5 ms·

Slack vs. Microsoft Teams vs. Google Hangouts

39 points by someear 10y ago

ainar-g 10y ago
There is also Atlassian Hipchat. https://www.hipchat.com/ https://www.hipchat.com/ Has anyone used that? Any pros/cons?
- chambo622 10y ago
  Feels old, clunky, and not fun to use compared to Slack. The hosted solution has also had major reliability problems over the past 6-12 months (may not apply if you use the on-prem offering). The mobile apps are very outdated and tend to botch notifications and message delivery/syncing. On the bright side, the desktop client uses very little RAM compared to Slack.
  - shrewduser 10y ago
    i don't understand how slack is as heavy as it is.
    - rrdharan 10y ago
      It's an Electron app, so it's basically running an entire second copy of Chrom{e|ium}. UPDATE: Err, or first copy, if you don't use Chrome as your primary browser.
- shrewduser 10y ago
  it's been around a while, i'm not sure why it never took off the way slack did. i'd also love to hear from a user.
  - gaastonsr 10y ago
    I think it lacks usability in OS X. I never felt comfortable using it. Slack, since the first moment I opened I simply got it.
- compuguy 10y ago
  The hosted version doesn't have support for kvm, and until recently video chat required an internet connection.
- brightball 10y ago
  I use both daily. Honestly, I don't get the fuss about Slack. It's the exact same service. The differences in Slack are emoji attached to messages and threaded replies that just came out.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - briandear 10y ago
    Exact same until you need to easily deal with code formatting. Slack uses Markdown Hipchat uses nonsense. Also Hipchat's reliability is garbage: getting @mentions hours later or not at all. Hipchat is horrible. You also have audio and video calling in Slack.
    - brightball 10y ago
      Hipchat has AV calling. I've never experienced delayed @mentions and we've been using it for 3 years with close to 100 people. With Slack you use backquotes for code. With Hipchat you type /code first. Same service.
- gregshap 10y ago
  My current employer uses hipchat, and I've used Slack at previous jobs, social/professional groups, and with some of our contractors now. Features: Slack wins. Slack is usually a little ahead. Hipchat was catching up and then I just popped back with threaded convos. Uptime: Slack wins I think. Hipchat goes down/slow kind of often. Approximately github often. I don't use Slack as intensely, but can't think of many times that slack was down aside from major internet outages. Rooms/Channels: Hipchat has rooms, slack has channels. Basically parity in terms of group/private/team channels. Pricing: Hipchat wins. Both have free tiers, but those are for toy groups. Hipchat is about $2/user vs $10/user for slack. Slack doesn't charge you for inactive users though (2 weeks dormant), so it can be competitive if you have a small team of actually active users. Mobile: I find hipchat to be slower and a little worse in tiny annoying ways. For instance on my phone/watch, I get notifications for 1:1 messages and @mentions. But in hipchat, if i'm not already in the room where someone mentioned me, it doesn't show up when I open the app, even if I get there by swiping the notification. Come on hipchat!
csours 10y ago
I haven't experienced MS Teams, but Skype 4 Business can go and die in a garbage fire as far as I'm concerned. The mobile client just sucks monumentally, and the desktop client is missing functionality that every other good chat client has had for years.
- cmarschner 10y ago
  Teams is neat. I looked back at Slack at first, but no more. Multiple teams, threaded conversations, mobile app (IPhone) works nicely as well. It's there to stay.
- nunez 10y ago
  Skype for Business isn't Skype. It's Lync with a worse logo. Lync PBX is pretty good but their IM offering is overblown for most.
- FailOverPeer 10y ago
  Any thoughts on Cisco spark? I have yet to see it mentioned in the few threads about hangouts alternatives... any reason for that? Just curious what HN users have against it.
  - someear 10y ago
    I think Cisco spark is a niche product that is going to be important to big enterprise, but solely as a communication tool, specifically to facilitate meetings and calls. Just my opinion, but I don't think it has much of a future has a 'hub' of all activity for a company.
dgellow 10y ago
I've started using Discord[0] with a team, we are pretty happy with it. It's great how you can easily see who's in a call and can join and leave without any cost (you don't have to invite someone to the call, or ask to be invited, etc) [0] https://discordapp.com/ https://discordapp.com/
- dgellow 10y ago
  I forgot to say: the entire service is free!
SubiculumCode 10y ago
Why not Mattermost? https://about.mattermost.com/ https://about.mattermost.com/ Own your data.
- matmo 10y ago
  That is definitely a plus, but the mobile app(s) for mattermost are pretty bad. I'm guessing it was built a long time ago on cordova or one of those other "write once, run everywhere" frameworks where they just run everything in a WebView.
  - it33 10y ago
    While the first generation Mattermost mobile apps used web rendering, we have next generation apps in React Native releasing end of March that are rendering natively. The next generation apps are much faster, and we're excited to release them soon. Here's the source: https://github.com/mattermost/mattermost-mobile https://github.com/mattermost/mattermost-mobile There's instructions on how to get early access as well.
    - matmo 10y ago
      Awesome, I'm glad to hear that. I still use the current mobile app despite my criticisms, but I'm definitely looking forward to the new one(s)!
- maturz 10y ago
  There is also http://rocket.chat http://rocket.chat (Open source) http://ryver.com http://ryver.com (free hosted, will add additional premium features later for project management) http://riot.im http://riot.im (open source) http://zulip.org http://zulip.org (open source)
  - jjawssd 10y ago
    Maybe something has changed but Mattermost has been far more reliable than rocket chat in my experience
dimitar9 10y ago
how about amazon chime
JBlue42 10y ago
We're testing out Teams at work because of our O365 subscription. About 15 people now. Most seem to like it other than the massive amount of whitespace the chat window takes up. I personally hate the massive animated emojis. Though a little hokey, it's free for us and people really just want some sort of chat system. I've looked at rocket chat but I'm a jr level sysadmin with CTO/Sr Sysadmin boss in a Windows-only environment. I'm a little hesitant to let it loose in our 100+ person environment but Skype for Business sucks and Slack would be too expensive.

39 points by someear 10y ago

ainar-g 10y ago

There is also Atlassian Hipchat. https://www.hipchat.com/ https://www.hipchat.com/ Has anyone used that? Any pros/cons?

chambo622 10y ago
Feels old, clunky, and not fun to use compared to Slack. The hosted solution has also had major reliability problems over the past 6-12 months (may not apply if you use the on-prem offering). The mobile apps are very outdated and tend to botch notifications and message delivery/syncing. On the bright side, the desktop client uses very little RAM compared to Slack.
- shrewduser 10y ago
  i don't understand how slack is as heavy as it is.
  - rrdharan 10y ago
    It's an Electron app, so it's basically running an entire second copy of Chrom{e|ium}. UPDATE: Err, or first copy, if you don't use Chrome as your primary browser.
shrewduser 10y ago
it's been around a while, i'm not sure why it never took off the way slack did. i'd also love to hear from a user.
- gaastonsr 10y ago
  I think it lacks usability in OS X. I never felt comfortable using it. Slack, since the first moment I opened I simply got it.
compuguy 10y ago
The hosted version doesn't have support for kvm, and until recently video chat required an internet connection.
brightball 10y ago
I use both daily. Honestly, I don't get the fuss about Slack. It's the exact same service. The differences in Slack are emoji attached to messages and threaded replies that just came out.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- briandear 10y ago
  Exact same until you need to easily deal with code formatting. Slack uses Markdown Hipchat uses nonsense. Also Hipchat's reliability is garbage: getting @mentions hours later or not at all. Hipchat is horrible. You also have audio and video calling in Slack.
  - brightball 10y ago
    Hipchat has AV calling. I've never experienced delayed @mentions and we've been using it for 3 years with close to 100 people. With Slack you use backquotes for code. With Hipchat you type /code first. Same service.
gregshap 10y ago
My current employer uses hipchat, and I've used Slack at previous jobs, social/professional groups, and with some of our contractors now. Features: Slack wins. Slack is usually a little ahead. Hipchat was catching up and then I just popped back with threaded convos. Uptime: Slack wins I think. Hipchat goes down/slow kind of often. Approximately github often. I don't use Slack as intensely, but can't think of many times that slack was down aside from major internet outages. Rooms/Channels: Hipchat has rooms, slack has channels. Basically parity in terms of group/private/team channels. Pricing: Hipchat wins. Both have free tiers, but those are for toy groups. Hipchat is about $2/user vs $10/user for slack. Slack doesn't charge you for inactive users though (2 weeks dormant), so it can be competitive if you have a small team of actually active users. Mobile: I find hipchat to be slower and a little worse in tiny annoying ways. For instance on my phone/watch, I get notifications for 1:1 messages and @mentions. But in hipchat, if i'm not already in the room where someone mentioned me, it doesn't show up when I open the app, even if I get there by swiping the notification. Come on hipchat!

csours 10y ago

I haven't experienced MS Teams, but Skype 4 Business can go and die in a garbage fire as far as I'm concerned. The mobile client just sucks monumentally, and the desktop client is missing functionality that every other good chat client has had for years.

cmarschner 10y ago
Teams is neat. I looked back at Slack at first, but no more. Multiple teams, threaded conversations, mobile app (IPhone) works nicely as well. It's there to stay.
nunez 10y ago
Skype for Business isn't Skype. It's Lync with a worse logo. Lync PBX is pretty good but their IM offering is overblown for most.
FailOverPeer 10y ago
Any thoughts on Cisco spark? I have yet to see it mentioned in the few threads about hangouts alternatives... any reason for that? Just curious what HN users have against it.
- someear 10y ago
  I think Cisco spark is a niche product that is going to be important to big enterprise, but solely as a communication tool, specifically to facilitate meetings and calls. Just my opinion, but I don't think it has much of a future has a 'hub' of all activity for a company.

dgellow 10y ago

I've started using Discord[0] with a team, we are pretty happy with it. It's great how you can easily see who's in a call and can join and leave without any cost (you don't have to invite someone to the call, or ask to be invited, etc) [0] https://discordapp.com/ https://discordapp.com/

dgellow 10y ago
I forgot to say: the entire service is free!

SubiculumCode 10y ago

Why not Mattermost? https://about.mattermost.com/ https://about.mattermost.com/ Own your data.

matmo 10y ago
That is definitely a plus, but the mobile app(s) for mattermost are pretty bad. I'm guessing it was built a long time ago on cordova or one of those other "write once, run everywhere" frameworks where they just run everything in a WebView.
- it33 10y ago
  While the first generation Mattermost mobile apps used web rendering, we have next generation apps in React Native releasing end of March that are rendering natively. The next generation apps are much faster, and we're excited to release them soon. Here's the source: https://github.com/mattermost/mattermost-mobile https://github.com/mattermost/mattermost-mobile There's instructions on how to get early access as well.
  - matmo 10y ago
    Awesome, I'm glad to hear that. I still use the current mobile app despite my criticisms, but I'm definitely looking forward to the new one(s)!
maturz 10y ago
There is also http://rocket.chat http://rocket.chat (Open source) http://ryver.com http://ryver.com (free hosted, will add additional premium features later for project management) http://riot.im http://riot.im (open source) http://zulip.org http://zulip.org (open source)
- jjawssd 10y ago
  Maybe something has changed but Mattermost has been far more reliable than rocket chat in my experience

dimitar9 10y ago

how about amazon chime

JBlue42 10y ago

We're testing out Teams at work because of our O365 subscription. About 15 people now. Most seem to like it other than the massive amount of whitespace the chat window takes up. I personally hate the massive animated emojis. Though a little hokey, it's free for us and people really just want some sort of chat system. I've looked at rocket chat but I'm a jr level sysadmin with CTO/Sr Sysadmin boss in a Windows-only environment. I'm a little hesitant to let it loose in our 100+ person environment but Skype for Business sucks and Slack would be too expensive.