Slack is channel-based team chat: persistent rooms, direct messages, and huddles for a company or team, searchable across all of it.
It owns team chat, not scheduling or email. It competes with email for where a team's day-to-day conversation lives, and bundles basic video huddles without trying to replace a dedicated video tool.
This is a team tool, not a solo one; the value comes from colleagues sharing a workspace. The free plan works for a small team starting out, but anything relying on searchable history needs Pro.
As of the 2025 pricing change, AI is no longer a separate paid add-on. Basic conversation summaries and huddle notes now ship on every plan, including Free, but natural-language workspace search and daily recaps stay behind Business+ ($18/user/month, $15 annual). Free caps message history at 90 days and limits you to 10 app integrations; Pro is $8.75/user/month monthly, $7.25 annual.
