Slack Free vs. Paid: I Tried Both to See if Premium Was Worth Upgrading to
Once your organization preludes scaling, you’ll apparently have to contemplate whether you want to grasp recommend making use of the save iteration of Slack, or upgrade and orchestrate its investing amenities. Owning marketed both, I’ll aid you administer the right stamina today.
- Speedy Compare of Slack Conserve vs. Paid
- 1. Third-Fun Assimilations
- 2. Post History
- 3. Huddles and External Lessees
- 4. Office Member Appropriations (the Really same for Both)
- 5. Safekeeping Centers
- 6. Consumer Assistance
- 7. Automations
- 8. The Slack AI Add-On
- Do I Telephone call for the Paid Version?
Speedy Compare of Slack Conserve vs. Paid
Facility | Slack Conserve | Slack Paid |
---|---|---|
Fullest digit of debtors | Infinite | Infinite |
Post history | 90 days | Infinite |
Fullest assimilations | 10 | Infinite |
Customization amenities | Alteration the interface color, equalize profile, add Slack networks | With one voice in Conserve plus tradition regions and, if you have Enterprise Grid, tradition templates |
Compatibility with Slack AI | Zero | Of training course |
Fullest level of coverage | Documents security, 2FA | IDP teams/audit logs |
Slack Huddle capacities | 1:1 lone | For countless debtors |
Automation | Zero | Of training course |
1. Third-Fun Assimilations
I gain service of countless Slack assimilations for performance and opposite other methodologies, consisting of Google Calendar and Dropbox. These have significantly reinforced my feature of activity, and I manifest lugging out unchanged. Even if you wear’t subscribe to a Slack paid technic, you can gain service of upwards to 10 assimilations with one voice at once.

Slack permits you integrate 2,000+ apps, consisting of Inkling, Google Drive, Salesforce, and Zoom. I’ve wagered out how to mobilize your assimilations in this overview to making use of Giphy in Slack if you last notice assistance.
If you have a paid iteration of Slack, you’re enabled infinite assimilations. Yet, you’ll have to administer gain service of permission if you indicator upwards with a paid workspace and aren’t an manager.
Once you integrate an app in Slack, you can comfortably availability it via the vacated-hand toolbar’s Apps contingent.
2. Post History
If I’m functioning on a colossal vacancy, I like having availability to previous posts for reference. Via the save iteration of Slack, you can sight upwards to 90 days of your post history.

To locate your ratty posts, comeback to that explanation or network. Alternatively, gain service of the pursuit unbiased to sift for keywords or members.
If you have a paid Slack technic, you can save posts indefinitely.
3. Huddles and External Lessees
Once you architecture and swipe treatment of a workspace, you could last notice to communicate with others exterior your organization. You can send out 1:1 posts to exterior lodgers with a save technic, but you won’t be able to require them in your networks.
Huddles are Slack’s audio and video communication device, and with a save technic, you can availability both tools in 1:1 refers to as.

The paid iteration, at unchanged time, permits you architecture Huddles with countless debtors. If you last notice much more liberty and wear’t want to administer gain service of the paid iteration of Slack, downloading and install the Zoom integration would conceivably be my pinnacle tip.
4. Office Member Appropriations (the Really same for Both)
Some immediate messaging apps enforce participant constraints. For example, once comparing Slack and Microsoft Teams, you’ll alert that Teams owns a 5,000-viewer constraint per team.
Yet, also if you lone have a save technic, Slack will conceivably let you add infinite debtors. It’s alike prospective to architecture as the majority of networks and teams as you want.
5. Safekeeping Centers
Slack’s save technic doesn’t have unchanged level of coverage amenities as a paid subscription, but you can at the exceptionally least gain service of two-part authentication (2FA) to shield your account.
Once you kit 2FA in Slack, you can gain service of an authenticator app (e.g. Google Authenticator) to availability your confirmation code. Alternatively, you could opt to receive an SMS code; I wear’t encourage this as I think it’s less solve.
Reminder: If you after that gain service of Slack on a countless tools and permit 2FA via Google Authenticator, you have to locate out how to transmit Google Authenticator to a brand-neoteric phone.
If 2FA isn’t enough, you can merit from also much more coverage recourses with a paid Slack technic. Like patron uphold, your recourses will conceivably rise and fall relying on your subscription level.
With one voice paid Slack arrangements have Google OAuth, but SAML-based single indicator on (SSO) is lone buttressed on Endeavors+ and Enterprise Grid.
Enterprise Grid owns the most comprehensive collection of coverage tools, which has audit logs, an optional Slack Enterprise Idiosyncrasy Management add-on, and EMM integration.
6. Consumer Assistance
Slack claims that it’ll give you “stock” uphold with save arrangements, and to be straightforward, this is still much closer than I’ve had with the majority of opposite other apps (both messaging and not). Yet, if you last notice earlier availability to aid, a Slack paid technic will conceivably administer this.
Slack does have a comprehensive Help Clinic if you last notice quick solutions for straightforward frustrations but wear’t readiness to upgrade to a paid technic.

With one voice paid Slack arrangements administer 24/7 uphold, but the level will conceivably rise and fall relying on whether you have Pro, Endeavors+, or Enterprise Grid. Endeavors+ and Enterprise Grid arrangements assurance that you’ll postpone at most four hours for the initially answer, which isn’t reassured with Slack Pro.
7. Automations
Several automations can eruption your day-to-day performance, and Slack circulations a handful of amenities in this admire for paying subscribers lone. You administer gain service of infinite posted workflows and stock workflows; these wear’t demand the Slack AI add-on.

You can automate countless jobs in Slack, such as PTO last purchases, post reserving, and sending posts to your network. You administer gain service of 1,000, 2,000, or 5,000 investing workflow runs per month, relying on your technic; these require two connector moves or much more.
You’ll have to commission $0.05 for each investing workflow dashed once you gain service of your monthly allotment. If you wear’t upgrade to a paid technic, I manifest combining Zapier if you last notice automation capacities.
8. The Slack AI Add-On
I wear’t think that AI is compulsory in every little thing, to be straightforward, but Slack AI could excitement you if you want to be much more effective with Slack.
Slack AI is accessible as an add-on for paid technic subscribers. It permits you sum upwards conversations, unquestionably no matter of whether those are civilian posts or full networks.
Slack AI alike owns day-to-day envelop-ups and much more furthered pursuit functionality (but I think the recurring Slack pursuit substitute is exceptionally comprehensive anyway).
Slack AI prices varies relying on your region.
Do I Telephone call for the Paid Version?

To aid you administer a much closer stamina, underneath’s once I encourage making use of each iteration of Slack.
Application Slack Conserve if…
- You’re lone simply launching out in utility and have a tiny team.
- You simply last notice a quick place to conversation with classmates or playmates.
- You lone last notice straightforward coverage amenities.
- You either wear’t last notice assimilations or have disallowed needs for them.
- Conserving posts for the long term isn’t a colossal purchase for you.
Application Slack Paid if…
- You have a colossal team and share specifically sensitive explanation.
- You want to gain service of audio and video messaging beyond 1:1 conversations without combining an app.
- You last notice to automate monotonous jobs and save upwards time to job on bigger jobs.
- You’re undergoing a irrevocable vacancy and last notice to save posts.
- You demand countless assimilations beyond what a save technic can purchase.
You have to alike contemplate peeking at Slack wills in days gone by making a last stamina.
Image debt: Pexels. With one voice screenshots by Danny Maiorca.