Summary: Slack is a team messaging app focused on chat, while Zoom Workplace is a multichannel unified communications platform with video, chat, and an optional phone system. Since Slack focuses on messaging only, it’s cheaper than Zoom Workplace–which has more channels and functionality.
Teams seeking a low-cost messaging and collaboration platform should pick Slack, and teams that want advanced video meetings should choose Zoom.
High-Level Overview of Slack & Zoom
| Slack | Zoom Workplace | |
| What is it? | Team messaging app | Unified communications and video conferencing platform |
| Use Cases |
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| Cost | Free to $12.50 monthly per user | Free to $25 monthly per user |
| Key Features |
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| Best For | Internal team communication, with a focus on messaging | External and internal communications, with voice, video, and chat |
What is Slack?
Slack is a business messaging application that teams can use to communicate via chat, audio, and video. Available on desktop, mobile, and web browser, Slack enables team productivity with file sharing, task management and to-do checklists, and workflow automations. Team members can send DMs, create group channels, and initiate threads.
What is Zoom?
Zoom Workplace is a unified communications platform emphasizing video and team chat, with the option for a native VoIP phone system. A strong team collaboration tool, it features video conferencing for up to 500 users with advanced features like breakout rooms, whiteboards, waiting rooms, live streaming, and more. Zoom team chat enables file sharing and one-click video meetings. The higher-tier plans include Zoom Phone–a complete cloud-based phone system with virtual numbers, call monitoring, and routing functionality.
Slack vs Zoom: Key Features
- Dashboard and accessibility
- Team chat and messaging
- Phone system and audio
- Video conferencing
- Workflows, AI automations, and integrations
Dashboard, Interface, and Accessibility
Overview: Zoom and Slack both have intuitive dashboards, available on desktop, web browser, and mobile. Slack’s interface is more user-friendly and easier to manage, but Zoom’s interface provides more functionality by unifying multiple channels, plus calendars.
Slack and Zoom both offer accessible and cross-platform apps that have intuitive and user-friendly dashboards meant to streamline communications. Though, Slack’s interface just feels cleaner and more user-friendly with a simple left-hand menu for channels and conversations. It also has subtler notifications and quick access to status visibility via profile indicators. It’s a stronger fit for collaboration due to features like Slack Canvas for file organization and action items existing per channel. Slack Connect also grants external collaborators access to channels securely. It’s faster and more intuitive to navigate and keeps teams aligned.
However, Zoom does offer a more feature-rich interface to unify chat, video meetings, phone, calendar, and email into a single dashboard. It has a top-level menu and customizable sidebar support for deeper organization, letting users pin action items like missed calls or bookmarks, and even lets you organize content into folders. It can feel a bit too much, but the all-in-one approach is great for teams tired of app switching and just want centralized scheduling and communication.
Winner: Slack has a more user-friendly interface. Zoom is a little more cluttered but has the breadth Slack lacks.
Team Chat and Messaging
Overview: Slack and Zoom Phone both offer internal team chat and messaging, with file sharing and team channels. Both messaging interfaces include customizable formatting options. However, Slack goes above and beyond with built-in audio and video huddles that feature screen sharing.
Both Slack and Zoom offer solid team chat features for 1:1 messaging, group chats, and channels for focused and secure communication. Still, Slack stands out for its in-coversation threading which allows users to reply within message threads to keep discussions tidier. Users can tag teammates, react with emojis, and even format messages with lists, bolding, and embedded code. File sharing is a breeze with support for videos, documents, Google Drive files, and more. Its powerful search feature and deep app integrations (think Asana, Salesforce, and Drive) make productivity even better. Even its Clips feature (quick audio, visual, and screen recordings) just add a human touch to asynchronous communications Zoom lacks.
Zoom’s team chat is not a slacker when it comes to features, it supports up to 10,000 members, well-suited for large organizations and enterprises. Zoom users have the ability to quickly start up video meetings and huddles from any channel, making chat to real-time conversations easy. Like Slack, Zoom has message reactions, GIFs, file sharing, and text-formatting. It even goes further with admin-level permissions for who can manage channels. Invitations in and out of your organization are easy, but Zoom’s still behind in other aspects. If your team relies on video communication, consider it over Slack.
Winner: Slack has more advanced team messaging features.
Phone System and Audio
Overview: While Zoom offers a complete VoIP service on Business Plus plans, Slack only offers audio meetings built into chat. Zoom’s Phone system includes virtual phone numbers, routing, and calling around the globe. This makes it much more robust than Slack audio.
Slack and Zoom both do audio-based communication but in quite different ways that vary in complexity and depth. Slack’s "Huddles" feature gives teams quick lightweight, impromptu audio (and optionally video) meetings launched from any DM or channel at one click. These are meant for quick check-ins or collaboration sessions and do support link and file sharing within chats. Huddles work great across desktop, browser, and mobile devices, making them solid for distributed teams who just need quick voice chats without formal meetings or invites.
Zoom offers stronger full-fledged VoIp phone systems through its Zoom Phone products (included on Business Plus plans and higher). This system gives you virtual phone numbers, SMS texting, IVR menus, call routing, and real-time analytics. It’s a better solution for businesses who need structure within call flows or do customer service. Users can make or take calls from any device, flip calls between devices mid-call, and send SMS via virtual numbers. Admin tools like call monitoring, reporting, and distribution queues make Zoom Phone better for teams with oversight and control at the top of their wish lists.
Winner: Zoom offers a robust VoIP phone system.
Video conferencing
Overview: Zoom Workplace offers an industry-leading video conferencing platform with advanced features, while Slack includes video huddles built into team chat.
Slack and Zoom do video meetings but cater to different business needs. Slack’s video huddles are no-frills, informal, and deeply integrated into team chats. Users can start with audio then add video with a single click, customize the Huddle’s name and layout, and even share multiple screens simultaneously.
Other features include live chat, on-screen drawing, and emoji reactions for quick internal alignment. Zoom’s video meetings are built for scale and structure, supporting up to 1000 participants for up to 30 hours. With an array of scheduling tools, invite links, and calendar integrations, it’s the better choice for formal meetings or client presentations.
Both platforms support screen sharing and collaboration tools, but Zoom outclasses slack thanks to breakout rooms, waiting rooms, polls, and webinar support. Zoom also has persistent whiteboards, co-annotation, and playful extras like avatars and appearance touch-up tools. Slack is great for informal and dynamic sessions but Zoom’s the enterprise-grade leader for a reason.
Winner: Zoom offers a much more dynamic video conferencing platform.
Workflows, AI Automations, and Integrations
Overview: Slack offers a better workflow automation builder, while Zoom’s AI Companion is a better AI tool.
Slack and Zoom do extensive integrations and workflow capabilities, but automation works differently. Slack works with over 2,600 different third-party apps ranging from sales, CRM, file sharing, and productivity tools. Integrations like these are deeply embedded into Slack channels and workflows so users get notifications from tools like Asana and Drive directly from their chats.
Zoom offers fewer integrations (still over 2,300) but stands out thanks to its email client that’s built-in and supports Gmail and Microsoft 365 accounts allowing users to access and manage email from the Zoom interface.
Slack offers a no-code workflow builder that lets teams automate routine tasks using an easy drag-and-drop interface with components and even features Salesforce, Sheets, and Zoom integrations. It has turnkey templates for common workflows like onboarding and IT requests making it easy for any user even those less experienced.
Zoom offers an AI companion with an intelligent automation layer that works across the platform, it can summarize meetings and chats, write responses, and even live translate during video meetings.
Slack excels in the hand-on workflow customization and cross-app automation processes, while Zoom really leans into native automation thanks to its use of AI. Either make for a strong solution, pending on whether you prioritize process or AI.
Winner: It’s a tie, both of these options offer compelling integrations, AI automations and workflows.
Pricing Comparison of Slack and Zoom
Overview: Slack and Zoom offer free and paid plans. Though they vary in pricing due to each platform servicing quite different needs, Slack being an overall cheaper option but lacking Zoom’s depth. If you need video meetings and business calling day-to-day, it is the better value.
Slack’s plans range from free to up to $12.50 per user per month and this is due to its focus on team productivity and communication. The free plan gives you access to DMs and channels, 1:1 huddles, and only 90 days of message history. On the Pro plan ($4.38/user/month) you get unlimited history, the Workflow Builder, and channel-wide huddles. Business+ ($9/user/month) gives you admin controls like data exports, customizable sideboards, and uptime guarantees.
Zoom’s plans range from free to over $25 per user per month, thanks to its robust video meetings and phone capabilities. The free plan has 40-minute meetings for up to 100 people, on top of whiteboards and team chat. Pro ($13.33/user/month) extends meetings to 30 hours and adds things like cloud recording, live streaming, and Zoom’s AI assistant. The Business plan ($18.33 per user per month) raises capacity to 300 participants while Business Plus (at $22.49/user/month) throws in Zoom Phone with unlimited calling, virtual numbers, and call routing.
Pros and Cons
Slack Pros
- User-friendly: The Slack interface is straightforward to use, even for users who aren’t tech-savvy
- Tons of integrations: With over 2600 integrations, Slack likely integrates with most of the software apps you already use
- Workflow automation: We found Slack’s Workflow Builder very easy to use, and we think it’s a very unique and valuable tool
Slack Cons
- Team chat only: Slack works well for team chat and collaboration, with some video and audio. But you can’t use Slack for video or audio calls with external users.
- Overwhelming notifications: Slack’s notifications keep us in the loop during the workday. But for users involved in multiple groups and channels, this leads to too many notifications that feel overwhelming.
- Threads get lost: The way Slack’s messaging interface is structured, we found that threads sometimes get lost within channels and chats–leading to people missing your replies
Zoom Pros
- Does it all: Especially with the Business Plus plan, we were impressed with Zoom’s unified communications diversity–video, phone, and chat
- Best video on the market: In our opinion and experience, there’s no better video-conferencing platform than Zoom. It includes a great mix of collaborative, productive, and fun features.
- Surprisingly advanced phone system: We were pleasantly surprised by how intuitive and capable Zoom’s phone system is. It includes advanced features like monitoring and queueing, added to the UCaaS offering for just $25 a month.
Zoom Cons
- Too many features: While Zoom’s video meetings feature tons of features, we ended up not using about 75% of them. Some teams, like us, might feel that many of these features are unnecessary or distracting.
- Bandwidth-dependent: In our experience, low bandwidth or a crowded internet connection majorly disrupted Zoom video meetings, leading to latency and glitchy video
Bottom Line
Slack is a low-cost messaging platform for internal communication. Zoom is a unified communications platform with video, team chat, and the option for a phone system.
If your team wants to enhance its communication system with team chat only, Slack is a better option. However, if you’re looking for a complete business communication app with multiple channels–it’s worth the extra cost for an app like Zoom.
