Slack Connect vs Guest Accounts: Cost, Access and Which to Use

The difference between Slack Connect and a guest account is where the person works and who pays. A guest gets an account inside your workspace, limited to the channels you choose, and your company pays for Multi-Channel Guests at the regular member price. Single-Channel Guests are free, up to 5 for each paid active member. Slack Connect links your workspace to another company's workspace. Each person stays in their own company's Slack, and each company pays for its own people. Use a guest account for a contractor who has no Slack. Use Slack Connect when the other side already uses Slack at work.

The plan rules below come from Slack's help articles on guest roles and Slack Connect. We checked the Free side ourselves on 2 October 2026.

Slack Connect vs guests at a glance

Guest accounts: the two types and what they cost

Guests exist only on paid plans. Slack has two types:

• • Multi-Channel Guests can be added to any number of channels you choose. They are billed as regular members. A guest with an end date is still billed like a member, with prorated credits if they are active for only part of the billing cycle.
• • Single-Channel Guests are free and can access one channel. For every paid active member you can add up to 5. A workspace with 10 members can invite up to 50.

Owners and Admins invite guests, and members can request an invite. Full members can also join through a shared invite link, which expires after 30 days. The difference between those two admin roles is in Slack workspace Owner vs Admin. Owners and Admins can also set a guest to deactivate after a set time or on a set date, and both the guest and the admin get a reminder five days before. In the member list, Multi-Channel Guests have a square next to their name and Single-Channel Guests a triangle.

Guest account limitations

Guests see only the channels they are in, and the message history in those channels. They cannot:

• • create public channels, or rename, archive or delete channels
• • install or remove apps
• • make @channel, @here or @everyone announcements, unless the workspace settings allow it
• • DM people outside the channels they share

Multi-Channel Guests can accept invites to private channels and start group DMs with people in their channels. Single-Channel Guests cannot. The full permission table is in Slack's "Understand guest roles in Slack" article.

What a Free workspace offers instead

Guests exist only on paid plans, and the Free invite screen shows it. In our Free workspace, where we are the Primary Owner, Invite people asks only for email addresses and optional channels. There is no choice between member and guest, so everyone invited this way joins as a full member who can see every public channel:



On Free, that leaves two ways to work with someone outside your team: invite them as a member and keep sensitive talk in private channels, or use a Slack Connect DM, which Slack offers on every plan.

Slack Connect: channels and DMs with other companies

Slack Connect lets two or more companies work in one channel or DM while each stays in its own workspace.

• Channels. One channel can host up to 250 organizations. Each organization must be on a paid plan. The company that created the channel owns it: only it can invite or remove organizations, manage posting permissions, and keep using the channel after others are removed.

• DMs. On any Slack plan, you can start a Slack Connect DM by sending an invitation or accepting one. This is the free way to talk one-to-one with someone at another company.

• Not on a paid plan? The channel owner can invite the other company to try Slack Connect for free.

Slack Connect conversations show a banner and appear in the External Connections section of your sidebar. External people's profile photos carry their company's Slack icon. You manage invitations under Directories, then External.

Which one should you use?

• A freelancer, intern or contractor with no Slack of their own. A guest account. Single-Channel if one channel is enough, which is free.

• A client or vendor that already uses Slack. Slack Connect. Nobody needs a second account, and they keep their own history and settings.

• One person at a partner company, one-to-one. A Slack Connect DM, on any plan.

• Many people from a partner, in several channels. Slack Connect channels, which do not add to your member bill.

If you work for two companies yourself, neither option merges your accounts. You keep one account per workspace, as covered in using several Slack workspaces at once.

What external people can see about you

In a Slack Connect channel, each organization chooses which profile details other organizations can see: basic details such as name and photo, or more, such as statuses and time zones. So a client may see your custom status and your presence dot. A guest in your workspace sees your profile like any member of the channels they share with you.

What admins, rather than clients, can see is in can Slack admins see what you search and can Slack admins see your DMs.

FAQ

Can I add a guest on the Free plan?

No. In our Free workspace the invite screen had no guest option at all; everyone invited joins as a full member. On paid plans, Slack's help center says Owners and Admins choose the guest type when they invite someone.

Can I use Slack Connect for free?

Slack Connect DMs work on any plan, including Free. Slack Connect channels need every organization on a paid plan, though the channel owner can invite the other company to try it for free.