Slack alternative

Why go with Rocket.Chat vs Slack?

While Slack is a good collaboration tool, it wasn’t purpose-built for security-conscious organizations. Switch to Rocket.Chat to get data privacy and control in every conversation along with enterprise-grade customization options.
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12M+ users in over 150 countries trust Rocket.Chat

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Admins love Rocket.Chat and the employees rave about it!

First, we’d like to give a quick nod to the team at Slack. Undeniably, they’ve also built a great product that people love to use.

So why do companies choose [.c-red]Rocket.Chat over Slack?[.c-red]

In short, because if you handle sensitive business or customer data, Slack either becomes very expensive or can't adhere to your security and compliance requirements at all. Rocket.Chat customers believe compromised data protection is a disqualifying factor. These tend to be organizations in highly regulated industries such as healthcare, government, public sector, financial services,  education, etc.

Here are the 6 reasons why companies choose Rocket.Chat over Slack

Numerous deployment options that Slack can’t offer

Slack is a SaaS-only solution. For companies that focus on data privacy, security, and ownership, that’s just not an option. On-prem, self-managed or air-gapped deployment, the choice is yours with Rocket.Chat.
1

Get more flexibility and control in every conversation

Unlike Slack, you can actually see what’s going on under the hood. This means additional security assurances, unlimited customizations, and the ability to see and contribute to the roadmap. If you are looking for an open source alternative to Slack, Rocket.Chat is built for you!
2

Decentralized and federated communications

Slack lets you message people in other companies, such as vendors, partners and suppliers - as long as they are also using Slack. Using Federation, Rocket.Chat lets you connect across platforms - so you don’t ever have to ask: Are you on Slack?
3

Security-centric features available with every plan

E2E encryption, chat history, HIPAA-ready software, role-based access - All the things you need if you care about the privacy and security of your data come with a high barrier to entry with Slack (or don’t exist at all).
4

Unlimited conversation history for everyone

No matter which Rocket.Chat plan you have, everyone gets access to the full conversation history, no matter when they joined a certain channel. With Slack, on the other hand, you don’t always get access to crucial conversations that happened in the past. 
5

Cost-effective alternative to Slack

Rocket.Chat is not only more affordable, but organizations that have deployed it have reported over 33% in cloud savings while experiencing faster and more secure communication.
6

Ready to try Slack alternative?

Learn why security-conscious organizations choose Rocket.Chat
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Still not convinced? No problem.

Here’s an in-depth feature comparison of Rocket.Chat vs Slack

Rocket.Chat

Slack

Open Source

MIT License

Full access to source code, server APIs, libraries, and influence on the roadmap 

Hosting

SaaS

On-prem

Team collaboration and productivity

Teams and channels

Discussions

Voice, video, and screen sharing

File, image, and link sharing

Unlimited message history in every plan

White labeling

Unlimited customizations

Data Sovereignty

No third party monitoring

Verifiable data retention policies in every plan

Full access to source code, server APIs, libraries, and influence on the roadmap

Post incidents reports

Privacy

ISO 27001 (external audit)

End-to-end encryption

Core access control policies

Advanced access control policies

Data loss prevention (DLP)

ID-only push notifications

Omnichannel features

Manual & Auto Chat Routing

Queue Management

Agent office hours configuration

Facebook,  Whatsapp, Twitter Integrations

SMS & CRM Integration

Email Inbox

Analytics and Real-time monitoring dashboards

Chat tagging and forwarding

Support

SLA high availability

24/7 live support

Onboarding call

On-Call Upgrade Assistance

Apps

Native apps for iOS, Android, Windows, Mac and Linux

Here’s what customers who picked Rocket.Chat have to say.

Stefan Teubner
IT Project Leader, Audi Business Innovation GmbH
Mike Schwartz
CEO & Founder at Gluu

“Slack wasn’t a real alternative for us at that time, because it was SaaS. ”

“For data privacy concerns, we needed something that we could host ourselves. Rocket.Chat really speeds up the process of collaborating with our external partners, as well as internally. It allows us to share information really fast, very effectively, and in different ways.”
Stefan Teubner
IT Project Leader, Audi Business Innovation GmbH

“A huge differentiator to win more business…”

“Thanks to Rocket.Chat, we figured out how to deliver and win customers without sending engineers on site. The Omnichannel Feature enables us to provide enterprise-level support, a huge differentiator to win more business.”
Mike Schwartz
CEO & Founder at Gluu
Rocket.Chat
Element
Mattermost
Slack
Microsoft Teams
Skype for Business

Why privacy-conscious companies choose Rocket.Chat

Digital sovereignty
180+ advanced role-based permissions
Private network deployment (cloud, on-prem, or air-gapped)
Interoperability - Federation capabilities built on Matrix
Omnichannel citizen engagement (SMS, email, WhatApp, and other)
MIT Open Source license (all editions)
BITV 2.0 Compliance

Connect with our sales team.

Our pre-sales and sales teams are happy to assess your needs and answer any questions about Rocket.Chat.
  • See a custom demo of Rocket.Chat
  • Get pricing information
  • Switch to Enterprise Edition
  • Assess your business goals and technology requirements
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