Team collaboration

No business is an island. Even solo workers and freelancers need to collaborate, chat, and send files easily.

Instead of hunting through your inbox for updates, get them all in one streamlined place. These messaging platforms will help you and your team stay in the loop, whether you’re at your desk or not.

Used all over the world by big and small teams, Slack is a messaging platform where people can share documents, updates, and files. It’s an easy, user-friendly place to collaborate.

Who’s it for?

Small businesses collaborating with a team of staff or freelancers.

Good bits

• It’s really easy to organise your different jobs and projects. Create channels for each to keep them separate, and invite relevant team members to keep work private.
• Everything’s stored remotely in the cloud, so you can search through your Slack history to find old conversations and documents.
• Send individual direct messages as well as group messages.

Not so good bits

• You’re charged per user, which could get expensive if your team keeps growing. This is a pretty standard payment model though, so it’s tough to find an alternative.

Free-o-meter

3/5

Prices: Business version costs $12.50 per month.

The free version includes unlimited lists and boards, and you can create a maximum of 10 boards to share with other teams.

You might think Whatsapp is more suited to sending pointless .gifs to your BFF, but its group chat functionality also makes it an essential (and free!) business tool.

Who’s it for?

Freelancers and small business owners that want simple group chats they can access anywhere.

Good bits

• It’s not all on mobile. You can easily chat and send files on desktop.
• Free and completely unlimited. You can create as many group chats as you want.
• Your team members probably already have it on their phones, so there’s no need for on-boarding or downloading.

Not so good bits

• Not everyone in your team will be happy having work chats on their personal phone.
• It’s less organised than many business specific messaging platforms.

Free-o-meter

5/5

Prices: It’s free!

This business messaging app gives you unlimited users, chats, and boards for free. You and your team can even host group video meetings, set reminders, and integrate with Google Drive, Trello, and more.

Who’s it for?

Freelancers and small businesses looking for a cheaper alternative to Slack.

Good bits

• Organised boards and chats, keeping relevant conversations and files in the right place.
• Direct message and video chat with people.
• Integrate all your favourite apps, including Google Drive, Trello, and Dropbox.

Not so good bits

• It can be difficult to pick and choose which notifications you want to receive. Slack offers a lot more customisation on that front.

Free-o-meter

4/5

Prices: The paid subscription is $4.50 per user per month, billed for the whole year.

The free version is good value, giving you unlimited messages, boards, individual video chats, and app integrations.