Business Communication
Team messaging and collaboration platforms for work.
Rankings
1. Slack
Team messaging with AI and broad app integrations
Slack is a leading team messaging platform that centralizes conversations, files, and apps in one workspace. It offers channel-based collaboration, direct messages, huddles for quick audio meetings, and Connect capabilities for secure external communications. As part of Salesforce’s ecosystem, Slack emphasizes AI-assisted search, summaries, and workflow automation on paid plans, while maintaining a generous free tier. In 2025, Slack expanded Salesforce and AI capabilities across plans, with pricing updates that keep higher-value features behind paid tiers. Slack appeals to mid-to-large teams that want a single workspace with thousands of integrations (including Salesforce, Jira, Google Drive, GPT-based tools, and more) to reduce tool fragmentation. Its differentiator is depth of integrations, developer-friendly automation, and its “work operating system” positioning, which aligns well with product-minded teams and enterprises already invested in the Salesforce ecosystem.
Rated 4.6
2. Microsoft Teams
Microsoft 365-native team chat, meetings, and files
Microsoft Teams is the collaboration hub built into Microsoft 365, delivering persistent chat, channel-based teamwork, voice/video meetings, and deep integration with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, SharePoint, and OneDrive. In 2025, Microsoft continued adjusting licensing to better align with EU competition concerns, while maintaining Teams as a core pillar of the work suite. Teams’ strength lies in its native integration with the broader Microsoft 365 stack, enterprise-grade security, eDiscovery, and governance features, which makes it the default choice for many enterprises already standardized on Microsoft. Its scalability and admin control options appeal to mid-to-large organizations seeking a single vendor for productivity, security, and compliance.
Rated 4.4
3. Google Workspace
AI-powered suite with Gemini across Gmail, Docs, Meet
Google Workspace is a broad productivity suite centered on Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet, and Chat, now infused with Gemini AI features across its apps. In 2025 Google expanded Gemini AI to Workspace, offering AI-assisted email drafting, document creation, meeting insights, and data handling within the familiar Google Apps. The plan tiers give organizations scalable storage, collaboration capabilities, and advanced security controls. Its global reach and multilingual support make it a staple for international teams. The differentiator is AI-powered productivity baked into a familiar, Google-powered ecosystem, with strong compliance and data residency options for large enterprises. Google Workspace is suited for teams that want a cohesive, AI-enhanced experience across email, docs, meetings, and drive.
Rated 4.5
4. Cisco Webex
AI-enabled meetings and messaging in a Cisco-grade UC suite
Cisco Webex is a mature UC platform offering Meetings, Messaging, Calling, and Events, with AI-assisted meeting summaries, translation, and intent-aware actions. In 2025, Cisco continued to enhance Webex with AI-powered assistants, meeting and message summaries, and integrations across the Webex Suite. The platform is widely used in midsize and large enterprises, especially where Cisco networking equipment or security policies are already in use. Webex differentiates itself with strong enterprise-grade security, integrated hardware collaboration options, and robust compliance features. It’s well-suited for organizations needing scalable video meetings, secure messaging, and a broad array of collaboration tools across hybrid work environments.
Rated 4.2
5. Zoom One
AI-powered meetings, chat and collaboration in one platform
Zoom One consolidates meetings, team chat, whiteboards, and AI-powered assistants into a single, scalable collaboration platform. With a history anchored in video-first communications, Zoom has reframed itself as an all-in-one work platform and rebranded to emphasize AI-driven productivity. In 2025, Zoom’s plans continued to offer popular Pro/Business tiers for mid-market teams, with Enterprise pricing tailored to very large deployments. The platform remains highly popular for its ease of adoption, strong video quality, and a broad ecosystem of integrations (including Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Slack, and more). Zoom’s advantage is a familiar, user-friendly experience with a strong focus on AI-assisted workflows and productivity within a single interface, making it appealing to distributed teams and SMBs aiming to consolidate tools.
Rated 4.1
6. RingCentral
Unified communications with integrated phone, chat and video
RingCentral bundles messaging, video meetings, and a cloud phone platform into a single RingEX solution. In 2025 RingCentral continued to evolve its pricing and packaging, with Core/Essential levels designed for smaller teams and higher tiers for larger deployments, all with strong emphasis on integrations (including Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and Slack) and AI-enabled features. The platform is popular among mid-to-large organizations that want a single vendor for phone, messaging, and conferencing, plus a robust API ecosystem for custom workflows. While pricing can be complex and the suite can feel heavy for very small teams, RingCentral’s breadth makes it a strong candidate for companies seeking a scalable, enterprise-grade UCaaS with strong telephony capabilities.
Rated 4.0
7. Mattermost
Open, secure, configurable team messaging for developers and ops
Mattermost is an open-source, self-hostable team messaging platform designed for security-conscious organizations. It supports chat, file sharing, and workflow automation with deep integration hooks and enterprise-grade deployment options (self-hosted or private cloud). Mattermost is widely adopted in mission-critical contexts (defense, finance, government) where data sovereignty and customization matter. The product differentiates itself from SaaS-first rivals by offering on-prem or private cloud deployments with strong governance and audit capabilities. In 2025, Mattermost continued to emphasize secure collaboration for critical infrastructure teams while maintaining cloud offerings.
Rated 4.1
8. Zoho Cliq
Zoho’s team chat with deep Zoho ecosystem integrations
Zoho Cliq is Zoho’s team chat product designed to work within Zoho’s broader ecosystem (CRM, Projects, Workplace, People, etc.). It offers messaging, channels, file sharing, and heated collaboration features with an emphasis on integration with Zoho’s own apps and partner tools. In 2025, Cliq provides a tiered structure (Free, Standard, Professional, Enterprise) to fit SMBs through mid-market teams, with a focus on cost-conscious customers who already use Zoho One or other Zoho apps. Its differentiator is native Zoho app integration and cost efficiency, especially for teams already invested in the Zoho stack. Cliq’s roadmap emphasizes collaborative workflows and cross-app automation within the Zoho platform.
Rated 4.0
9. Flock
Affordable team messaging with strong public/private channels
Flock offers a cost-conscious alternative for team messaging with unlimited messages, public/private channels, and group video calls. Its Pro tier is designed for growing teams needing more storage and admin controls, while an Enterprise option exists for larger organizations with requirements like AD/SSO and priority support. In 2025 Flock emphasized value-based pricing and ongoing product enhancements, including deep integration options with common work apps and a straightforward interface that mirrors Slack-like workflows. Flock is well-suited for small-to-mid-sized teams, startups, and regional offices seeking an economical all-in-one collaboration tool without sacrificing essential features.
Rated 4.0
10. Twist
Threaded async communication to reduce distraction
Twist is an asynchronous team messaging tool that uses threaded conversations to reduce the noise common in real-time chat. It emphasizes focused collaboration by keeping threads on topic and minimizing constant notifications. Twist is popular among teams that prefer async work rhythms, distributed teams, and organizations seeking calmer communication without losing context. In 2025 Twist continued to position itself as an alternative to real-time chat platforms, offering a clean interface, thread-centric organization, and flexible pricing. Twist differentiates itself from Slack and Teams by prioritizing asynchronous workflows, which can improve productivity for some teams while potentially requiring a culture shift for others.
Rated 4.2