# Stackfield — Business Instant Messaging Stackfield by Stackfield GmbH holds a panel rating of 3/5 from 6 AI judges (category median 2/5), as of 2026-10-20. Provenance: EU-Made; sovereignty: not determined. - Vendor: Stackfield GmbH (https://www.stackfield.com) - Category: [Business Instant Messaging](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging.md) - Provenance (editorial classification): EU-Made - Canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/stackfield - Alternatives: https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/stackfield/alternatives ([markdown](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/stackfield/alternatives.md)) - Data as of: 2026-10-21 · evaluated 2026-10-20 · oldest source captured 2026-09-21 **AI-generated.** Every score, rationale and verdict here is written by a panel of AI judges from public evidence — an analysis, not a hands-on test. Every fact quotes the vendor page it was read from. No score can be bought. How scores are made: https://whats-best.ai/methodology ## At a glance - Vendor: Stackfield GmbH - Headquarters: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 19 Oct 2026 - Data hosting: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 19 Oct 2026 - Free plan: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 19 Oct 2026 - Starting price: “STARTER € 9 per User and Month (when paid yearly)” (vendor’s words) [S2] ## The panel's verdict 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. Governance and discovery is weakest at 4 to 5: automated deletion rules are announced for the third quarter of 2026 from Premium onwards rather than shipped, room export saves as PDF, the global export sits in the Enterprise tier, and the judges found no public information on legal hold. Messaging core splits from 4 to 6, and the reasoning is visible: one judge counted the separate discussions and comments as threaded discussion while others found no evidence of threading inside the chat, and no public information covers search filters or message edit history. Deployment control reaches 6 to 7 on a genuine on-premise edition requiring no internet, sovereignty 7 to 8 on German hosting and EU-based subcontractor statements, pricing transparency uniform at 7, tiers €9 to €28 per user and month when paid yearly. **Speaks for it:** - End-to-end encryption is first-class and admin-enforceable, with the vendor stating that neither it nor its subcontractors can read enabled rooms. - A genuine on-premise edition runs without internet on the organisation's own network, with a vendor-run migration project that carries the data from the cloud. - All four cloud tiers carry public per-user prices — Starter at €9, Business at €14, Premium at €18, Enterprise at €28 per user and month when paid yearly — quoted net and exclusive of VAT, with a stated 17 percent yearly saving. - Stackfield GmbH of Munich is the named contracting entity, hosting sits in ISO-certified German data centers, and ISO 27001, 27017, 27018 and BSI C5 certificates are downloadable. - The API is documented down to error codes, incoming webhooks can be secured with JWT, and the Microsoft Teams integration can be disabled organisation-wide by admins. **Held against it:** - Governance and discovery scored 4 to 5, with automated deletion rules announced for the third quarter of 2026 from Premium onwards rather than shipped today. - Room export saves as PDF, the organisation-wide global export sits in the Enterprise tier, and we found no public information on legal hold. - Messaging core scored 4 to 6, with no public information on threading inside chats, search filters by person or date, or message edit history. - We found no public information on device verification, admin-revocable sessions, a published list naming the subprocessors, storage limits or a minimum contract term. - The captured pages give different statements on processing location — one states exclusively EU servers including telemetry, another names the EU plus countries the EU classifies as safe — and on-premise licensing shows only a 100-license minimum with no public price. **Best for:** - You need end-to-end encryption your administrators can enforce per room, backed by a vendor that states it holds no room keys. - Your organisation must run chat on its own servers, with an on-premise edition that requires no internet connection and a documented migration from the cloud. - You are a German or EU buyer weighing a Munich-registered contracting entity, German data centers and downloadable ISO and BSI C5 certificates. - You need to price the cloud up front, with four public tiers from €9 to €28 per user and month when paid yearly. **Avoid if:** - You need automated retention today — deletion rules are dated for the third quarter of 2026 and available from the Premium package onwards. - Your compliance workflow depends on structured conversation export — room export saves as PDF and the global export sits in the Enterprise tier. - You need encrypted content exportable by default — exporting end-to-end encrypted data is blocked unless an administrator explicitly allows it. - You need self-hosting below 100 licenses — the on-premise edition carries a minimum order of 100 licenses with no public price. ## Scores by judge and criterion Scores out of 5, each judge scoring independently against the published rubric (v1). "n/r" = not rated: the vendor publishes no price. | Criterion | The Team Lead | The Security Officer | The Works Council Advocate | The Compliance Counsel | The Platform Engineer | The Skeptic | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Channels, threads & search | 3/5 | 3/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 2/5 | | Encryption & access control | 4.5/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4.5/5 | | Retention, discovery & co-determination | 2/5 | 2.5/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2.5/5 | | Deployment & data custody | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3/5 | 3.5/5 | | Integrations & extensibility | 3/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | | European sovereignty | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | | Pricing transparency | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | | **Weighted verdict** | **3/5** | **3.5/5** | **3/5** | **3/5** | **3/5** | **3.5/5** | ### The judges - **The Team Lead** (v1.0): Runs a distributed team and needs the tool people actually open. Wants threads that stay readable, search that finds last spring's decision, and channels that can be tidied without losing history. Unmoved by feature lists that do not survive a busy Tuesday. - **The Security Officer** (v1.0): Assumes the archive will one day be read by someone it was not meant for. Wants end-to-end encryption that ordinary users survive, device verification, sessions an admin can revoke, and a plain statement of what the vendor cannot decrypt. - **The Works Council Advocate** (v1.0): Knows that a chat log is a record of who spoke to whom at what hour. Wants presence a person controls, no individual activity scoring anywhere, retention that deletes rather than hides, and analytics that can be switched off across the organisation. - **The Compliance Counsel** (v1.0): Will one day have to produce this archive, edits and deletions included, to a regulator or a court. Wants legal hold, an export a lawyer can work from, retention per channel, and an audit trail that survives the admin who made the change. - **The Platform Engineer** (v1.0): Would rather run it than rent it, and wants to know whether that is a supported deployment or a hobby build. Cares about open protocols, federation, a plugin system with real permissions, and an upgrade path that does not orphan the customisations. - **The Skeptic** (v1.0): Reads for the message-history cap, the tier where SSO appears, and what "unlimited" excludes. Has seen "end-to-end encrypted" mean direct messages only, on request, with search disabled — and wants that sentence found rather than assumed. ## European sovereignty — proven facts Built only from facts on the vendor's own pages; a dimension we could not prove is left open, never scored as zero. Headline: not determined. | Dimension | Finding | Points | Source | |---|---|---|---| | Legal entity | Not determined | — | — | | Ownership | Not determined | — | — | | Data residency | Not determined | — | — | | Subprocessors | Not determined | — | — | ## Key facts Each fact is the vendor's own statement, cited to the source page it was read from ([S*n*] → Sources). **Compliance** - Banner certifications: yes · Germany · yes [S14] - BSI C5 attestation: BSI C5 attestation held [S5] - Certificate download: yes [S5] - Certifications: yes · yes [S2] - Certifications: yes · yes · yes [S2] - Certifications: yes · yes [S6] - Certifications: yes · yes [S9] - Certifications: ISO 27001 · BSI C5 [S10] - Certifications badge: yes · yes · yes [S12] - DPA: yes [S8] - DPA available: GDPR data processing agreement can be concluded in a few clicks [S5] - End to end encryption: yes [S6] - GDPR: Meets the highest requirements of the GDPR [S8] - GDPR conform: yes [S1] - ISMS certifications: yes · ISO 27001 · ISO 27017 · ISO 27018 [S12] - ISO 27001 BSI C5: yes · yes [S1] - ISO 27001 C5: ISO 27001 · BSI C5 [S15] - ISO 27001 certified: yes · yes [S5] - ISO 27001 scope: Stackfield GmbH [S5] - Iso27017 certified: yes [S5] - Iso27018 certified: yes [S5] - ISO 27001: yes [S3] - ISO 27001 BSI C5: yes · yes · yes [S13] - ISO datacenters: yes [S1] - Ready dora nis2 cra: yes · yes · yes · yes [S5] - Rights system: Fine-grained permissions at global and room level; GDPR compliance stated [S6] - US transfer dpf: yes [S4] **Data** - Cookies third party: no [S4] - Deletion rules: Q3/2026 · Premium package onwards · yes [S8] - Newsletter optout: yes [S4] - Org data export admin: yes [S5] - Organization export: administrators [S8] - Personal data export: yes [S5] - Personal export: yes [S8] - Retention tax: 10 [S4] - Retention transaction registration: 10 [S4] - Tracking: no [S8] **Hosting** - Banner: yes · Germany · yes [S2] - Cloud location: ISO 27001-certified data centers · Germany [S12] - EU only data processing: Germany · yes · yes [S5] - EU subcontractors only: yes · yes [S5] - Germany: Germany [S6] - Germany made hosted: Germany [S1] - Germany made hosted: yes [S5] - Made hosted in germany: yes [S3] - Made hosted in germany: yes · yes [S9] - Made hosted in germany: Germany [S10] - Made in: Germany [S8] - Origin: Germany [S2] - Private cloud custody: private cloud on customer's own servers · no [S13] - Region: EU only · Germany [S8] - Residency: EU and countries classified as safe or appropriate by the EU [S4] - Server location germany: Deutschland [S1] - Subcontractors: No AWS, Google Cloud or Azure · EU-based only [S8] - Trust claim: 2012 · 10000 [S1] **Integrations** - Admin disable: yes [S15] - All modules: yes [S15] - API overview: API for data exchange, task read/edit, automation via incoming webhooks [S14] - Communication deactivation: organization-wide · direct messages · telephony [S15] - Error codes documented: English only · yes [S14] - Hosting germany: Germany [S15] - Jwt authentication: Authorization Bearer header · yes · yes [S14] - Module deactivation effect: yes · yes [S15] - Ms teams available: Microsoft Teams · yes [S15] - Ms teams default activation: yes · Admin [S15] - Ms teams functions: Module search · Filters and views · Recent activities · Create new content · Up-/download files · Module templates [S15] - Rights synchronization: yes [S15] - Support email: support@stackfield.com [S15] - URL based any module: Integration works via module URLs and can be used in other tools besides MS Teams [S15] - URL roles: Admin · Member · Guest · External · Manually shared [S15] - User provisioning API: yes [S5] - User provisioning API: yes [S8] - User roles: Admin · Member · Guest · External [S14] - Webhook content types: chat message · discussion · task · read task · update task · filter tasks · page · file · appointment · settings · user to organization · user from organization · deactivate user · create room · archive room · user to room · user from room [S14] - Webhooks incoming: JSON · yes [S14] - Zapier ifttt guide: Zapier · IFTTT · yes [S14] **Legal** - Commercial register: Local Court of Munich · HRB 199536 [S3] - Controller: Stackfield GmbH · Maximiliansplatz 17, 80333 München · Cristian Mudure [S4] - Dsa contact: dsa@stackfield.com · German · English [S3] - Entity: Stackfield GmbH · Maximiliansplatz 17, 80333 München, Germany [S3] - German jurisdiction: Germany/EU only · yes [S5] - Jurisdiction: Germany and EU only [S8] - Lei code: 391200CSVHE5S7T2EK78 [S3] - VAT id: DE283871998 [S3] **Pricing** - AI addon: 3.9 [S2] - AI addon features: Text reformulation, grammar check, translations [S2] - AI addon price: all plans · 3.9 [S2] - AI addon price: user/month · 3.9 · EUR [S2] - AI addon price: writing style optimization · spelling correction · translations · 3.9 [S2] - Billing options: yes · 17 [S2] - Billing options: yes · 17 [S2] - Business: unlimited · unlimited · 14 [S2] - Business limits: yes · yes [S2] - Business price: 14 [S2] - Business price: user/month · 14 · EUR · yearly [S2] - Business price: 14 [S2] - Discount yearly: 17 · yes [S2] - Enterprise: 28 [S2] - Enterprise features: Includes Premium features plus Unlimited Organizations, Single Sign-on, 2FA via YubiKeys, Provisioning via API, Global Export, Custom Modules, custom invitation emails, user compliance confirmation [S2] - Enterprise price: 28 [S2] - Enterprise price: user/month · 28 · EUR · yearly [S2] - Enterprise price: 28 [S2] - Free trial: 14 · yes [S5] - Free trial 14 days: 14 [S1] - Office addon features: Documents (.doc), Tables (.xls), Presentations (.ppt) [S2] - Office addon price: from Premium Plan · 2.4 [S2] - Office addon price: user/month · 2.4 · EUR [S2] - Office addon price: Premium · 2.4 [S2] - Onpremise minimum licenses: single range of functions · 100 [S12] - Premium features: Includes Business features plus Recycle Bin, email forwarding, Project Portfolios, PERT Charts, Whiteboards, Office previews, Unlimited Externals, Conferences, Advanced Security Settings (IP Whitelist, enforced 2FA, Advanced Password Polic… [S2] - Premium price: 18 [S2] - Premium price: user/month · 18 · EUR · yearly [S2] - Premium price: 18 [S2] - Professional secrecy addon: 3.9 [S2] - Professional secrecy addon price: user/month · 3.9 · EUR [S2] - Professional secrecy addon price: Premium · 3.9 [S2] - Public sector addon: 2.4 [S2] - Public sector addon price: user/month · 2.4 · EUR [S2] - Public sector addon price: Premium · 2.4 [S2] - Starter: 3 · 10 · 9 [S2] - Starter limits: 3 · 10 [S2] - Starter limits: 3 · 10 [S2] - Starter price: 9 [S2] - Starter price: user/month · 9 · EUR · yearly [S2] - Starter price: 9 [S2] - Trial: 14 · no · yes · no [S2] - Trial: 14 · no · no [S2] - Trial: 14 [S6] - Trial: 14 · yes [S13] - Trial: 14 · no · no [S2] - Trial: 14 · no · no · yes [S2] - VAT: no [S2] - VAT: no [S2] - VAT: no [S2] - VAT: no [S2] **Product** - Access log: yes [S8] - Access log per account: yes [S5] - Admin disable direct messages: yes [S7] - API email content encryption: yes [S9] - Apps: yes · yes [S2] - Apps: yes · yes [S2] - Apps: yes [S2] - Appvisory trusted app: Mobile apps audited and certified as Trusted App [S5] - Archive right group delete option: Entry archiving/restoring governed by right-group 'Delete' option; 'Display' controls visibility in room and archive [S11] - Archive room admin rights: yes [S11] - Archived entries restore: Archived entries can be viewed and restored via Restore button [S11] - Archived rooms access: Archived rooms accessible anytime via sidebar Archived Rooms option or global search [S11] - Archived rooms restore rights: yes [S11] - Archiving audit log: All archiving actions documented with who and when [S11] - Archiving entries: Entries and rooms can be archived instead of permanently deleted [S11] - Automated deletion rules: Q3/2026 · Premium [S5] - Backups: yes [S8] - Cache deletion after encryption: yes [S9] - Chat edit delete rights: yes · no [S7] - Chat emojis: yes · yes · yes [S7] - Chat favorites: yes [S7] - Chat files module: unavailable if Files module disabled at organization level · yes [S7] - Chat mentions: yes · yes [S7] - Chat mute: yes [S7] - Chat reminders: yes [S7] - Cloud business continuity: yes [S12] - Cloud scalability: cloud scalable by booking desired package (Business / Premium / Enterprise) [S12] - Cloud updates: yes · yes [S12] - Communication: Projekt Kommunikation: Gruppenchats, Diskussionen, Kommentare [S1] - Companies since: 2012 · 10000 [S3] - Company trust claim: 2012 · 10000 [S2] - Compliance rules: yes [S8] - Compliance rules per org: yes [S5] - Customer count: over 10,000 companies since 2012 [S2] - Customer count: 2012 · >10000 [S5] - Customization active directory: yes · yes [S13] - Data centers certification: yes · yes [S8] - Deployment options: cloud and on-premise available [S12] - Desktop app version requirement: 1.7.3 [S10] - Direct messages calls: yes · yes · yes [S7] - Direct messages chat: Direct Messages support private chats and group chats incl. file exchange [S7] - Documentation: Dokumentationen: kollaborative Dokumente [S1] - E2ee admin settings: encrypt Direct Messages: always disabled/enabled · encrypt all rooms: always disabled/always enabled/creator can choose · who can create rooms without e2ee: Admins / Admins & Members [S9] - E2ee algorithm: client-side end-to-end encryption · AES · RSA [S9] - E2ee chat enable retrospective: delete chat on both sides, then restart chat [S9] - E2ee client side: yes [S9] - E2ee export deletion: no · yes [S10] - E2ee export setting: deactivated · Admin setting controls export of end-to-end encrypted data [S10] - E2ee GDPR compliance: may be met depending on data type [S9] - E2ee key access: no [S10] - E2ee operator no access: no · no [S9] **Support** - Onpremise email: onpremise [@] stackfield.com [S12] - SLA availability: availability [S8] 87 more facts on the canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/stackfield ## Questions ### Is Stackfield European? Yes. whats-best.ai classifies Stackfield as EU-Made. ### Where does Stackfield store data? Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 19 Oct 2026. ### Does Stackfield have a free plan? Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 19 Oct 2026. ### What are the best alternatives to Stackfield? 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 [Wire (Messaging) (3/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/wire-messaging) 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). The full list, with European products first: [Stackfield alternatives](https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/stackfield/alternatives). ## What this page leaves out - 49 product facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. - 17 integrations facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. - 11 legal facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. - 11 support facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. - 8 compliance facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. - 7 subprocessors facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. - 2 hosting facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. - 1 pricing fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material. - 3 sovereignty dimensions could not be confirmed on the vendor’s own pages and are shown as unknown. - The pricing here was last read more than 30 days ago. Vendors change prices without notice; the capture date is shown with every figure. ## Sources - [S1] Vendor homepage: https://www.stackfield.com/de (checked 2026-10-19) - [S2] Pricing: https://www.stackfield.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-19) - [S3] Imprint: https://www.stackfield.com/imprint (checked 2026-10-19) - [S4] Privacy policy: https://www.stackfield.com/privacy (checked 2026-10-19) - [S5] Security / trust page: https://www.stackfield.com/de/security (checked 2026-10-19) - [S6] Channels, threads & search — found from sitemap: https://www.stackfield.com/chat (checked 2026-10-19) - [S7] Channels, threads & search — found from sitemap: https://www.stackfield.com/help/direct-messages-2076 (checked 2026-10-19) - [S8] Encryption & access control — found from sitemap: https://www.stackfield.com/security (checked 2026-10-19) - [S9] Encryption & access control — found from sitemap: https://www.stackfield.com/help/functionality-of-the-encryption-2086 (checked 2026-10-19) - [S10] Retention, discovery & co-determination — found from sitemap: https://www.stackfield.com/help/export-the-data-2049 (checked 2026-10-19) - [S11] Retention, discovery & co-determination — found from sitemap: https://www.stackfield.com/help/archiving-rooms-or-entries-2016 (checked 2026-10-19) - [S12] Deployment & data custody — found from sitemap: https://www.stackfield.com/help/stackfield-cloud-or-on-premise-2123 (checked 2026-10-19) - [S13] Deployment & data custody — found from sitemap: https://www.stackfield.com/private-cloud (checked 2026-10-19) - [S14] Integrations & extensibility — found from sitemap: https://www.stackfield.com/developer-api (checked 2026-10-19) - [S15] Integrations & extensibility — found from sitemap: https://www.stackfield.com/help/teams-integration-2128 (checked 2026-10-19) --- Cite as: whats-best.ai, "Stackfield — Business Instant Messaging", AI panel analysis, as of 2026-10-21. https://whats-best.ai/software/instant-messaging/stackfield Corrections: https://whats-best.ai/correct/209?target=page