A high-functioning team must have top-notch team communication apps. But let’s be real!
While not every app out there has everything you want, you may still end up with a bunch of advanced features you don’t even need.
So, what’s the deal? Ideally, you should find the one that does exactly what you want without any confusing extras.
When it comes to remote work, Slack and Zoom excel at making it efficient and enjoyable. Slack lets you chat and share files, keeping conversations organized across various channels. The Zoom app, on the other hand, is all about crystal-clear video conferencing. Both tools power collaboration; they make you feel like you’re in the same room, even if you’re miles apart.
Each collaboration platform has its own advantages. But getting both for your team could be taxing on your wallet. The right choice lies in the details and key differences. We’ll break down what each does best and help you decide which one better suits your team’s needs.
Slack vs Zoom: Choosing the Best Communication Tool for Your Team
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat is Slack?
Slack is a cloud-based platform that manages collaborative communication. It provides a centralized space for teams to collaborate, share documents, and organize workflows efficiently.
With features like real-time messaging, file sharing, team chat, and customizable channels, Slack focuses on unifying your communications on one platform. Important updates or discussions don’t get lost in piles of emails.
Slack features
Here are some of its key features, perfect for collaborative teams.
1. Messaging and file sharing
You can easily share documents, discuss projects, and get instant feedback on Slack. Suppose you upload a presentation on Slack for your team to review. Right away, everyone can discuss it and give feedback as they look at it, which can help you make edits in real time.
This is helpful during crucial project milestones, like finalizing proposals or refining marketing strategies. It saves you from dealing with many different file versions and emails flying back and forth. Everything stays organized and easy to find in one place.
2. Voice and video calling
Have you ever had a situation where your team needed to talk face-to-face but commuting wasn’t an option? Slack’s calling features are built for such occasions. Start a quick check-in huddle or a full-on video meeting in a snap. There’s no need to fuss with other apps or long email threads!
This functionality is particularly helpful during brainstorming sessions, progress updates, or client presentations. It’s also a lifesaver for teams spread out across the globe, working remotely or collaborating from different places. Get instant feedback or just boost team spirit, without any hassle.
3. Slack Connect
Want to communicate with people outside your organization? With Slack Connect, you can talk to external partners, clients, or vendors in shared channels. Invite external stakeholders to join shared channels, and say goodbye to messy email threads and juggling different platforms.
Slack Connect is particularly beneficial for project management, client servicing, or vendor relationships, where quick communication is key. It helps everyone see what’s going on, work better as a team, and make decisions faster, even if they’re from different organizations.
Slack pricing
- Free Version
- Standard: $8.75/month per user
- Plus: $15/month per user
- Enterprise Grid: Custom pricing
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat is Zoom?
Zoom is a video conferencing tool that enables people to connect with each other via video meetings. Its intuitive UI allows users to use it for work calls, join classes remotely, or catch up with dispersed colleagues and/or family members and friends.
You can join video group calls with 100 people concurrently from anywhere. Share your screen, message anyone instantly, and even swap virtual backgrounds to make calls interesting.
Zoom features
Here are some of the key features of Zoom:
1. Zoom Phone and Zoom Team Chat
Want quick input from a colleague? Shoot a message in the Zoom Team Chat or use Zoom Phone!
Zoom also lets you enable waiting rooms to manage meeting participants in upcoming meetings. This feature is particularly useful for spontaneous brainstorming sessions, clarifying doubts, or seeking timely feedback.
The best part? With the Zoom AI Companion, you can create chat responses with your preferred tone and length based on your prompts. Whether providing quick answers to FAQs or maintaining consistent communication standards, this feature helps you work faster and sound more professional, especially when you need to reply quickly and make sure each response feels personal.
2. Marketplace
Zoom’s Marketplace offers integrations. You can schedule Zoom meetings via Calendly, share files from Google Drive directly in Zoom, and whatnot! It doesn’t matter if you work alone, with a small team, or for a big company. With all these different tools available for integration, keep using your favorite workflows, even as you add more tools to your setup.
3. Whiteboard
Zoom Whiteboard lets you brainstorm ideas visually. So you can easily collaborate on a project and sketch out plans in real time. For instance, if you’re leading a virtual meeting with your team, you can easily write down ideas, draw diagrams, and plan project steps, just as you would in a real meeting room.
This tool is great for brainstorming sessions, planning meetings, or reviewing designs, as it gets everyone involved actively and helps generate ideas. It’s perfect for remote teams, distributed collaborations, and virtual workshops, where sharing ideas visually is important.
Zoom pricing
- Free Version
- Pro: $14.99/month per user
- Business: $21.99/month per user
- Business Plus: Contact for pricing
Summarize this article for me pleaseSlack Vs. Zoom: Features Compared
Regardless of where you work from and what your team looks like, Zoom and Slack keep you connected and productive.
Here’s a quick comparison table to understand their key differences.
| Feature | Slack | Zoom |
| Chat | Yes | Yes |
| File sharing | Yes | Yes |
| Audio and video collaboration | Yes | Yes |
| Integration capabilities | Yes | Yes |
| AI functionality | Yes | Yes |
| Whiteboard | No | Yes |
| Workflow Builder | Yes | No |
| Screen recording | Yes | Yes |
| Meeting personalization | No | Yes |
| Note-taking | Yes | Yes |
| Security features | Yes | Yes |
Slack is like your virtual office, where you can chat with colleagues async or in real time and share files smoothly. Zoom is your go-to tool for face-to-face chats and video meetings with handy features like Zoom team chat and Zoom Phone. Both simplify teamwork and collaboration—Slack with its customizable channels and Zoom with its Whiteboards.
Now, let’s compare Slack and Zoom in depth to determine what works best for you.
1. Chat features
Slack
As one of the best online meeting tools, Slack allows group chats on specific topics or teams via “channels,” whether it’s sales pitches, company updates, or customer support
- Freely exchange messages, tools, and files within Slack chat channels
- Channels are of two types: public, open to all in the entire company, or private, accessible by invitation only
- You can also connect with external partners through Slack Connect. So you have instant access to agencies, clients, and vendors right from your Workspace
The benefits? It eliminates information silos and ensures everyone has access to all relevant information at all times. Team communication becomes easier. And when new folks join meetings, they’re in the loop from the get-go. Plus, with old chats saved, you can always dig up past discussions for insights.
Zoom
The Zoom Team Chat feature helps you communicate when you don’t need voice or video.
- It integrates with the same app used for virtual meetings
- You can find Zoom Team Chat on both mobile and desktop
- Like Slack, Zoom Team Chat also allows public or private channels. But not more than 10000 members
- Want video-sharing features? No problem, you can send more than just videos. Send messages with audio, even GIFs, or any other file type on Zoom Team Chat
- “Favorite” or pin messages, organize personal files and set reminders
- You can also set reminders, archive chats, and even edit or delete messages after sending them on Zoom Team Chat
Final verdict
Zoom and Slack both have great team chat features. But Slack offers some extra perks, like Slack Connect and no user limits, unlike Zoom. 🙌
2. Audio and video collaboration
Slack
Huddles and Clips are Slack’s go-to for audio communication and video conferencing. Here’s how Huddles help:
- Huddles let your team chat or connect with folks outside. Just get into a Slack channel or send a direct message to collaborate on video conferences
- Anyone in the channel or DM can jump in or go out video conferencing whenever they want
- Share your screen, doodle on it, and even post live captions during video conferencing. It’s perfect for impromptu office catch-ups, brainstorming sessions, or just hanging out
Now, let’s talk Clips. Here’s what it offers:
- Make quick audio and video whenever you need to share an update. You can also record screens
- No need to rush or schedule a meeting; just record and share whenever it suits you. Be it showing off your latest project, walking through a demo, or giving how-to tips
- Check out these clips whenever it works best for you. Transcripts of all the clips make it super easy to search through and find what you need
- Want to speed things up, slow them down, or just read along with the captions? Do it effortlessly with Clips
Zoom
On the other hand, here’s what Zoom meeting offers:
- Bring top-notch HD audio and video to the table
- Host up to 1000 users, with 49 of them right on your screen
- Collaborate with built-in tools. Screen sharing and even doodling together in real time is possible
- Use engagement tools like creative filters, reaction emojis, and even polls and hand-raising
- Recall past moments with meeting recordings and searchable transcripts
- Schedule meetings directly with links to Outlook, Gmail, or iCalendar
There’s more! With Zoom Whiteboards, you can brainstorm collaboratively in real time during your Zoom meetings. Zoom Events lets you set up everything from registrations to branding and easily manage tickets. With Zoom Spaces, customize your Workspace and even get smart kiosks.
Final verdict
Zoom is more suited for serious, buttoned-up video calls. It covers every formal situation you can think of. But Slack is more relaxed.
Plus, Zoom users get way more video options than Slack users. 👀
3. Integrations
Both Slack and Zoom simplify your workflows with tons of integrated apps.
Slack
Slack integrates with your favorite tools, so you don’t miss out on anything. You can get some of the best Slack integrations, such as meeting tools like Cisco Webex and MS Teams or CRM tools like Salesforce, Zoho, and HubSpot. It even integrates with Zoom!
Zoom
Zoom doesn’t hold back, either. With just a few clicks, you can integrate Zoom with your go-to apps, such as Google Workspace, MS Teams, or Zapier.
Final verdict
You’ll be able to work comfortably with your favorite apps with both Slack and Zoom. 🛠️
Summarize this article for me pleaseSlack vs Zoom on Reddit
We scoured Reddit to see what folks think about Slack vs Zoom.
Many people feel Zoom’s got a better bunch of advanced features.
Other Reddit users say that Slack’s got the upper hand with its mentions feature:
A Reddit user specifically compared the threads features of both platforms:
No one tool is objectively better than the other—it’s all a question of the way you want to work.
Summarize this article for me pleaseMeet ClickUp—the Best Alternative to Slack vs Zoom
If collaboration is what you’re after, let’s introduce you to a tool that combines the best of Slack and Zoom: ClickUp! From team chat to built-in collaboration and screen-recording tools, ClickUp has everything you need to achieve great things with your team.
Suppose you’re working on a group project, but everyone’s in different locations. Use ClickUp’s Chat to text task updates to your team. With ClickUp’s Whiteboards, draw or jot down ideas together, like on a physical board, without needing to be in the same room. 🤩
ClickUp is like a virtual meeting room where everyone can share their thoughts. So, if you’re looking for Slack alternatives or Zoom alternatives for chatting or brainstorming, ClickUp keeps things simple and helps your team work better together.
1. ClickUp Chat view
With ClickUp’s Chat view, eliminate the hassle of using many different tools for team messaging. You can:
- Chat with your team, share updates, and even link resources right within tasks
- Tag anyone with @mentions and assign comments to tasks
- Throw in webpages, videos, and whatever else you need right into the conversation Note that ClickUp offers Clips, a free screen recorder with no watermarks
- And guess what? You don’t need to sweat the details; everything’s neatly grouped for easy access
- Amp up your messages with code blocks, lists, and banners when you want to make your point crystal clear
- Save time with /Slash Command shortcuts for formatting
- Customize your Chat view to fit your needs and easily keep tabs on different projects or teams
- Control who sees what, and stay in the loop with Notifications without worrying about privacy
- Your data on ClickUp is safe with advanced security measures like AES-256 data encryption and multi-factor authentication
2. ClickUp’s live collaboration detection
ClickUp’s collaboration detection feature allows collaboration in real time! You’ll know right away if your colleague is checking out a task or dropping a comment. Plus, you can see who’s tinkering with a task’s description as it happens.
No more waiting around for updates; you’ll get instant feedback on status changes, new comments, and anything else happening with the task.
3. ClickUp Whiteboards
With ClickUp’s Whiteboards, turn your ideas into real plans without breaking a sweat. Even if your team’s scattered, you’re still in sync!
You can add notes and sketch ideas in one spot. You can also quickly turn ideas into tasks. Connect the dots by linking tasks, files, and Docs to give your work some serious context.
Need more flair? Add sticky notes, images, or web links. The best part? You don’t need to be an expert or an artist to make it work; the tools are easy to use. Just drag and drop elements to watch your ideas come to life!
4. ClickUp Integrations
ClickUp hooks you up with over 1000 tools for free! Think GitHub, GitLab, Google Calendar, Webhooks, HubSpot, Everhour, Harvest, Google Drive, Dropbox, Outlook, Microsoft Applications like MS Teams, Microsoft 365, and Outlook, and dozens more third-party apps.
And guess what? ClickUp integrates smoothly with Slack and Zoom too!
If you’ve been using other collaboration tools like Asana, Trello, Jira, or Basecamp previously, no worries! ClickUp allows a smooth transition; just a few clicks, and you’re set. 🙌
5. ClickUp’s Communication Plan Template
Imagine the chaos of a project where everyone’s scrambling for the latest info. ClickUp’s Communication Plan Template eliminates that. It’s your central hub for keeping everyone on the same page.
Use the template to:
- Outline your project’s purpose, target audience, and desired outcomes. This sets the North Star for the entire team
- Assign clear ownership for tasks and communication channels. No more finger-pointing or confusion about who’s responsible for what
- Identify the best communication method for each audience—weekly team meetings, Slack channels for quick updates, or designated knowledge base documents
- Maintain transparency with progress tracking and reporting
Summarize this article for me pleaseClickUp: The Solution to the Slack Vs Zoom Debate
The choice between Slack and Zoom boils down to what you need. If you want seamless team communication with features like document sharing, real-time messaging, and channel organization, Slack might be your go-to. But if your focus is on virtual meetings, webinars, and video conferencing, Zoom could be what you’re looking for.
Whether you prefer collaboration via Slack or virtual meetings via Zoom, ClickUp offers the best of both, offering awesome features to improve productivity and keep communication top-notch.
Jump on board and sign up for ClickUp to get your hands on awesome collaboration features for free! 🤩
Questions? Comments? Visit our Help Center for support.