Mattermost vs Slack for Internal Communication

Last Updated on April 22, 2023 by Ewen Finser

When it comes to internal communication within a business, Mattermost vs Slack are two of the most popular team chat applications on the market. If you are looking for a messaging tool that is both powerful and easy to use, then you should consider Mattermost vs Slack. Both of these tools have a lot to offer, but they each have their own unique strengths.

They are both very popular tools, but which one is the best for your team? In this blog post, we will compare Mattermost vs Slack in-depth, so that you can decide which tool is right for you. We will discuss what each tool is, the top features of each tool, and a detailed comparison between the two.

Mattermost vs Slack – Bottom Line Up Front

Both Mattermost and Slack are great communications tools for keeping businesses on the same page. They both have a ton of features, but Slack has the edge in terms of integrations and overall popularity. Nonetheless, if you’re a developer looking for open-source software, Mattermost will probably be the better choice for you.

Mattermost vs Slack are both communication tools that allow teams to communicate with each other. They are both very popular tools, but which one is the best for your team? In this blog post, we will compare Mattermost vs Slack in-depth, so that you can decide which tool is right for you. We will discuss what each tool is, the top features of each tool, and a detailed comparison between the two.

The Main Differences Between Mattermost vs Slack

The main differences between Mattermost vs Slack are:

• Mattermost is open-source, whereas Slack is not
• Mattermost is highly development-focused and ideal for software engineers and those working in tech. whereas, Slack is suited for any type of business and doesn’t have specific features for developers.
• Slack offers video and voice calls as well as messaging, whereas Mattermost only offers messaging.
• Slack offers a much wider range of external integrations with other software tools than Mattermost.

What is Mattermost?

Mattermost is a communication tool that allows teams to communicate with each other. It is an open-source tool that can be self-hosted or hosted by Mattermost. It’s meant to be a company chat app that can also be used by individuals, and it mostly promotes itself as an open-source Slack alternative or Microsoft Teams substitute.

What is Slack?

Similarly, Slack is another communication tool that allows teams to communicate with each other. Slack is a closed source tool that markets itself as a chat app for the workplace, and it’s often used by small businesses, startups, and remote teams.

Who is Mattermost for?

Ideally for companies or groups of people who want to move away from TeamSpeak, Skype, and IRC. It has a great interface which makes it easy for team members to join conversations.

Who is Slack for?

Slack is best suited for small businesses and startups. The price tag may be off-putting for some individuals, but the features and integrations offered by Slack are hard to beat.

Mattermost Features

Channels

Create either open or closed channels for easy communication with just a few people, with your specific team, or with the entire company. Channels can help to keep conversations organized and relevant, thus boosting your team’s productivity.

Project Boards

If you prefer working in a Trello-style drag and drop board way, Mattermost also has the ability to create project boards where you can drag and drop messages, images, and files from one column to another. This is perfect for teams who want to visualize their work in a more organized way.

Playbooks

Playbooks are designed to help clients manage their digital operations in accordance with specific business processes and use cases. This is a great feature that can help clients easily store, organize and share their best practices.

File, link, and image sharing

Easily share files, links, and images with your team members in Mattermost. You can even preview files before you share them. This will make it simpler to quickly and easily communicate with your team.

Checklists

One of the more niche features of Mattermost is the internal checklists that it has built into the tool. This built-in checklist allows you to set a bunch of subtasks either for a project, board, or can be used for anything from project management to product testing.

Status update dashboard and broadcast

This feature allows you to easily update your status in the app and lets others know what you’re up to. You can also use it for broadcasting important messages with a direct message or notification.

Integrations with popular developer tools

Mattermost integrates with literally thousands of additional tools whether they’re developer tools like Jira or Github, webhooks to integrate certain messages or notifications into the platform, or even plugins that allow you to easily link other tools to the platform. You can also use custom apps to build lightweight ad-ons, or use their customizable API to build just about anything you need.

Searchable message history

One of the most important features for a communication tool is an easily searchable message history. Mattermost offers just that, so you can quickly and easily find past conversations and messages with ease.

Range of compliant environments

For those that need a high level of compliance, Mattermost is available in a range of different compliant environments. This includes SOC II Type I, FINRA, HIPAA compliance, and GDPR-friendly. It also has access and identity controls like 2-factor authentication, SSO, EMM, and more.

Slack Features

Channels

Similar to Mattermost, Slack has both open and closed channels for communication with different teams or groups of people. Additionally, it has a “public” channel which is great for broadcasting to your entire company.

Slack Connect

As well as merely working with people in your company, Slack Connect also allows you to liaise with people outside of your direct organization. This could be suppliers, vendors, customers, or just about anyone.

Video and voice calls

Slack also has a built-in video chat feature that lets you communicate via either group video call or direct message to any member of your team. This makes it easier than ever to stay in touch with your co-workers even when you’re working remotely.

Direct messaging

Like Mattermost, Slack also has direct messaging which is perfect for one-on-one conversations or quick messages to a group. This allows you to keep in contact with your team, or just individual members and quickly get questions answered.

File and image sharing

Easily share files and images with your team members in Slack. You can even preview files before you share them. This will make it simpler to quickly and easily communicate with your team.

Groups

Slack also has the ability to create groups which can be helpful for organizing conversations with certain teams or people. You can also invite other people to join these groups, making it simpler for them to communicate with you and your team.

Integrations with popular tools

Slack integrates with literally thousands of additional tools whether they’re productivity tools like Asana or general workflow tools like Google Drive, Slack can integrate with them. In fact, there are over 2000 integrations in total including Salesforce, Github, Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft Teams, and even Twitter.

Easily searchable messaging

Of course, with all these different channels and messaging features, you might be wondering how easy it is to look back and find a specific message. Well, the answer is very, because Slack has entirely searchable messaging.

This will make it much easier to find what you’re looking for, and also allow for your entire team to search messages in the same place. The tool also has a customizable API which allows you to really create the integrations you want.

Build workflows

Slack also has the ability to build workflows which can be helpful for automating certain tasks or processes. This could include anything from automatically posting tweets when a new blog post is published, to triggering an email notification when a specific keyword is mentioned in a chat. And all of this requires no knowledge of coding whatsoever.

Compliance and security features

Lastly, Slack is also well-known for its compliance and security features. These include things like a range of ISO certifications, SSO compliance, and even APEC Certifications. This makes Slack a great choice for organizations that need to adhere to specific compliance regulations.

Mattermost vs Slack: Ease of Use

So, now let’s talk about ease of use. This is one of the key areas where Slack really shines. Because it integrates with so many different tools, it can be easily tailored to fit your specific needs and workflows. In addition, the searchable messaging feature makes it easy to quickly find what you’re looking for even if it was sent a long time ago.

The advantages of Mattermost

When it comes to setting up Mattermost, the process is quick and easy. You can have it up and running in a few minutes, and there’s no need for any coding. Plus, the tool has a wide range of integrations available so you can easily connect to the tools that you’re already using.

The advantages of Slack

Slack is also quick and easy to set up – you simply need an email address and password to get started. Plus, the tool has a wide range of integrations available so you can easily connect to the tools that you’re already using.

Winner: Tie

When it comes to ease of use, these two tools are pretty close! In fact, we’ve decided that it’s a tie for this category.

Mattermost vs Slack: Customer Support

If something goes wrong with the platform you’re using, the customer support team will be the ones to bail you out of the situation. This is why it’s so important to have a customer support team that you can rely on and trust. So, how do Mattermost and Slack compare when it comes to support?

The advantages of Mattermost

With email support, a community chat center, helpful forums, and a library of useful help material, Mattermost is definitely a high contender in this category. a great choice if you need to get support quickly and easily. They also have a useful ‘Nominate a Feature’ section, where you can suggest improvements that you would like to see to the tool in the future.

The advantages of Slack

Slack also has a live chat widget, email support, and detailed help documents. However, they also offer video tutorials and ideas, and templates to get you started. This is a great way to learn more about the tool, and also make it easier for you to work out what features would be most useful for your specific needs.

Winner: Slack

Both of these tools are pretty close when it comes to customer support, but we’ve decided that Slack is the winner due to their extra help resources. This makes it easy to learn more about the tool, and also work out what features would be most useful for your specific needs.

Mattermost vs Slack: Pricing

Next, let’s talk pricing! This is another area where these two tools are pretty close – so it really comes down to what you need and how much you’re willing to pay.

The advantages of Mattermost

Mattermost offers a free plan with a range of channel and board features, playbooks, online and community support, and a choice of going self-hosted or using the secure cloud. However, with the free plan, you may have to pay separately for hosting.

They have one set of paid plans which starts at $10 per month, includes everything in the starter plan, and much more including SSO with Google, Office 365 integrations, and guest accounts. Their final tier is Enterprise, including everything in the previous two tiers, many more customized features, and a custom price tag to match.

The advantages of Slack

Slack also offers a free tier with a 10k message history, 5GB storage, and 10 integrations with other apps. It offers data encryption, video calling with your teammates, and two-factor authentication, as well as their standard support package.

The next tier is the Pro which offers everything on the free but unlimited message history, unlimited integrations, 10GB storage per team member, customized sections, huddles, audio and video clips, and screen sharing. They’ll also let you have external message communication, up to 15 participants on calls, and 24/7 support. The Pro tier is $5.25 per month.

Next, the Business tier bumps the price up to $9.75 per month. It offers everything on the Pro tier but throws in 20GB storage per team member, additional security features, and additional compliance features such as data exports on all messages. They also offer 24/7 support, but guarantee a 4 hour initial response time and provide an over 99% uptime guarantee.

The final tier is the Enterprise tier which includes all of Slack’s features for a customized price. You get 1TB of storage per team member, Enterprise key Management, a full range of compliance features including support for HIPAA, and their full administration’s package that includes domain claiming. You’ll also get priority support and a dedicated customer success team.

Winner

The final decision for this category goes to Slack, which offers more tiers and a more varied price range to suit different businesses. If you need more storage or want specific integrations, they’re likely to have a package that suits your needs. However, Mattermost is still a great choice if you don’t need all of the bells and whistles that Slack has to offer.

Mattermost vs Slack: Integrations

When it comes to integrations, both Mattermost and Slack have you covered. They both offer a range of integrations with other apps, as well as the ability to create your own integrations. This is an important feature if you want to be able to work seamlessly between different tools.

The advantages of Mattermost

Mattermost integrated directly with a number of apps, including Asana, Jira, Bitbucket, and GitHub. This makes it easy to keep track of your projects and tasks without having to switch between different tools. Mattermost also offers the ability to create your own integrations, so you can tailor it exactly to your needs.

Plus, if you’re a developer, then the fact that Mattermost is fully open-source will work wonders for you when it comes to customization. You’ll be able to customize the software and make it work exactly how you want, which can be great for teams that have very specific needs or requirements.

The advantages of Slack

Slack also offers a wide range of integrations, with over 1000 apps that you can connect to. This includes popular apps such as Google Drive, Salesforce, and Trello, as well as many others. Slack also offers the ability to create your own integrations, so you can tailor it exactly to your needs.

However, despite it not being open source like Mattermost, one of the key reasons that customers choose Slack is due to the wide range of integrations that it provides.

Winner

The winner of this category is Slack, which offers a wider range of integrations. This can be especially important if your business relies on having certain apps to run smoothly. However, Mattermost still offers plenty of handy integrations and amazing customization options through open-source software.

FAQs

Conclusion

Mattermost and Slack are both great tools for internal communication within businesses. They offer a number of features that make them ideal for companies that need to keep track of projects and tasks, as well as those that rely on specific apps to run smoothly.

However, there are some limitations to each tool, so it’s important to decide which one will work best for your business. The free versions of both tools are a great way to try before you buy, so be sure to test out both options before making a decision. We hope this guide has helped you compare Mattermost vs Slack and make the right choice for your business’s needs.