Free Slack Alternatives in 2026: Message and History Limits
Seven free team chat plans compared on message history, member caps, storage and the first paid step, checked on vendor pricing pages in October 2026.
Short answer: Pumble is the best free Slack alternative for limits, at $0 for unlimited users and unlimited message history, where Slack's free plan keeps messages searchable for 90 days. Zoho Cliq if you need 100 GB of shared storage, Zulip if 10,000 searchable messages is enough, and Chanty if the team has five people or fewer. Checked on each vendor's pricing page on 10 October 2026.
Slack's free plan is the baseline here, not a pick. It keeps messages searchable for 90 days, allows up to 10 apps and limits huddles to one-to-one calls. Every limit below is a free-plan limit, and the cheapest paid step sits next to it so the first upgrade is not a surprise.
Key facts7 tools compared: Pumble, Zoho Cliq, Flock, Zulip, Zoom, Chanty, Twist
- 7 tools compared: Pumble, Zoho Cliq, Flock, Zulip, Zoom, Chanty, Twist
- Zoho Cliq (best for: Small teams that store a lot of shared files and can live with capped search history): Free for 100 GB per organization and 10,000 searchable messages. Paid plans are billed per seat, 10% off annually.
- Flock (best for: Teams of up to 20 people that want unlimited messages and can accept limited search depth): Starter is free for 1-20 members: 10,000 searchable messages, 5 GB total per team. Pro is for 20-100 members.
- Zulip (best for: Teams that think in topics, and open-source or nonprofit groups that qualify for the free Standard plan): Free cloud plan: 10,000 messages of search history, 5 GB total. Standard $6.67 per user a month, billed annually.
Most teams that leave Slack do not leave for features. They leave when the free plan starts hiding messages they still need, or when headcount outgrows it.
Two limits decide most of this comparison: how far back search reaches, and how many people the free plan admits.
Toolradar data: of the 36 team chat tools we track, 81% offer a free, freemium or open-source option, as of October 2026, per our team chat ranking.
The seven tools below each sell chat with a free plan, and each limit comes from that vendor's own pricing page.
Pumble, Zoho Cliq, Flock, Zulip, Zoom, Chanty and Twist each have a Toolradar profile.
Microsoft Teams is compared with Slack on our Slack vs Microsoft Teams page.
How we ranked: for a team of ten, on the history the free plan keeps first, then the seats it allows, then storage.
We did not test any of these apps. Every price and limit is the vendor's own, read on the date shown.
Top Picks
Based on features, real-world fit, and value for money.
The only free plan here that states no cap on both users and message history, and the upgrade adds group meetings and more apps.
Free for unlimited users and message history, 10 GB per workspace. Pro $2.49 per seat a month, billed annually.
Teams that need old messages searchable and a headcount that can grow without a bill.
The largest free storage pool in this list at 100 GB per organization, but search stops at a message cap.
Free for 100 GB per organization and 10,000 searchable messages. Paid plans are billed per seat, 10% off annually.
Small teams that store a lot of shared files and can live with capped search history.
Free for teams of up to 20, with unlimited messages, but search has a cap and 5 GB is shared by the whole team.
Starter is free for 1-20 members: 10,000 searchable messages, 5 GB total per team. Pro is for 20-100 members.
Teams of up to 20 people that want unlimited messages and can accept limited search depth.
| Tool | Pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Pumble | Free for unlimited users and message history, 10 GB per workspace. Pro $2.49 per seat a month, billed annually. | Teams that need old messages searchable and a headcount that can grow without a bill. |
| Zoho Cliq | Free for 100 GB per organization and 10,000 searchable messages. Paid plans are billed per seat, 10% off annually. | Small teams that store a lot of shared files and can live with capped search history. |
| Flock | Starter is free for 1-20 members: 10,000 searchable messages, 5 GB total per team. Pro is for 20-100 members. | Teams of up to 20 people that want unlimited messages and can accept limited search depth. |
| Zulip | Free cloud plan: 10,000 messages of search history, 5 GB total. Standard $6.67 per user a month, billed annually. | Teams that think in topics, and open-source or nonprofit groups that qualify for the free Standard plan. |
| Zoom | Basic is free: 40-minute group meetings, 100 participants. Pro $14.16 per user a month, billed annually. | Teams that mainly need calls, and already run their meetings in Zoom. |
| Chanty | Free for 5 members, unlimited searchable history, 20 GB per team. Business 3 euros per user a month, billed yearly. | Teams of five or fewer that want full message history without paying anything. |
| Twist | Free plan: 0 euros per user, one month of comments and messages visible, 5 GB storage, up to 500 internal members. | Async teams that reply in threads and rarely search past last month. |
Pricing read from each vendor's own pricing page, checked Oct 2026. Every vendor here publishes a price.
Pumble
The only free plan here that states no cap on both users and message history, and the upgrade adds group meetings and more apps.
- Pricing
- Free for unlimited users and message history, 10 GB per workspace. Pro $2.49 per seat a month, billed annually.
Best for: Teams that need old messages searchable and a headcount that can grow without a bill.
Pros
- Unlimited users and unlimited message history on the free plan, both stated on the pricing page
- 10 GB of storage per workspace on Free, enough for a small team's documents
- Native Clockify and Plaky integrations do not count against the 3-app limit
Cons
- Group voice and video meetings start on the Pro plan, which is priced per seat and billed annually
- Free allows 3 apps and integrations, against 10 on Pro
Zoho Cliq
The largest free storage pool in this list at 100 GB per organization, but search stops at a message cap.
- Pricing
- Free for 100 GB per organization and 10,000 searchable messages. Paid plans are billed per seat, 10% off annually.
Best for: Small teams that store a lot of shared files and can live with capped search history.
Pros
- 100 GB of file storage per organization on Free, the largest pool in this list
- Up to 10 extensions per organization on the free plan
- Group conversations of up to 100 participants on the free plan
Cons
- Searchable history stops at that message cap, so an older thread on a busy channel can drop out of search
- Paid plans save 10% when billed annually, and this table quotes no dollar figure for them
Flock
Free for teams of up to 20, with unlimited messages, but search has a cap and 5 GB is shared by the whole team.
- Pricing
- Starter is free for 1-20 members: 10,000 searchable messages, 5 GB total per team. Pro is for 20-100 members.
Best for: Teams of up to 20 people that want unlimited messages and can accept limited search depth.
Pros
- Unlimited one-to-one and group messages on the Starter plan
- One-to-one video calls included on Starter
- Up to 10 public channels on the free plan
Cons
- Starter stops at 20 members, so a team that grows past that moves to Pro
- Starter has a single team admin, so admin work sits with one person
Zulip
A cloud plan with a 5 GB total cap, a free self-hosted edition, and a free Standard plan for many eligible groups.
- Pricing
- Free cloud plan: 10,000 messages of search history, 5 GB total. Standard $6.67 per user a month, billed annually.
Best for: Teams that think in topics, and open-source or nonprofit groups that qualify for the free Standard plan.
Pros
- Topics keep each discussion in its own thread, which suits long-running work
- Many organizations qualify for a free Standard plan, which lifts the search cap and adds 5 GB per user
- The self-hosted edition is free and includes all Zulip features
Cons
- The free cloud plan's search and storage caps apply to the whole organization, not to each member
- Self-hosted mobile notifications stop at 10 users unless the community qualifies for unlimited notifications
Zoom
Free group calls in 40-minute blocks, with no chat history limit listed on its pricing page.
- Pricing
- Basic is free: 40-minute group meetings, 100 participants. Pro $14.16 per user a month, billed annually.
Best for: Teams that mainly need calls, and already run their meetings in Zoom.
Pros
- 100 participants per meeting on the free Basic plan, enough for a whole small company
- No chat history limit is listed on the Basic plan's pricing page
- Its next paid step is quoted per user in USD, so a team can multiply it by headcount
Cons
- Group meetings end at 40 minutes on the free plan
- The next step is $14.16 per user a month billed annually, a much bigger jump than Pumble's Pro plan
Chanty
Full searchable history and 20 GB of files on the free plan, with a hard stop at five team members.
- Pricing
- Free for 5 members, unlimited searchable history, 20 GB per team. Business 3 euros per user a month, billed yearly.
Best for: Teams of five or fewer that want full message history without paying anything.
Pros
- Unlimited searchable history on the free plan, with no 90-day window
- 20 GB of file storage per team, more than Pumble's 10 GB or Zulip's 5 GB
- The paid Business plan is priced per user, so the step-up cost scales with headcount
Cons
- The free plan stops at 5 team members, so a sixth person forces a paid plan
- Paid plans are listed in euros on Chanty's pricing page, so the first upgrade is quoted in euros
Twist
A free plan with threaded replies and room for 500 internal members, but only one month of messages stays visible.
- Pricing
- Free plan: 0 euros per user, one month of comments and messages visible, 5 GB storage, up to 500 internal members.
Best for: Async teams that reply in threads and rarely search past last month.
Pros
- Up to 500 internal member accounts on Free, far above Chanty's five and Flock's 20
- Threads keep a long discussion in one place, which suits async work
- Twist says it does not delete free-plan data, so older messages return on upgrade
Cons
- Only one month of comments and messages can be viewed or searched on Free
- The Unlimited plan is 6 euros per user a month, priced in euros on the page
What it is
A Slack alternative is a team chat app with channels, direct messages, search and file sharing.
The free tier is a reduced version of the paid product, and three limits decide whether a team can run on it: how far back search reaches, how many people the plan admits, and how much file space the whole workspace gets.
Calls, integrations and admin controls matter too.
They rarely decide the first purchase, though, because a team that cannot find last quarter's decision in chat will feel the history limit long before it misses a call feature.
Why it matters
The history window is the limit people hit first, because it hides the reasoning behind a decision. Slack's free plan keeps messages searchable for 90 days, and our Slack vs Microsoft Teams comparison shows what the paid tier changes.
Pumble and Chanty set no time limit on searchable history. Zulip, Zoho Cliq and Flock cap search at 10,000 messages instead, a ceiling a busy team can reach.
The second limit is headcount. Chanty stops at five people, Flock's Starter plan at 20, and Twist's free plan admits up to 500 internal members.
Our best team chat apps guide covers the paid seat math. This page covers the step before it, when the bill is still zero.
Key features to look for
Pricing
Every price and limit was read on the vendor's own pricing page on 10 October 2026: Slack pricing, Pumble pricing, Zulip plans, Zoom pricing, Flock pricing, Chanty pricing, Twist pricing and Zoho Cliq pricing.
Dollar figures are in USD. Chanty and Twist show their paid plans in euros by default, so those figures stay in euros and are not converted. Flock's Pro price and Zoho Cliq's paid dollar figures are left out of this table.
The cost gap shows at ten seats on annual billing.
Ten seats on Pumble Pro at $2.49 per seat cost $298.80 a year. The same ten seats on Zulip Cloud Standard at $6.67 per user cost $800.40 a year. Monthly billing costs more on both: $2.99 on Pumble Pro and $8 on Zulip Standard.
| Plan | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Slack Free (baseline) | Free | 90 days of searchable messages, up to 10 apps, one-to-one huddles only |
| Pumble Free | Free | Unlimited users and message history, 10 GB per workspace, up to 3 apps, one-to-one calls |
| Pumble Pro | $2.49 per seat a month, billed annually | Group meetings, screen sharing and up to 10 apps; $2.99 billed monthly |
| Zoho Cliq Free | Free | 10,000 searchable messages, 100 GB per organization, 100 participants per group conversation, 10 extensions |
| Flock Starter | Free | 1-20 members, unlimited messages, 10,000 searchable messages, 5 GB total per team |
| Flock Pro | Check current pricing | 20-100 members, unlimited searchable messages, 10 GB per team member |
| Zulip Cloud Free | Free | 10,000 messages of search history and 5 GB total storage for the organization |
| Zulip Cloud Standard | $6.67 per user a month, billed annually | Unlimited search history and 5 GB per user; $8 billed monthly |
| Zulip self-hosted | Free | All Zulip features; mobile notifications for up to 10 users for most organizations |
| Zoom Basic | Free | 40-minute group meetings and 100 participants per meeting |
| Zoom Pro | $14.16 per user a month, billed annually | The paid tier above Basic, priced per user in USD |
| Chanty Free | Free | Up to 5 team members, unlimited searchable history, 20 GB per team |
| Chanty Business | 3 euros per user a month, billed annually | Paid plan priced in euros; 4 euros billed monthly |
| Twist Free | 0 euros per user | One month of comments and messages, 5 integrations, 5 GB storage, up to 500 internal members |
| Twist Unlimited | 6 euros per user a month | Full history of comments and messages, unlimited integrations, storage and members |
The bottom line
Take Pumble if history and headcount matter most, since its free plan has no cap on either. Take Zoho Cliq for storage, with 100 GB per organization on Free, and Zulip if your group qualifies for its free Standard plan.
Chanty fits five people or fewer, and Twist suits async teams that rarely search past a month.
Zoom is the call-first pick on its free Basic plan, but test its search before you move a team's history onto it.
A team that stays on Slack should read best Slack integrations.
For the file side of the same decision, see best free cloud storage, and Google Workspace versus Microsoft 365 explains chat bundled into a paid suite.
Teams that need a paid seat should read best team chat apps, and video conferencing pricing compared prices the call side.
Tool pages: Pumble, Zulip, Chanty.
Cite this: Techpresso, "Free Slack Alternatives in 2026: Message and History Limits", October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free Slack alternative in 2026?
How long does Slack's free plan keep messages?
Is there a free Slack alternative with no user limit?
What does the cheapest paid step cost?
Can Zoom replace Slack for free?
What happens to old messages on Twist's free plan?
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