Slack Vs. Skype
Frank Comments
- a
Sergey Comments
- Do we need business google accounts for employees?
- Mobile phones calls?
- How much do we need to pay? $8 per user per month?
- We can use Skype now to communicate widely with ppl out of our company (candidates, contractors..). How we will do it with Slack?
Comparison
| Skype | Slack |
|---|---|
| 300 million monthly active users | 12 million monthly active users |
1. NIRA
nira: Slack Vs. Skype – Which is the best and why?
Our Recommendation: Get Slack
Both Skype and Slack offer:
- Audio and video calling
- Direct and group conversations
- Document and file sharing
- Third-party app integrations
Slack Is A Product On The Rise
Slack Is A Multi-Purpose Application
Users Rate Slack Much Higher Than Skype
In fact, in some cases, Skype is a better choice than Slack.
For example, if video calling in large groups is your number one consideration, Skype is a better option because of several reasons.
- Skype offers better video quality.
- Allows up to 100 participants in group video calls
- Allows text messaging during video calls
- Allows document and file sharing in video calls
- Allows screen sharing in video calls
- Allows call recording
- It is completely free to use.
These are significant advantages compared with Slack, which only offers group video calls for premium users with a limit of 15 participants.
Skype is also a good option if you’re on a tight budget and do not want to invest heavily in a communication platform.
Skype
Skype is on the way down and has lost its crown as the premier video calling app to Zoom over the last couple of years.
It’s still one of the most popular communication apps, with more than 300 million monthly active users, but it’s way down on Microsoft’s priority list–in fact, I’m pretty sure Microsoft is slowly but surely sidelining Skype.
Another strong indicator of Skype’s downfall is LinkedIn’s announcement last year in which they unveiled their video messaging feature.
This is easy to understand, since Skype is literally only a video calling platform–every other feature it has is only there to support video calling.
And even its paid text messaging and phone calling features are pretty affordable compared to expensive roaming plans when you’re on a foreign trip or want to connect via phone with someone in another country.
- It is completely free to use.
These are significant advantages compared with Slack, which only offers group video calls for premium users with a limit of 15 participants.
Skype is also a good option if you’re on a tight budget and do not want to invest heavily in a communication platform.
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Slack
It currently has more than 12 million monthly active users, which include 142K paid customers.
you can use Slack for project management, organizing your departmental communication, creating a knowledge base for your company, etc.
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Prices
Pricing: Is Slack or Skype the Better Deal?
We’ve discussed some general strengths and weaknesses of Slack and Skype so far.
To put things into perspective, let’s analyze their pricing structures to understand the value they offer for your money.
Skype Pricing And Free Plan
Most of Skype’s core features are entirely free.
You can host or join group/individual video calls, record calls, enable subtitles, share files, create moderated groups, and communicate with people for no charges.
Phone calling is the only paid feature in Skype that you can use with different billing options like monthly subscriptions or Skype Credit and Skype to Go (both pay-as-you-go options).
You also need to pay a monthly fee to keep a Skype number that others can call using Skype or a telephone/mobile device.
Here’s how it works.
The calling rate varies with regions, but you can get subscription plans for the USA for $2.99/month and the rest of North America for $6.99/month.
Other than this, all Skype features are free to use as long as you remain within their free usage policy.
Slack Pricing And Free Plan
Slack has three different pricing plans along with a free version for smaller teams with limited feature requirements.
Here’s how its paid plans are priced.
You can get started with the Standard plan for $6.67/month per user billed annually. At this price, you can get unlimited messaging features, group video calls for up to 15 users, unlimited channels, and unlimited app integrations.
Plus, there are many other benefits like up to 10 GB storage per user, unlimited message archive, and many more.
The Plus and Enterprise plans are upgrades to the Standard plan and offer plenty of other features like uptime guarantees, message export capabilities, and user provisioning/deprovisioning.