Effective communication is key to any team’s success—whether you're all in the same office or working from different locations. The right communication software helps your team stay connected and get work done more easily.
With more teams working remotely or in hybrid setups, it’s important to have a tool that keeps everyone on the same page. These tools do more than just send messages—they let you make video calls, share files, chat in real time, and manage tasks all in one place.
But with so many options available, how do you pick the right one? In this guide, I’ve picked out the best team communication software for different needs. Whether you need something to keep your remote team connected or a tool to improve communication in your office, you’ll find the right fit. Let’s dive in!
What to look for in team communication software
As the team collaboration software market continues to grow, more tools are emerging, making it harder for businesses to choose the right one. Here’s a checklist of key features to consider when selecting the best tool for your team.
Real-time messaging: Direct messaging is crucial for instant communication, ensuring quick decision-making and problem-solving within the team.
Group communication: Group setups streamline collaboration, allowing teams to share files and updates efficiently with multiple colleagues at once.
Voice and video calls: High-quality calls strengthen team bonds and foster more effective collaboration, especially for remote teams.
Instant notifications: Timely notifications keep everyone informed and enable rapid responses to important messages or activities.
File sharing and storage: Easy file sharing and organized storage improve access to essential documents, enhancing team productivity.
Cross-platform access: Access across web, desktop, and mobile ensures flexibility, so your team can communicate and collaborate from anywhere.
User-friendly interface: An intuitive design minimizes the learning curve, enabling team members to quickly navigate and use the software effectively.
Team communication software at a glance
Lark - Best all-in-one communication tool
Slack - Best software for chats and integrations
ClickUp - Best for customization and flexibility
Google Chat - Best for Google Workspace users
Microsoft Teams - Best for Microsoft 365 users
Zoom Workspace - Best for video conferencing
ProofHub - Best for discussing designs and visual materials
Chanty - Best for simple team communication
Flock - Best cheap team communication app
Mattermost - Best self-hosted open source chat tool
Discord - Best for social interactions
11 best team communication software in 2025
1. Lark: Best all-in-one communication tool
Lark is a comprehensive solution designed to improve collaboration. It combines all the features a business needs into one app, allowing you to chat, hold video meetings, create documents, share files, manage projects, and automate workflows. Essentially, Lark can replace several apps your team might be using, making it a "super app".
Key features of Lark
Lark Messenger goes beyond basic instant messaging. You can translate messages, @mention colleagues, add custom bots, and more. Send images, recordings, and even schedule messages to be sent at the right time for your colleagues in different time zones.
Create groups for your team to streamline conversations. With threaded replies, all discussions stay organized, and new members can easily catch up on past conversations.
Lark Meetings supports video and audio conferences for up to 1,000 participants. You can share files, record meetings, and even translate video captions in real time.
Lark's all-in-one platform enhances productivity by centralizing team communication, project management, document creation, file sharing, approval setup, and more. In addition, Lark works across all platforms.
Lark gives businesses access to 11 built-in products as part of its free plan, allowing small businesses to enjoy the software without incurring costs.
Limitations of Lark
You may need to visit Lark's YouTube channel and the Lark Help Center to master all the features.
Pricing
Free forever plan available. Paid plans start at $12/month per user.
2. Slack: Best software for chats and integrations
Source: pcmag.com
Slack is a popular employee communication app that excels in instant messaging, making it a favorite among both small teams and large organizations. It streamlines communication, collaboration, and organization, serving as an effective platform for daily conversations and project-related discussions.
Key features of Slack
Communicate in group channels or privately through direct messages.
Connect with various third-party apps and tools, such as Google Drive, Canva, and more.
Easily share files, documents, images, and other media types through Slack.
Limitations of Slack
Slack's free plan has limited storage. While you can purchase pro and business plans, these can be expensive for small businesses.
Some teams might feel overwhelmed by Slack's notification system, which can generate numerous alerts for different events and activities.
Pricing
Free plan available. Paid plans start at $8.75/month per user.
3. ClickUp: Best for customization and flexibility
Source: clickup.com
ClickUp is a versatile communication tool that aims to bring together various work processes in one place. This agile project management solution offers an array of features, including task management, project planning, communication, and document sharing, making it ideal for teams looking to streamline their workflows.
Key features of ClickUp
ClickUp offers flexible work views that allow you to manage your tasks in a way that suits your preferences. Choose from various options, including a straightforward list, a visual layout, or a timeline view.
Leave comments, assign tasks, share files, and tag team members to keep everyone informed and engaged in the workflow.
Create personalized dashboards that showcase essential metrics, project summaries, and task progress.
Limitations of ClickUp
The platform offers a wide range of features, which can be daunting for new users and lead to a significant learning curve.
Compared to alternatives, there are fewer chat features which may lead to communication costs.
Pricing
Free plan available. Paid plans start at $7/month per user.
4. Google Chat: Best for Google Workspace users
Source: m.io/blog/google-chat
Google Chat is ideal for teams that require direct communication and real-time video conferencing. It allows users to send audio and video files and create "spaces" for discussions centered on teams, topics, or projects. Its seamless integration with Gmail, Google Drive, and other Google Workspace products makes it a strong choice for businesses looking to enhance their communication within the Google ecosystem.
Key features of Google Chat
Works seamlessly with Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, and other Google products.
You can use Google Chat with your Google Workspace plan.
Easily find information across chat history.
Utilize Google Assistant to summarize discussions.
Limitations of Google Chat
Lacks some advanced features, such as the ability to copy links to specific messages.
As part of Google Workspace, it may lack sufficient storage space on lower-tier plans.
Pricing
No free plan available. Paid plans start at $6/month per user.
5. Microsoft Teams: Best for Microsoft users
Source: ntiva.com
As part of the Microsoft 365 suite, Microsoft Teams combines chat, calls, video conferencing, and file sharing into a single platform, integrating seamlessly with apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Many businesses rely on Microsoft Teams for virtual meetings, helping to keep hybrid and remote teams connected.
Key features of Microsoft Teams
Works effortlessly with Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, and OneDrive, facilitating easy access to documents.
Offers a wide variety of meeting features such as screen sharing, breakout rooms, live captions, and real-time reactions.
You can translate content into more than 100 languages.
Limitations of Microsoft Teams
Compared to other team collaboration tools, Microsoft Teams offers limited options for customization. Users face restrictions in visually branding or personalizing their Teams interface.
The free version of Teams comes with limited features. To access the full range of features, you need to subscribe to Microsoft 365, which can be a major investment.
Pricing
Free plan available. Paid plans start at $4/month per user.
6. Zoom Workplace: Best for video conferencing
Source: appsmanager.in
Zoom, widely recognized for its video conferencing capabilities, has launched Zoom Workplace, a team communication app that combines various collaboration and communication tools in one platform. One key feature is Team Chat, which lets you message contacts, groups, or channels.
Key features of Zoom Workplace
High-quality video and audio for virtual online meetings, webinars, and video conferences.
Zoom Workplace's AI helps you by summarizing your meetings and chat threads. It can also organize your recordings into sections called smart chapters, highlight key takeaways, and identify next steps.
You can find important messages with filter and sorting functionality, allowing you to narrow down the chat view by unread messages, mentions, and more.
Limitations of Zoom Workplace
As Zoom Workplace launched in April 2024, it is still missing some of the key features of an all-in-one platform.
As a new platform, there isn't a large amount of customer feedback on how well Zoom Workplace performs.
Pricing
Free plan available. Paid plans start at $13.32/month per user.
7. ProofHub: Best for discussing designs and visual materials
Source: proofhub.com
ProofHub is a project management and communication app that enables teams to organize and track project statuses. Its standout feature is the suite of tools designed for discussing visual materials, making it ideal for projects involving design, advertising, or other visuals.
Key features of ProofHub
With its built-in chat and discussion features, team members can communicate easily and stay on the same page.
The platform offers detailed reports that give you an overview of your projects. With these reports, you can see how much time your team spends on tasks.
You can create, assign, and track tasks with clear deadlines and priorities.
Limitations of ProofHub
Offers fewer integrations with third-party tools.
ProofHub does not offer a free plan for businesses.
Pricing
No free plan. Paid plans start at a flat fee of $45/month.
8. Chanty: Best for simple team communication
Source: appsumo.com
Chanty is a business communication tool designed to boost productivity by streamlining communication. It simplifies video conferencing and audio calls, making them easy to use. With an intuitive interface, Chanty minimizes frustration and enhances user experience. Teams can effortlessly share screens, exchange documents, and collaborate on tasks.
Key features of Chanty
Chanty is praised for its simple design and user-friendly interface, making it ideal for businesses going digital.
All users enjoy unlimited message history.
Compared to competitors such as Slack, the cost to start using Chanty is low if you're a small business.
Limitations of Chanty
On the free version of Chanty, you can only have up to 5 team members and only 20 GB of storage for the whole team.
While the number of integrations continues to grow, there are still limited options.
Pricing
Free version available. Paid plans start at $3/month per user.
9. Flock: Best cheap team communication app
Source: www.flock.com
Flock is an employee chat app that helps teams organize their conversations and work together. You can create separate channels for important topics or specific projects to keep discussions focused.
Key features of Flock
Affordable pricing if you own a small business.
User-friendly interface with intuitive navigation.
Integrates with popular apps like Google Drive and Trello.
Limitations of Flock
Limited customization for workspace branding.
Lack of advanced features compared to competitors.
Pricing
Free version available. Paid plans start at $4.50/month per user.
10. Mattermost: Best self-hosted open source chat tool
Source: btw.so
Mattermost is an open-source communication platform that offers exceptional flexibility and control, making it ideal for organizations that need a secure, self-hosted messaging solution. With Mattermost, businesses can fully customize their communication environment while maintaining full control over data privacy and compliance.
Key features of Mattermost
Mattermost gives you full control over your messaging environment, allowing you to host the platform on your own servers for enhanced security and privacy.
Ensures that your team's communications are protected with robust security features, including Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for added protection.
Offers extensive customization options, from branding to integration with third-party tools, allowing you to adapt the platform to your team’s unique needs.
Limitations of Mattermost
As a self-hosted platform, Mattermost requires technical expertise for installation, customization, and maintenance, which may be challenging for non-technical teams.
In high-volume chat rooms, managing and retrieving older messages can be difficult, especially if proper indexing or search settings are not configured.
Pricing
Free version available. Paid plans are available upon request.
11. Discord - Best for social interactions
Source: security-banks.com
Discord started as a chat platform for gamers, but now some consider it a business communication software. It has an easy-to-use interface and lets teams create dedicated spaces for collaboration with text and voice channels.
Key features of Discord
Create dedicated voice channels for seamless, real-time conversations.
You can deliver updates to customers through announcement channels, including to external communities.
You can integrate various applications to help improve your workflow.
Limitations of Discord
A high volume of messages can make it challenging to reflect on message history effectively.
Discord is designed mainly as a social platform and may not fully meet your organization's communication needs.
Pricing
Free plan available. Paid plans start at $9.85/month per user.
Best team communication apps according to users
Trusted review platforms can help you narrow down the options. Based on ratings from G2, Capterra, Apple App Store, Google Play Store, we’ve identified the top choice from each to guide your decision.
Top choice for Apple users: Lark
Lark shines on the Apple App Store, with a stellar 4.9/5 rating. This all-in-one collaboration platform stands out for its seamless integration of messaging, video calls, file sharing, and task management. Lark’s simplicity and performance make it an essential tool for remote teams and large organizations alike.
Top choice for Android users: Microsoft Teams
On the Google Play Store, Microsoft Teams leads with a 4.6/5 rating. Its integration with Microsoft Office tools, along with its comprehensive communication and collaboration features, makes it the ideal choice for businesses looking for an all-in-one solution for messaging, video meetings, and file sharing
Top choice on G2: ClickUp
On G2, ClickUp boasts an impressive 4.7/5 rating. Users love that it combines messaging, task management, and project tracking into one platform. Teams appreciate its intuitive design and extensive customization options.
Top choice on Capterra: Slack
Slack takes the lead on Capterra with a 4.7/5 rating. Known for its flexibility and robust integration capabilities, Slack excels at streamlining communication through channels, direct messages, and third-party app integrations.
Frequently asked questions
How does team communication software help with remote teams?
Team communication software is crucial for remote teams as it creates a central space where team members can chat, share files, and work together in real time. With features like instant messaging, video calls, and file sharing, these apps help remote teams stay connected and collaborate effectively, no matter where they are located.
Which is the best free communication software for teams?
While many tools offer free plans, they do not allow more than 1 user, making them only ideal for personal use and not teams wanting to try out features. For businesses wanting a free plan that multiple employees can use, we recommend Chanty, for up to 5 users or Lark, for up to 20 users.
Conclusion
The right team communication software should simplify and streamline conversations, making collaboration, information sharing, and project tracking effortless. Whether your team operates across different time zones or works side by side in the same office, the ideal software creates a seamless hub for collaboration, productivity, and innovation.
Based on user reviews and its all-in-one capabilities, we recommend Lark as a top team communication tool for 2025. With features that integrate messaging, video calls, file sharing, and task management, Lark stands out as a powerful solution for teams seeking a unified platform to enhance collaboration and drive productivity.
