Alternatives to Microsoft Teams (free)
The free edition of Microsoft Teams for chat, file sharing and video meetings. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Microsoft Teams (free)
The free edition of Microsoft Teams for chat, file sharing and video meetings.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Microsoft Teams (free).
Zoom
A video meeting platform with desktop, mobile and web apps and a free tier.
Zoom is a widely used proprietary meeting platform with chat and whiteboards, but free group calls end after 40 minutes.
Google Meet
Google's video meeting service, used in the browser or through mobile apps.
Google Meet runs in a browser with a Google account and Calendar integration, but free group calls end after one hour.
Jitsi Meet
Open-source WebRTC video meetings that run in the browser or in mobile apps.
Jitsi Meet is free and open source with guest access without accounts, but lacks Teams' built-in persistent chat and file sharing.
Mattermost
A self-hosted team chat platform with a desktop client, aimed at organisations that want Slack without the cloud.
Mattermost is open source team chat you host yourself, keeping messages on your servers, but requires running a server and has no built-in video meetings.
Zulip
Team chat organised by topic inside each channel, so conversations stay readable when you come back hours later.
Zulip is open source team chat with topic-based threads and self-hosting, but lacks built-in video meetings.
Whereby Meetings
Browser-based video meetings in a fixed room URL, with no installs required.
Whereby offers browser meetings in a persistent room URL, but the free plan caps meetings at 4 attendees and 30 minutes.
Slack
A team chat platform organized into channels, with huddles, file sharing, app integrations and AI features.
Slack is a proprietary hosted team chat organised in channels with many integrations and huddles, with many features and AI tools on paid plans.
Webex
Cisco's collaboration suite for video meetings, calling, team messaging, webinars and whiteboarding.
Webex is Cisco's proprietary suite with meetings, calling, team messaging and webinars, offering free sign-up for core features.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Microsoft Teams (free) as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
Chanty
A hosted team chat workspace for organizing internal and external communication, with a free plan.
Microsoft Teams (free) combines chat, file sharing and meetings for up to 100 participants, but requires a Microsoft account and ties you to Microsoft services.
Flock
A team messaging app with channels, voice and video calls, screen sharing and file sharing.
Microsoft Teams (free) combines chat, file sharing and meetings of up to 100 participants in desktop, mobile and browser apps, but requires a Microsoft account.
Google Chat
Google's team messaging app with spaces, direct messages and threaded conversations.
Microsoft Teams (free) bundles chat, file sharing and meetings for up to 100 participants, and ties you to a Microsoft account instead of Google Workspace.
GoTo Meeting
A web conferencing service for business video meetings with screen sharing and dial-in audio.
Microsoft Teams (free) offers meetings of up to 100 participants plus chat and file sharing at no cost, but requires a Microsoft account.
Jitsi Meet Desktop
Join Jitsi meetings through a desktop application.
Microsoft Teams (free) is a proprietary desktop, mobile and web app for chat and meetings of up to 100 participants, requiring a Microsoft account.
Nextcloud Talk
Chat, video calls and webinars that run on your own Nextcloud server.
Microsoft Teams (free) offers chat, file sharing and meetings for up to 100 people, but it is proprietary and requires a Microsoft account.
Pumble
A team messaging app with channels, threads, direct messages and voice and video calls.
Microsoft Teams (free) combines chat, file sharing and meetings of up to 100 participants, and requires a Microsoft account.
Rocket.Chat Desktop
Connect to Rocket.Chat workspaces from a desktop client.
Microsoft Teams (free) adds meetings of up to 100 people, but it is proprietary, requires a Microsoft account and cannot be self-hosted.
Twist
An asynchronous team messaging app that organizes conversations into threads inside channels.
Microsoft Teams (free) combines chat, file sharing and meetings for up to 100 participants, but requires a Microsoft account and ties you to Microsoft services.
Wire
End-to-end encrypted messaging, calls and file sharing for organisations.
Microsoft Teams (free) bundles chat, file sharing and meetings for up to 100 people, but is proprietary and tied to Microsoft accounts.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Google Workspace
Google's online office suite with Docs, Sheets, Slides, Gmail, Drive and Meet in one account.
Zoho Workplace
An online suite from Zoho combining mail, team chat, meetings, file storage and office editors.
Element
The reference Matrix client: end-to-end encrypted chat on a network you can host yourself.
Huly
An open-source team platform combining project tracking, chat, documents, planning and video meetings.
