quick back-and-forth. Teams organize work into channels so anyone can catch up on a project by reading one place. It is used to share files and links, run quick decisions, and hold informal audio or video huddles instead of scheduling calls. A common use is connecting other tools so deployment notices, support tickets, sales alerts, and monitoring warnings all appear in a relevant channel. Slack Connect lets companies run shared channels with clients, vendors, and partners without email threads. Workflow Builder automates small routines like collecting requests through a form or posting a standup prompt every morning. Distributed teams lean on it heavily as the always-on office.
Key capabilities
Channels can be public, private, or shared across organizations through Slack Connect. Huddles provide drop-in audio and video with screen sharing and automatic notes. Canvases are documents that live inside a channel or stand alone, holding text, files, and embedded content. Workflow Builder is a no-code tool for automating routine steps, and the Slack App Directory lists more than 2,600 apps that connect services such as Google Drive, Jira, and Salesforce. Slack AI adds channel and thread summaries, daily recaps, huddle notes, and search across connected apps. Lists track simple projects and requests inside Slack, and Clips record short audio or video messages. Enterprise Grid connects many workspaces under one organization with central admin control. Slack holds SOC 2, SOC 3, and ISO/IEC 27001 certifications and has FedRAMP Moderate authorization.
Limitations
Slack is always on, and for many people it becomes a stream of interruptions that is hard to step away from without missing things. Important decisions get made in channels and then scroll out of sight, so the record is poor unless someone writes it down elsewhere. The free plan keeps only the most recent 90 days of messages and blocks Workflow Builder and standalone canvases. Paid plans are priced per user per month and rise with company size. Search works, but finding an old thread among years of chat is slow. Notifications, threads, and multiple workspaces take configuration to stay manageable, and heavy use can crowd out longer written thinking.
Insight
Slack does two things well: it keeps team conversation sorted into channels instead of one undifferentiated inbox, and it gives every other tool a place to post so people are not checking six dashboards. The cost is attention. The app is built to pull people back, and without team norms it turns into a day of small interruptions and a feeling that you cannot log off. Its weakest point is memory. A real decision made in a channel is gone from view in a week and hard to find in a year, so anything that matters has to be written somewhere durable. The free plan's 90-day limit pushes that problem harder. Slack works best when a team agrees on what belongs in chat, what belongs in a document, and when a channel should become a meeting.
Pricing
Freemium
Website
Last checked 2026-08-30