← all SaaS comparisons

Microsoft Teams vs Slack

Self-host either: open-source alternatives compared. · Category: team chat & community

Both Microsoft Teams and Slack are in the team chat & community category. 2 open-source projects (Mattermost, Rocket.Chat) self-host as a replacement for both — listed below alongside the picks unique to each.

Microsoft TeamsSlack
CategoryTeam chat + video meetingsTeam chat
SaaS pricing anchorTeams Essentials $4/user/mo; bundled in M365 Business Basic at $6/user/mo$8.75/user/mo on Pro; message history capped on free tier
Self-host options listed33

Replaces both — 2 shared open-source picks

These open-source projects appear on both /microsoft-teams/ and /slack/ — picking one solves the migration off either SaaS.

Mattermostmattermost/mattermostalivereplaces both

GitHub
★ 36.7k · last commit today
License
AGPL-3.0
Setup time
20min docker-compose (Go server + Postgres)
Monthly cost
$10/mo VPS for a 50-user team; Postgres is the heaviest piece.

Rocket.ChatRocketChat/Rocket.Chatalivereplaces both

GitHub
★ 45.3k · last commit today
License
MIT
Setup time
20min docker-compose (Node + MongoDB)
Monthly cost
$10/mo VPS; MongoDB needs RAM and growing index space.

Picks unique to each

Microsoft Teams only

  • AGPL-3.01h docker-compose (Synapse + Postgres + Element web client + TURN server for calls)$15-30/mo VPS; TURN bandwidth dominates if calls are heavy.

Slack only

  • Zulipalive
    Apache-2.030-60min (their installer script on Ubuntu 22.04)$10 VPS minimum (their installer wants 2GB+ RAM).

In a terminal? npx os-alt microsoft-teams or npx os-alt slack prints either side — how the CLI works →

FAQ

Which open-source self-host alternatives replace both Microsoft Teams and Slack?

2 open-source projects appear on both /microsoft-teams/ and /slack/: Mattermost, Rocket.Chat.

How many self-host alternatives are listed for Microsoft Teams and Slack?

3 for Microsoft Teams, 3 for Slack.

Are all the self-host alternatives free?

Yes — every listed option is open source. Your cost is the VPS or hardware that runs it.