# Microsoft Teams (Chat) alternatives — Business Instant Messaging As of 21 Oct 2026, the panel rates [Element (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/element), [Mattermost (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/mattermost) and [Stackfield (3/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/stackfield) highest among the other 19 Business Instant Messaging products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European alternative is [Element](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/element) (UK / wider Europe). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: [how scores are made](https://whats-best.ai/methodology#ordering). - Canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/microsoft-teams-chat/alternatives - Microsoft Teams (Chat): https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/microsoft-teams-chat.md - Data as of: 2026-10-21 **AI-generated.** Ratings and verdicts are the opinion of a panel of AI judges, formed from public evidence against a published rubric — an analysis, not a hands-on test. Listed by panel rating (products the panel could not rate follow alphabetically); no placement is for sale. How lists are ordered: https://whats-best.ai/methodology#ordering ## European alternatives to Microsoft Teams (Chat) - [Element](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/element) · UK / wider Europe · panel rating 3.5/5 · data hosting: not stated on the vendor’s pages Element is a Matrix-based business messenger that scores highest on encryption and access and deployment control: end-to-end encryption is on by default over the NCC Group-audited Olm and Megolm protocols, and the free AGPL Community edition, official Helm charts, on-premise, private-cloud and air-gapped paths put custody with the customer. - [Stackfield](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/stackfield) · EU-Made · panel rating 3/5 · data hosting: not stated on the vendor’s pages Stackfield is a business instant messaging product strongest where it advertises: encryption and access scored 8 to 9, on client-side AES and RSA encryption, per-room passwords, admin-enforceable policy, a whitepaper, and statements that neither the vendor nor its subcontractors can read enabled rooms. - [Wire (Messaging)](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/wire-messaging) · EU-Made · panel rating 3/5 · data hosting: Default not stated; pages mention Germany and Ireland · free plan per the vendor’s page captured 2026-10-19 Wire is end-to-end encrypted business messaging built on the open MLS standard, and the scores are highest on the cryptography: encryption and access sits at 9-10, with encryption on by default for messages, files and calls, a vendor that states it has no access to encryption keys, and certificate-based device verification through ID Shield. - [Threema Work](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/threema-work) · EU-Made · panel rating 3/5 · data hosting: Default not stated; pages mention Switzerland Threema Work is a business messenger, strongest on encryption and access with scores of 9 across the bench: end-to-end encryption is the default for messages, calls, files, profile pictures, group names and member lists, backed by open-source clients, reproducible builds, Cure53 audits and a formal proof of the Ibex protocol. ## Other alternatives - [Mattermost](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/mattermost) · Rest of world · panel rating 3.5/5 Mattermost is a business instant-messaging platform whose bench scoring favors customer custody over vendor cloud. - [Rocket.Chat](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/rocket-chat) · Rest of world · panel rating 3/5 Rocket.Chat is an MIT-licensed, self-hostable messaging platform, and its scores reward exactly that: deployment control is strongest at 8-9, encryption and access follows at 7-8, while pricing transparency at 1-2 and sovereignty at 3-4 are weakest. - [Zulip](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/zulip) · Rest of world · panel rating 3/5 · free plan per the vendor’s page captured 2026-10-19 Zulip, a business instant-messaging platform from Kandra Labs, Inc., earns its best marks for deployment control, 8 to 9, and pricing transparency, an even 7: the codebase is 100% open source and auditable, self-hosting is offered, export and import tools move data between Zulip Cloud and customer servers, and both paid tiers — Standard at $6.67 /user/month billed annually or $8 billed monthly, Plus at $10 /user/month billed annually or $12 billed monthly — are public with limits stated per plan. - [Slack](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/slack) · Rest of world · panel rating 2.5/5 · free plan per the vendor’s page captured 2026-10-19 · [compare with Microsoft Teams (Chat)](https://whats-best.ai/compare/microsoft-teams-chat-vs-slack.md) Slack, a cloud-based business messaging service from Salesforce, Inc., scored strongest on governance and discovery and messaging core, with integrations at a flat 6. - [Zoho Cliq](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/zoho-cliq) · provenance unknown · panel rating 2/5 Zoho Cliq is a cloud business-messaging service from Zoho Corporation. - [Pumble](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/pumble) · provenance unknown · panel rating 1.5/5 · free plan per the vendor’s page captured 2026-10-19 Pumble is a cloud business chat workspace from CAKE.com Inc. - [Twist](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/twist) · provenance unknown · panel rating 1.5/5 Twist is Doist's hosted, thread-first team messaging product, and the bench's strongest evidence sits where the product pitches itself: threads organized inside channels, pinnable and movable between channels, archived channels that stay browsable and can be unarchived, an inbox, color-coded channel lists. - [Brosix](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/brosix) · provenance unknown · panel rating 1.5/5 Brosix, a hosted instant messaging service, scored highest on encryption and access, 4 to 6: AES-256 is stated for chat, voice, file and video, devices are verified, clients are signed, and the vendor states it never analyzes, scans or accesses stored data. - [Fleep](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/fleep) · provenance unknown · panel rating 1.5/5 Fleep is a business instant messaging cloud subscription from Fleep Technologies OÜ, an Estonian company, storing data on Amazon Web Services in the European Union. - [Flock](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/flock) · provenance unknown · panel rating 1.5/5 · free plan per the vendor’s page captured 2026-10-01 Flock is a cloud business-messaging tool. - [Speakap](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/speakap) · provenance unknown · panel rating 1.5/5 Speakap B.V. - [Symphony](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/symphony) · provenance unknown · panel rating 1.5/5 Symphony, a messaging, voice, directory and analytics vendor for global finance, drew converging scores with no substantive disagreement between judges: strongest on integrations and encryption and access, weakest on messaging core, deployment control, governance and discovery and sovereignty. - [Chanty](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/chanty) · provenance unknown · panel rating 1/5 · free plan per the vendor’s page captured 2026-10-13 Chanty is a cloud workspace for business chat where people and AI agents work side by side, and the bench's scoring divides between its access layer and its foundations. - [Beekeeper](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/beekeeper) · provenance unknown · panel rating 0.5/5 Beekeeper AG is a mobile-first business instant messaging product for frontline teams — no corporate email required — now part of LumApps. - [Siilo](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/siilo) · provenance unknown · panel rating 0.5/5 Siilo B.V., now called Doctolib Connect, is judged here as a free messenger for healthcare professionals plus a 'tailored solution' closed secure network for organisations, on a stated 10 M monthly messages from 1.2 M professional users and 225 K care organisations in Europe. Ratings are out of 5 (the panel's mean, half steps). --- Cite as: whats-best.ai, "Microsoft Teams (Chat) alternatives — Business Instant Messaging", AI panel analysis, as of 2026-10-21. https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/microsoft-teams-chat/alternatives