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May 9, 2020
AirSend Survey Edition: What do People Look for in a Team Chat App?
Tag: team chat
One of our goals with AirSend is to deliver the ideal team chat tool. A tool that can be used to communicate with team members as well as outside clients. That being said, we know we still have plenty of work left to do. To further develop an excellent product, it requires feedback. Our solution: a team chats app survey. What better way to develop a product than by the voice of the people?
We thought that by creating a survey on team chat apps, we would hear the most honest feedback of what people look for in a team chat app. We received some very fascinating feedback, and we want to share them with you. Please note that this survey does not pertain to AirSend or the company in any manner. Additionally, we think it will be more exciting if we release the results to each question every week. Without further ado, let’s dive in with a bang and show the most impressive results.
Question Two: What do you look for in a Team Chat App?
Capture from Survey
As you can see from the results having a team chat app that is easy-to-use with a 58.33% vote takes the lead. After that comes,
Collaboration/All the Above: 54.17%
Organization: 41.67%
Security: 37.50%
Design: 33.33%
Customization: 29.17%
Community: 20.83%
Hypothesis
Based on the results listed above, it can easily be concluded that the vast majority look for an easy-to-use team chat. From the graph above, we can speculate that most people look for a team chat app that is clutter-free, with the right amount of UI. Having this outlook will help users get work done faster. In essence, team chats that people love to use should also be easy-to-use.
As I’m sure you are already aware, we preach that AirSend is a simple and easy-to-use communication platform. So, seeing these results made us thrilled. As previously mentioned in other blog posts, we want to create a versatile uncomplicated team chat tool. A tool that doesn’t require over 500+ integrations, multiple accounts, and confusing UI’s and UX.
We believe that with AirSend’s clean and simplistic UI design, the usability of the product will be effortless. We offer all the built-in tools required to help get work done faster, such as task management, a shared workspace (a.k.a.the wiki), and premium file storage.
Did you know that we are offering AirSend Pro free for one year if you sign up before May 15?
Finally, we want to conclude that we use AirSend for our marketing teams. Even though AirSend is our product, we sincerely believe that AirSend can help your organization, too. Give us a try and let us know what you think!
AirSend is a versatile digital workspace to share files, send messages, and complete tasks. See how AirSend can help you.
Welcome back to our blog! In today’s blog post, we are going to do something a little different. We are going to list the top seven best team chat apps for Android. The ability to work from any device and any location is the new trendsetter in the work industry. This leads to efficiency and increased productivity. With that being said it is essential to have a team chat app that can work across computers, smartphones, tablets, and any other smart device out there. Here are our top seven team chat apps for Android:
AirSend
Flock
Slack
WhatsApp
Hangouts
Telegram
Teamwork Chat
Without further ado let’s dive into the seven best team chat apps for Android.
It is our blog post after all. And it would be weird if we didn’t believe AirSend was the ideal team chat app for all platforms. AirSend is an all-in-one do-it-all team chat platform that carries built-in file integration, built-in task management, and a built-in “about” section. AirSend also carries a clean and sleek UI design to enable easier usability.
Further, unlike most other team chats, we have all your channels located in one place! No more signing in and singing out of extra accounts. Now you can easily switch between conversations with just a click of a button. Finally, at the top of a channel is your built-in tools bar for easy access and visibility to take care of all your business needs. Assign and complete tasks, copy and move files, edit your wiki, and manage your close-knit groups! The downside to AirSend is that we currently lack audio and video calls.
Summation: AirSend is an easy, simple-to-use app that lets you have a seamless conversation with minimum context switching. With built-in tools and minimized integrations, users can now get work done all with a click of a button.
Created back in 2014, Flock is designed to make communication and collaboration effortless. Flock’s android app carries
In-app video conferencing
Google integration
Notes
Mailing list to all flock channels and team members
Bots- which are created as separate channels
Flock Assistant
And many more. We would be here all day if we listed all the features Flock has to offer. Flock’s users ID’s are also tied to a unique URL made for each user. A downside to the app is that unlike with AirSend, Flock doesn’t have a place for task descriptions. This can be a bit difficult if team members have multiple tasks and no context to go off of. Further, all features listed above are located on the top right corner of the screen, and from there takes you to another area of the app. As a new user, I found it a little confusing to maneuver through, as I wasn’t sure where each feature was taking me, and how to exactly get back to the channel I had made.
There is also the choice to make a private and/or public channel, however, there are no given directions on which channel is public and which channel is private. Additionally, while looking at your tasks for one channel, you also have the option to look at tasks for your other channels, which as a design choice, can seem overwhelming. Finally, Flock allows you to create multiple teams with either the same email account you signed up with or a new account.
Summation: Flock is a neat team chat tool that carries a bunch of features. However, with poor UI/UX design the app is hard to work with. Having a difficult app also makes it hard to communicate with others. Especially when communicating through different teams.
In Slack’s android app, the maneuverability is not that complex compared to the website. On the left side-bar panel, you have your threads, channels, and direct messages. However, as the same on their website, the app requires one sign-in per workspace. Each time you try to create or join a workspace from the app, Slack sends an email verification. This can be a bit frustrating when trying to talk with other clients and/or teams.
Further, more often than not the signal-to-noise communication is extremely low. What this means is that your channel is continuously blowing up with what is most likely not important information. Finally, with the Slack app for android, there are no read receipts.
Summation: Slack is a great team chat tool if you only have one team. They offer channel organization and integrations which makes the app a little difficult to get through, but it is much easier compared to the website.
Mainly used for casual conversation, this end-to-end encryption app is known to be a solution for team communication. Similar to Telegram, the premise is to have conversations. However, unlike Telegram, WhatsApp has more to offer. The app offers
Backup from Google drive
Can make phone calls
Can take pictures and record audio from the app
End-to-end encryption
Can do audio and video calls
Can set wallpapers
Export chat
Manage notifications
24-hour stories
One of the major downsides to WhatsApp is that all media and pictures shared in the channels are automatically downloaded to the native galleries. As a personal user, it is difficult to try and stop this feature, and it becomes increasingly annoying. Finally, there is no task-management, which can be increasingly hard when you have multiple tasks.
Summation: You should use WhatsApp if you do not mind seeing other people’s pictures and media in your galleries, like having conversations, video, and audio calls in a minimal design, and are able to keep track of tasks through another medium.
Since Hangouts is a google app, it requires google sign-in. The neat thing about the Hangouts app is that you can seamlessly switch between email accounts. Similar when accessing your Gmail through your android. There are also features of a video call and status updates. However, the UI is lacking, and there doesn’t appear to be any direct access to GSuite from the app. This can most likely throw a wrench in someone’s productivity.
Summation: Hangouts chat is a great app if you carry the majority of your business through GSuite and Gmail. However, there is no direct access from the app to GSuite, so getting work done via google docs, sheets, etc, will require another device.
Telegram is the same premise as WhatsApp, but with fewer features that help get work done. The app also allows you to have private and public chats. In public chats, you can have up to 200,000 members and assign admins with different rights. They also have a similar UI design to WhatsApp. Finally, with all the features they mention on their website, it didn’t seem apparent through the app. However, compared to WhatsApp, the app seems to run smoother when hosting large groups.
Summation: Telegram is a useful tool if you have a medium-size company. The app is also a good choice if you are looking for an alternative to WhatsApp. The app does not carry a built-in task manager or a smooth way to share files.
Aside from AirSend, Teamwork Chat is the next best app for UI design. The app features SSO and Gmail Sign in. However, you first need to make an account online before even signing into the app. Teamwork Chat is more of a project-management website. That being said, on the website, team communication is not as important as project management. Though the UI is impressive on their website, the mobile UI, thankfully, is not as overwhelming. The app features:
Chat channels
Direct conversation
File sharing
Integrations with Teamwork Projects
Through first time usage, it seems that the app is mainly for chats and nothing else. If there are project management tools built into the app, it wasn’t apparent. That being said being able to work from Teamwork Chat, may not be a viable option
Summation: You should use the app if you already have an account with them and carry the majority of your work online. The app is also useful if you just need an app to chat with your team.
Results
There are many team chat apps out there for Android. However, we feel that AirSend is the best option. Three reasons why:
Built-in task management- makes work getting done easier
Move, copy, and share files with built-in file storage- no more downloading files to your phone
Built-in Wiki- have everyone in your team stay up-to-date with upcoming projects, meetings, and more.
We use AirSend as our digital workspace for our marketing team. Even though AirSend is our product, we sincerely believe that AirSend can help your team too. Give us a try and let us know what you think!
AirSend is a versatile digital workspace to share files, send messages, and complete tasks. See how AirSend can help you.
Recently, there has been an emphasis on alternatives to Microsoft Teams for team communication. The reason is that team chats, like Microsoft Teams, often forget that simplicity is the key to productivity.
Microsoft Teams major selling point is that it works with Office 365. It only makes sense that if you rely on most of your work through Office 365, that you would also use Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Teams UI design is similar to Slack, so those transitioning will find it easy-to-use. Though Microsoft Teams carries the team’s chats, meetings, files, and other apps in one place, some users find it difficult to use. Finally, Microsoft Teams daunting prices are questionable to the product’s worth. Does having to pay more money than what you are receiving worth it? You might not realize this, but there are many great Microsoft Teams competitors you could be using right now.
We realized that Microsoft Teams is not for everyone. We realized that there is a market for team chats that are more affordable, simple, easy-to-use, and versatile. That is why we made AirSend and why we think it’s a great Microsoft Teams alternative.
AirSend is a perfect team chat app that not only allows you to have seamless conversations, but also to share/organize files, track your tasks, and keep notes.
Though we like to think we are the best, we also take the time to acknowledge our competitors who also deliver. Here is a list of our seven best alternatives to Microsoft Teams
AirSend
Discord
Slack
Riot.im
Hangouts
Wire
MatterMost
In this blog post, we will discuss specific features and functions, pricing tiers, and the pros and cons of each platform. Without further ado, let’s dive into the seven best alternatives to Microsoft
It would be weird if we didn’t believe our product was the number one alternative to Microsoft Teams. AirSend is the prime product dedicated to seamless conversation and collaboration. AirSend features ideal collaboration tools, such as task-management, premium built-in file storage, video/audio calling, and personalized notebooks made for each channel.
Most importantly, AirSend’s productivity train is continuously chugging, which means that we are constantly delivering new updates and features. New updates and features mean new ways for efficient communication and collaboration.
Pricing
If you sign up before May 15th, you can get AirSend Pro free for one year! In the picture below are the features that come with AirSend Pro.
To see what each plan’s specific features and functions are, click here to view our pricing page.
Pros to AirSend
As said before, AirSend’s biggest positives are seamless conversation and built-in collaboration tools. But, AirSend doesn’t stop there. The biggest alternative to Microsoft Teams, aside from our clean and simplistic design, is that we offer Office 365 integration. This means, that you can still rely on Office 365 to get your work done, but now with easier and faster communication. This makes AirSend a fabulous Microsoft Teams alternative. To learn more about this, read our blog post.
Finally, we offer more storage and sufficiently better pricing.
Cons to AirSend
AirSend is still in its beta stages. Because AirSend is still in development, there will be consistent updates and added features to the product.
Discord is a great alternative to Microsoft Teams. While the product is originally meant for gamers, they offer a lot of features for a free communication tool, such as an all-in-one voice and audio chat. They also offer channel organization, only placed in a more complex UI design.
Pricing
Another benefit is that the product is free.
There is also a Discord Nitro in which you get more customizations than you would with the free version.
Customizations can range from animated emojis, and creating a unique tag for your profile. Annually, Discord Nitro is $99.99. Monthly it is $9.99.
Finally, there is Discord Nitro Classic, which has everything the Nitro plan has, except for a Server Boost. Annually it is $49.99, and monthly it is $4.99.
Pros to Discord
Unlike Microsoft Teams, Discord has amazing channel organization. Additionally, like AirSend, Discord offers a built-in community. While having seamless communication, you can also be a part of the community you love.
Cons to Discord
As said before, the product is originally meant for gamers. That being said, the product lacks task management. They also do not have a clean and simple design. Because of this, some users can find Discord a bit overwhelming to use.
Slack is known as the king of integrations. That being said, Slack’s main functionality is to get work done through third-party integrations.
Pricing
Here is an image of Slack’s current pricing. Some key things to note is that with the free plan, there is a limit to integrations and search history.
Pros to Slack
Slack is originally known as a communication tool. The product also offers channel organization, threads, private and public channels, and built-in voice and audio calls. Slack is also a communication tool many people have heard of and use, which makes Slack one of the top Microsoft Teams competitors.
Cons to Slack
The biggest con to Slack is its overwhelming UI design and multiple tabs. Slack also requires you to create an account for each team you join. This can become troublesome when trying to manage your day-to-day tasks.
Finally, in order to get work done, Slack users mostly rely on third-party integrations, which also requires separate accounts. If you are looking for a team chat tool that has built-in features to help with workflow productivity and minimizes account sign-ups, Slack may not be ideal.
The selling point for Riot.im is that they are an open-source, interoperable collaboration app. Don’t panic! There is nothing complicated about this. As a matter of fact, this just means that Riot.im has the capability to build bridges with users who use other team chat apps. They are currently running on Web, iOS, and Android.
Pricing
Riot.im is currently free, with future plans to have paid, hosted accounts.
Pros to Riot.im
The major pro is that Riot.im can connect to other chat teams, such as Slack, Gitter.im, IRC, Twitter, and SMS. The other positive is that Riot.im gives you the option to host your own open-source servers.
Cons to Riot.im
Riot.im lacks other tools needed to make a successful team chat software. While the feature of building bridges to other team chat software is certainly a game-changer, Riot.im lacks the ability to have integrated task management and built-in notes. Though it is much easier to use compared to Microsoft Teams, Teams offers more features to get work done.
Hangouts Chat is the same concept as Microsoft Teams, except it is owned by Google. The perk and perhaps the biggest selling point is the G Suite integrations.
Pricing
Because Hangouts Chat and Meet are integrated with GSuite, you have to pay for the GSuite Plans.
The basic plan is $6 monthly, per user, with the main limitation of 30 GB to your Google Drive.
The next plan is Business, which is $12 monthly, per user and an unlimited Google Drive Space.
Finally, there is the Enterprise plan, which is $25 monthly, per user.
Pros to Hangouts Chat
Hangouts Chat is a good alternative to Microsoft Teams in that they offer better pricing. Essentially if you want a team chat app that is integrated with the tools you work with, like G Suite, and for a significantly better price, Hangouts Chat is the choice.
Cons to Hangouts Chat
One of the common issues seen with Hangouts Chat is that several users fear that Google will shut down integrations that are often used.
Finally, Hangouts Chat does not support built-in audio and video calls. Rather, you must have a separate app, Hangouts Meet. If you are looking for a team chat tool that carries built-in audio and video call, Microsoft Teams would be the better choice.
Wire is a modern-day collaboration tool that meets advanced security and user experience.
Pricing
Wire carries three price plans: Wire Pro: 4 Euro, Wire Enterprise: 8 Euro, and Wire Enterprise Technology. To see their features, click here.
Pros to Wire
Wire carries all things needed for collaboration. They carry personal and group chats, conference calls, screen and file sharing, availability status, mentions, and message reactions. Best of all, Wire has a guest room feature, in which you can talk with clients or even conduct job interviews.
Cons to Wire
One of the downsides to Wire is that they do not carry built-in task management. They also lack project management tools. Having a lack of these tools may make it hard for teams to collaborate and get work done.
MatterMost is a wonderful communication tool to have that is specifically designed for having a private cloud and an opened-sourced channel. And it’s a great option if you’re looking for an open source alternative to Microsoft Teams.
Like Microsoft Teams, MatterMost targets large enterprises. However, unlike Microsoft Teams, MatterMost implements self-hosting capabilities. With self-hosting capabilities, users can have greater control over privacy and security.
Pricing
Luckily, before fully committing to MatterMost, there is a 30-day free trial. With the E10 edition (basic) and a minimum of 10 users, the price is $39 per user. Annually making it $390.
There is also an E20 edition, which is an advanced enterprise edition that roughly charges $8.50 monthly.
Because the E20 edition is made for larger corporations, you must get a quote from MatterMost before continuing to pay. To see what each plan offers, click here.
Pros to MatterMost
Though MatterMost is priced on the higher end, MatterMost offers premium control over privacy and security. They also offer over 600 integrations
Additionally, you can run the messaging platform behind your organization’s firewall.
The way we see it, MatterMost is great if your organization is large enough to have or require self-hosted team messaging.
Cons to MatterMost
With MatterMost’s almost overwhelming design, the UX becomes difficult to maneuver. After researching some alternatives MatterMost had to these cons, we believe that aside from AirSend’s built-in wiki capability, Microsoft Teams would be the better choice.
Result
As said before Microsoft Teams is good to use if you rely on Office 365 for your daily needs. But, there are other team chat apps that offer 365 integration, without the Teams. Still get work done relying on Office 365, but get work done efficiently with a better-designed communication app.
We use AirSend as our digital workspace for our marketing team. Even though AirSend is our product, we sincerely believe that AirSend can help your team too. Give us a try and let us know what you think!
AirSend is a versatile digital workspace to share files, send messages, and complete tasks. See how AirSend can help you.
Image of Workchats
Recently, there has been an emphasis on Slack alternatives for team communication. The reason is that team chats, like Slack, forget that “less is more.”
Slack is known for its top-notch functionality and versatility, however, with a continuous path of innovation, Slack can seem a bit overwhelming. Aside from the neverending features of Slack, the monthly cost to have an account also builds up. For Slack Standard, it is $6.67 monthly, and for the Plus version, it is $12.50 monthly. Further, Slack only offers third party file storage and task management. With AirSend, we have a built-in file-storage and task management. To see how AirSend is an alternative to Slack, read our blog post.
We realized that Slack is not for everyone. And because of this, we realized that there is a market for team chats that are more affordable, simple, easy-to-use, and versatile. That is why we made AirSend.
AirSend is a perfect team chat app that not only allows you to have seamless conversations, but also to share/organize files, track your to-do’s, and keep notes.
Capture of AirSend
Though we like to think we are the best, we also take the time to acknowledge our competitors who also deliver. Here is a list of our seven best alternatives to Slack:
AirSend
Discord
Microsoft Teams
Mattermost
Zulip
Riot.im
Rocket.Chat
In this blog post, we will discuss specific features and functions, pricing tiers, and the pros and cons of each platform. Without further ado, let’s dive into the seven best alternatives to Slack.
Of course, AirSend is at the top of the list. It would be weird if we didn’t believe that our product was the best alternative to Slack.
One of the selling points to AirSend is its seamless communication. This feature is designed to make your life easier. We do that by allowing you to switch from channel to channel without ever having to leave your current tab.
Having seamless conversations also allows you and your clients to continuously stay in the loop. Whereas with Slack, you need to have an account for each team you are in, AirSend is an open network. In other words, AirSend requires only one sign-up. You can now also sign up with your Google account.
Pros to AirSend
As said before, AirSend allows for easy seamless communication. Compared to Slack which only allows 10,000 of your team’s most recent messages, AirSend’s message history is unlimited.
AirSend combines the attributes of our competitors with a clean and simple UI design. We replace Slack, Microsoft Teams, GDrive, Todoist, and Trello all together. Best of all, if you sign up now, you can get AirSend Pro free for one year!
Cons to AirSend
AirSend is still in its beta stages. Because AirSend is still in development, there will be consistent updates and added features to the product.
Discord is a great platform that enables all-in-one voice and text chat. Slack and Discord carry almost the same UI design, so if you are looking for a “busy” design, Discord may be a good option for you. Further, the selling point to Discord is that they give you full control over your server.
Pricing
Another benefit is that Discord is free.
There is also a Discord Nitro in which you get more customizations than you would with the free version.
Customizations can range from animated emojis, and creating a unique tag for your profile. Annually, Discord Nitro is $99.99. Monthly it is $9.99.
Finally, there is Discord Nitro Classic, which has everything the Nitro plan has, except for a Server Boost. Annually it is $49.99, and monthly it is $4.99.
Pricing aside, the great thing with Discord is that it does not carry the overwhelming functionalities of Slack.
Capture of Discord Nitro
Pros to Discord
Like AirSend, users with Discord can seamlessly switch between private and public channels. Discord also does not offer integration with apps you might use for work.
But if your team only uses text, voice, or video conferencing, you should be fine. Lastly, Discord is the only chat in this list that offers push-to-talk features, along with an instant invite link.
Cons to Discord
Discord is great for team communication. Additionally, with a busy UI design, you feel like you are doing more with less functionality. However, it is important to remember that Discord is specifically meant for gamers. So, the UI will be more complex than what the average business chat needs.
Lastly, like Slack, the noise-to-signal ratio is extremely high with Discord. Because of this, distractions can happen and important information can get buried among the chatter.
One of the biggest selling points to Microsoft Teams is the smooth integration of Office 365. This becomes useful if you depend on Office 365 for your daily tasks. Furthermore, Microsoft Teams is great for keeping all your team’s chats, meetings, files, and other apps together in one place.
Pricing
When it comes down to pricing, Microsoft Teams can be a little daunting. The free version of Teams allows chat and collaborations. However, under the free plan, there are partially included essentials, such as:
meetings and calls
productivity apps and services
security and compliance.
Limited storage: 2GB per user and a total of 10 GB is shared among your team.
There is also a $5 monthly plan that is not much different from the free version, except an increase in storage (1 TB per user). Finally, there is the $12.50 monthly plan. This plan includes everything.
Pros to Microsoft Teams
As said before the great thing with Teams is that it allows for smooth integration of Office 365. The UI is very similar to Slack and they even offer the same functions and capabilities.
Users have the capability to edit, delete, and pin messages. Users can also create a new thread and share files, provided it fits with the limited storage.
Cons to Microsoft Teams
There is plenty of room for Microsoft Teams to grow. After thorough research of use cases and reviews, there are many aspects where Microsoft Teams is still lacking. Some use cases have mentioned that setting up the app was not an easy task.
Additionally, users must set up a unique email for each user in their team. Microsoft Teams also does not support drag and drop functions.
Lastly, if you are wanting to look for a team chat platform with integrations, Slack would be the choice. But if integrations do not matter, and you use Office 365 daily, Microsoft Teams is the go-to choice.
Mattermost is a wonderful communication tool to have that is specifically designed for having a private cloud and an opened-sourced channel.
Like Slack, Mattermost targets large enterprises. However, unlike Slack, Mattermost implements self-hosting capabilities. With self-hosting capabilities, users can have greater control over privacy and security.
Pricing
Luckily, before fully committing to Mattermost, there is a 30-day free trial. With the E10 edition (basic) and a minimum of 10 users, the price is $39 per user. Annually making it $390.
There is also an E20 edition, which is an advanced enterprise edition that roughly charges $8.50 monthly.
Because the E20 edition is made for larger corporations, you must get a quote from Mattermost before continuing to pay. To see what each plan offers, click here.
Pros to Mattermost
Though MatterMost is more expensive than Slack, Mattermost offers premium control over privacy and security.
Additionally, you can run the messaging platform behind your organization’s firewall.
The way we see it, Mattermost is a great alternative to Slack if your organization is large enough to have or require self-hosted team messaging.
Cons to Mattermost
Now, with all the positives said, I am sure you are wondering why Mattermost is not above Microsoft Teams. Well, for the specific cons we are about to mention, Microsoft Teams has.
Mattermost lacks video and audio conferencing, and users cannot share screens. With Mattermost’s almost overwhelming design, the UX becomes difficult to maneuver. After researching some alternatives Mattermost had to these cons, we believe that aside from AirSend’s built-in wiki capability, Microsoft Teams would be the better choice.
With team chat software there should be an emphasis on various mediums of communications. These mediums should offer text, audio, and video, or a greater alternative should one of these mediums be absent.
The selling point: Hangouts Chat offers virtual rooms that can hold up to 8,000 people. Further, like Slack, users can create threaded conversations, and bots that can integrate with G Suite and other third-party platforms.
Hangouts Chat is much like Microsoft Teams in that Hangouts Chat is deeply integrated with the G Suite Package. The perks to this are being able to view files directly from Drive and Docs directly in conversations.
Pricing
Because Hangouts Chat and Meet are integrated with GSuite, you have to pay for the GSuite Plans.
The basic plan is $6 monthly, per user, with the main limitation of 30 GB to your Google Drive.
The next plan is Business, which is $12 monthly, per user and an unlimited Google Drive Space.
Finally, there is the Enterprise plan, which is $25 monthly, per user.
Pros to Hangouts Chat and Meet
Like Slack, Hangouts Chat offers dedicated space for group conversations. Unlike Slack, each room in Hangouts Chat is private by default. This means that you have control over who you can invite to your room.
There is also the smart reply feature like that of what you see in your Gmail. The biggest pro, however, is that Hangouts Chat is deeply integrated with GSuite.
There is also an app called Hangouts Meet. This app is made for video calls. The Hangout Meet offers a bot that integrates directly with your Google Calendar to schedule meetings for you.
Cons to Hangouts Chat and Meet
Though Hangouts Chat supports integrations, they do not support the same amount of integrations that Slack has. Several users fear that Google will shut down apps that are often used. Due to this fear, users lack the assurance or trust in Google.
Furthermore, there are no notification settings specific to rooms. Though Hangouts Chat and Meet do not offer all the integrations that Slack has to offer, Hangouts Chat is easier to use. Lastly, Hangouts Chat and Meet are two separate apps, so when trying to find an all-in-one workspace, Hangouts Chat and Meet may not be suitable.
If you have GSuite, Hangouts Chat and Meet are perfect to use.
The selling point for Riot.im is that they are an open-source, interoperable collaboration app. Don’t panic! There is nothing complicated about this. Matter of fact, this just means that Riot.im has the capability to build bridges with users who use other team chat apps. They are currently running on Web, iOS, and Android.
Pricing
IT’S FREE! Riot.im is currently free, with future plans to have paid, hosted accounts.
Pros to Riot.im
The major pro is that Riot.im can connect to other chat teams, such as Slack, Gitter, IRC, Twitter, and SMS. The other positive is that Riot.im gives you the option to host your own open-source servers
Cons to Riot.im
Riot.im lacks other tools needed to make a successful team chat software. While the feature of building bridges to other team chat software is certainly a game-changer, Riot.im lacks the ability to have integrated task management and built-in notes.
In terms of integrations and features, Slack has more to offer.
However, if you are looking for something simple and clean, then Riot.im is worth a shot.
Rocket.Chat is an open-source team chat software. With a similar Slack UI design, Rocket.Chat carries seamless conversations, along with a full range of customization. They also carry the similar function of making public and private channels.
Pricing
Rocket.Chat has umbrella pricing. What we mean by this is that they carry two major plans, and underneath those plans are the subscribed plans.
The first plan we will go over is the Self-Managed plan, in which you can host your own channels.
Self-Managed Plan
Community Version is Free
Pro Plan- $30, per user, annually; $3 per user, monthly
Enterprise Plan: Quote
The next major plan is the SaaS plan, which is a cloud offering hosted by Rocket.Chat
SaaS Plan
Bronze Plan: $20 per user, annually; $2 per user, monthly
Silver Plan: $40 per user, annually; $4 per user, monthly
Gold Plan: Quote
Each plan requires a minimum of 10 users
Pros to Rocket.Chat
One of the cool things with Rocket.Chat is that you can easily migrate and export files.
There is also real-time automatic translation, end-to-end encryption, LiveChat, and endless customization.
Cons to Rocket.Chat
Though having an open server is great, the maintenance to one is not that easy. Having your own open server means you also have to manage your own backups, security, and knowing how to fix things in case of failure. And if you’re not that tech-savvy, Rocket.Chat may not be a good fit for you.
But there is no need to worry! If Rocket.Chat is not a good tool for you, there is six other alternative team chat software that would certainly able to adhere to your needs.
Results
Our goal with AirSend is to do less with more. Our mission is to be the #1 team chat tool.
We want to deliver a team chat platform that allows you to take care of all your business needs in one place. A platform that delivers maximum productivity.
We use AirSend as our digital workspace for our marketing team. Even though AirSend is our product, we sincerely believe that AirSend can help your team too. Give us a try and let us know what you think!
AirSend is a versatile digital workspace to share files, send messages, and complete tasks. See how AirSend can help you.
Have conversations, share files, complete tasks, and get work done in one space.
