Communication Tools in 2026, Compared by Price

We track 15 communication tools. The list below is ordered by what it costs to start, cheapest first. Tools that cannot be put on that scale — usage-based pricing, a free tier, or a price we could not verify — come last, and each one says which case it is. The cheapest verified entry point is Microsoft Teams at $6/user/mo.

No vendor has paid for a position on this page. Price is not quality: the cheapest tool here is not the best one for your team, it is only the cheapest. We do not publish a quality score because we do not have one we can stand behind. How we score tools.

1. 1
   Microsoft Teams

   Corporate collaboration.

   From $6/user/mo

2. 2
   Slack

   Digital headquarters for teams.

   From $7/user/mo

3. 3
   HEY Email

   Rethink your email.

   From $8/user/mo

4. 4
   Loom

   Async video messages.

   From $12/user/mo

5. 5
   Zoom

   Video calls.

   From $14/user/mo

6. 6
   Aircall

   Cloud call centre for sales and support.

   Pricing not verified

7. 7
   Dialpad

   AI-powered business phone and meetings.

   Pricing not verified

8. 8
   Discord

   Community hub.

   Free tier available

9. 9
   Google Meet

   Video meetings from Google Workspace.

   Free tier available

10. 10
    Mattermost

    Self-hostable team messaging.

    Free tier available

11. 11
    RingCentral

    Business phone, message and video.

    Pricing not verified

12. 12
    Rocket.Chat

    Open-source team chat you can host yourself.

    Free tier available

13. 13
    Twist

    Threaded, asynchronous team messaging.

    Free tier available

14. 14
    Whereby

    Browser-based video meetings.

    Free tier available

15. 15
    Zoom Phone

    Cloud phone system from Zoom.

    Pricing not verified