Best

Best Chat App for Work When Your Team Is Not at a Desk

A desk team and a shift team do not open the same chat. These are our overall ratings for the work chats on this site. Your quiz result can put them in a different order.

  1. 1
    Top Ranked Choice
    9.5/10
    Our score

    Work messaging with company-owned history and in-chat tasks.

    • Strong on tasks, sites, working hours.
    • Strong on time to first message.
  2. 2
    8.6/10
    Our score

    Channel-based collaboration with a large app ecosystem.

    • Strong on integrations & platform.
    • Strong on admin & IT scale.
  3. 3
    8.1/10
    Our score

    Chat bundled into Microsoft 365 for IT-led companies.

    • Strong on admin & IT scale.
    • Strong on company-owned data.
  4. 4
    6.4/10
    Our score

    Personal messaging already installed on most phones.

    • Familiar to almost everyone.
    • Personal accounts mean the company does not own the chat history.

Start with who has to open it

Slack fits a company that will live in channels and a browser. Microsoft Teams fits a company already on Microsoft 365, if the people doing the work will sign in. WhatsApp fits a crew that will not install anything else, and the company often does not own the history. A company-owned chat is the option when the phone matters and the record has to stay.

Then grade this company

The cards are overall ratings, not a ranking for every restaurant, shop, or site. Headcount, phones, and how people already talk move the winner.

Also