Free Slack Alternatives That Keep Your Full Message History

The best free Slack alternative for most teams is Pumble: its free plan has unlimited users and unlimited message history, which is the main thing Slack's free plan takes away after 90 days. Discord is the best free choice for communities. Chanty is free for up to 5 people. Zulip's free cloud plan keeps 10,000 messages searchable. If you want to own your data, Mattermost, Element and Rocket.Chat are free to run on your own server. If your team already uses Gmail or Microsoft accounts, Google Chat and the free version of Teams cost nothing extra.

Free Slack alternatives compared

Figures come from each vendor's pricing or support page, checked on 23 September. Slack's limits are in Slack free plan limits.

Pumble: the closest free copy of Slack

Pumble looks and works like Slack: channels, threads, DMs, mentions, reactions and pins. Its free plan has unlimited users, unlimited message history and search, unlimited channels, 1:1 voice and video meetings, 10 GB of storage per workspace, and up to 3 apps plus its own Clockify and Plaky integrations. It can import your Slack messages. Paid plans start at $2.49 a seat a month.

Pick it if Slack's 90-day limit is the only reason you want to leave.

Discord: free for communities

Discord is free at any size, keeps your history, and gives you voice channels anyone can drop into, with video for up to 25 people. Uploads are capped at 20 MB per file unless a person pays for Nitro. It has no single sign-on, retention settings or admin exports, so it suits communities and informal teams more than companies. The full comparison is in Slack vs Discord.

Chanty: free for up to 5 people

Chanty's free plan covers up to 5 team members with unlimited searchable history, unlimited 1:1 audio and video calls, built-in tasks, 20 GB of storage per team, one guest and up to 10 integrations. Group calls and screen sharing need the Business plan at $3 a user a month, paid yearly.

Zulip: threads first, 10,000 searchable messages

Zulip organizes every conversation into topics inside channels, so busy teams can catch up topic by topic. Zulip Cloud Free gives you 10,000 messages of search history, 5 GB of storage in total, integrations, roles and guest accounts. Zulip sponsors a free Standard plan for open-source projects, academic research and many non-profits, and its self-hosted version is free and 100% open source.

Open-source, self-hosted Slack alternatives

If you want an open-source Slack alternative that you host yourself, three are well established:

• • Mattermost: channel-based chat built for technical teams, self-hosted; paid editions are sold through sales, and a limited free edition is available for evaluation. Its away timer and status icons are covered in Mattermost away status.
• • Element: a chat app on the open Matrix protocol. Element Server Suite Community is free, open source under AGPL, and includes Element Call for video.
• • Rocket.Chat: self-managed team chat with a free Starter plan for small businesses, non-profits and evaluations.

Self-hosting is free in license cost only. You pay for a server, backups, updates and someone's time. For a team without an IT person, a hosted free plan such as Pumble costs less in practice.

Google Chat and Microsoft Teams free

If everyone already has a Google account, Google Chat is built into Gmail and costs nothing; it is also included in paid Google Workspace plans. The free version of Microsoft Teams covers chat and meetings up to 60 minutes for personal and community use; companies pay for Teams Essentials ($4 a user a month) or Microsoft 365. See Slack vs Teams.

How to pick a free Slack alternative

• You need the full history for free, in a Slack-like app: Pumble.
• You run a community, not a company: Discord.
• You are five people or fewer: Chanty.
• You want to own the data and can run a server: Mattermost, Element or Rocket.Chat.
• You already live in Google or Microsoft: Google Chat or Teams.

If none of these trade-offs work, paying for Slack Pro removes the history limit for $7.25 a user a month; see is Slack Pro worth it. To keep your old Slack messages before you move, see how to export Slack messages without admin.

FAQ

Is there an open-source Slack alternative?

Yes. Mattermost, Element (on the Matrix protocol), Rocket.Chat and Zulip are open source and can be self-hosted.

Which Slack alternative has unlimited free message history?

Pumble, Chanty and Discord keep full history on their free plans. Self-hosted tools keep whatever your server stores.

What is a good Slack alternative for startups?

Pumble or Zulip if cost matters most; Slack Pro if you need its app marketplace and shared channels with clients.

Can I move my Slack messages to another app?

Pumble lists an import from Slack on its free plan. For other tools, check their import options; most start from a Slack export file, which a workspace admin creates.