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Best Team Chat & Video Tools in 2026: Keep Paying, Switch or Build Custom?

Keep paying. Chat and video are plumbing everyone outside your company uses too. Pay them, and cut unused seats.

Keep paying

Team Chat & Video Tools

Microsoft logo
Slack logo
Loom logo
From $9per user, a month

Median of 5 companies · teams pay $2,220 a year (HissingKitty, 18 teams, 3 companies)

Compare all 7

Switch

AI-Native Alternatives

Jitsi logo
Tella logo
Livid logo
From $22per user, a month

Median list price · 2 tools · 3 flat or free plans left out

See 15 tools

Build your own

Custom Team Chat & Video Tool

FactoryJet logo
Rand Group logo
$35k–$150kto build

Typical quote · 1 builder

See 2 builders

Every number shows how many teams it comes from. Run your own numbers

7
companies tracked
15
AI-native alternatives
2
builders
18
bills shared
Keep or build?
Keep payingBuild part of itBuild it

Editor's view until 10 teams answer

List Price per User, per Month

Published prices from each company's own pricing page · 5 incumbents · 2 AI-native tools

Team Chat & Video ToolsAI-native

Starting plan to top plan where both are published. Flat account prices, free plans and custom quotes are left out. What teams actually pay a year is shown separately below.

What Teams Pay for Team Chat & Video Tools

Median yearly price by company

What teams pay, shared anonymously. Count beside each company.

What Teams Saved by Leaving

Yearly savings, as each team reported it

No savings reported yet. Build these for clients? Be the first builder listed.

List your company

Why Teams Leave Team Chat & Video Tools

Reasons named in 23 reviews, posts and answers

Top AI-Native Alternatives

Ready-made tools, ranked by visitor votes.

  1. 1
    Jitsi logo
    JitsiRun open-source video meetings with screen sharing and optional self-hosting.1votes
  2. 2
    Tella logo
    TellaScreen recording with AI editing for demos and walkthroughs.From $13/user/mo1votes
  3. 3
    Livid logo
    LividLivid makes switching from Vimeo easy with one-click import of your videos.0votes
  4. 4
    Nextcloud Hub logo
    Nextcloud HubA Microsoft 365 Alternative Without the Tenant.0votes
  5. 5
    Coworker logo
    CoworkerCoworker is a context layer for enterprise AI: it connects 50+ work tools, builds a permission-aware company graph (OM2) and runs agents that act across them.0votes

Made one or build them? List it here

How Replaceable Is Each One?

Every company in team chat & video tools, with what teams pay and how many alternatives are listed. Ranked by how much teams have shared. Methodology

Should You Build a Custom Team Chat?

Building your own Team Chat makes sense when you use a small part of a big tool and pay for the rest. The build time and costs above come only from teams that reported a build. Check your own case before you decide.

Run the Build vs. Buy checkWhat counts as custom software

Latest Activity

Updates live

What Teams Could Rebuild

  • Channels and messages
  • Video calls
  • Shared docs

Who Should Not Build

  • Everyone outside your company uses the same tools
  • You need calls, mobile apps and uptime on day one

Editor's view. Plan who will handle maintenance before replacing a tool.

Team Chat & Video Tools: Questions Buyers Ask

Answered from the data on this page. Answers update as teams share more.

How much do team chat & video tools cost?

18 teams shared what they pay for team chat & video tools. The median is $2,220 a year, and the middle half pay $960 to $8,950. By company: Microsoft $5,300 (8 teams), Slack $1,224 (6 teams), Loom $2,220 (4 teams).

What are the best AI-native alternatives to Slack, Zoom and Google Workspace?

15 AI-native tools are listed, ranked by visitor votes: Jitsi, Tella (From $13/user/mo), Livid and Nextcloud Hub.

Can I hire someone to build a custom team chat & video tool?

Yes. 2 custom build companies are listed: FactoryJet and Rand Group ($35k–$150k). Ask each one who supports the system after launch.

How long does it take to build your own?

No team has reported a build time for a custom team chat & video tool yet. A first version usually covers channels and messages, video calls and shared docs.

Which team chat & video tools do teams rate highest?

From approved reviews: Google Workspace 4.0 out of 5 (1 review), Slack 3.0 out of 5 (2 reviews), Loom 3.0 out of 5 (1 review).

What should stay rented?

Chat and video are plumbing everyone outside your company uses too. Pay them, and cut unused seats.

When should you not build your own?

Everyone outside your company uses the same tools. You need calls, mobile apps and uptime on day one.

Where do these numbers come from?

Anonymous pricing, approved reviews, public posts and listings from the teams and builders themselves. Every number shows how many it comes from, and nothing is estimated. See the methodology page for details.

Paying Too Much? Hiss.

Thirty seconds, anonymous. Every rating and price helps the next buyer decide whether to keep paying.

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