If you’ve ever used Slack, you know it’s the workplace communication app everyone loves to name-drop. But is it still the best choice for modern teams — or just the default?
I tested both Slack and Pumble, a rising Slack alternative built for teams who want more freedom, less clutter and better value for their money. I found that the differences go deeper than just the price.
While Slack leans on its brand and its vast integration network, Pumble quietly delivers features that actually matter — unlimited messaging history, 24/7 support, and a clean, no-nonsense interface — all of this even on the free plan.
If your team is growing, remote, or just tired of limitations, it might be time to rethink your default.
Here’s how Pumble and Slack really stack up.
Table of Contents
Pumble vs Slack: Main features comparison
While both Pumble and Slack are built to help teams communicate and collaborate, they take very different approaches — especially when it comes to pricing and value.
Slack offers quality features and good user experience, but much of its functionality is locked behind a (pretty steep) paywall.
On the other hand, Pumble offers more core features for free and keeps its paid plans more affordable.
Some of the main differences between Pumble and Slack include:
- Pricing — Pumble’s paid plans start at $2.99 vs Slack’s $8.75,
- Free plan limits — Pumble includes unlimited messaging history and 10 GB of storage; Slack limits history to 90 days, and offers 5 GB of storage,
- Support — Pumble offers 24/7 customer support even on the free plans; Slack limits this to business hours unless you buy a paid plan.
In the table below, we can see and compare the main features of Pumble and Slack.
| Features | Pumble | Slack |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing plans | – Free plan with unlimited users and messaging history – PRO plan: $2.99 per user per month (billed monthly), or $2.49 (billed annually) – BUSINESS plan: $4.99 per user per month (billed monthly), or $3.99 (billed annually) – ENTERPISE plan: $7.99 per user per month (billed monthly), or $6.99 (billed annually) | – Free plan with limited 90-day history – Pro plan: $8.75 per user per month (billed monthly), or $7.25 (billed annually) – Business+: $18 per user per month (billed monthly), or $15 (billed annually) – Enterprise+: quote upon request |
| Interface | Clean, minimal design; customizable themes and sidebar | Sleek but somewhat busy; colorful UI, customizable themes and sidebar |
| Communication features | — Unlimited messaging history, — Channels, — Threads, — Video conferencing and audio calls, — Voice and video messages | — 90-day messaging history, — Channels, — Threads, — Huddles, — No voice messages |
| Notifications | — DND, — Muting channels/DMs, — Pausing all notifications, — Custom notification schedules | — DND, — Muting, — Pausing all notifications, — Custom notification schedules |
| Search options | Simple but effective search options | Advanced filters, limited in free plan by messaging history |
| File sharing and storage | – 10 GB per workspace in the free plan – 10 GB per user in PRO – 20 GB per user in BUSINESS – 100 GB per user in ENTERPRISE | – 5 GB per workspace in free plan (with 90-day limited access to files) – 10 GB per user in Pro – 20 GB per user in Business+ – 1000 GB per user in Enterprise+ |
| Integrations | – Core apps like Gmail, GitHub, Google Calendar, Zapier – Clockify and Plaky | 2,600+ integrations |
| Support | – 24/7 support on all plans – Dedicated success representative on paid plans | – Standard support on free plan – Priority support on paid plans |
| Security | Industry standard advanced security | Industry standard advanced security |
After briefly comparing the main features, let’s look at it in more detail.
Pumble vs Slack: Pumble is less limiting and more affordable
The first glaring difference between Pumble and Slack is in the price.
Both apps offer free and paid plans, with different features offered in each tier.
With Pumble, you get a truly usable product even in the free plan.
You get access to:
- Unlimited messaging history,
- Unlimited users,
- Scheduled messages and reminders, and
- 10 GB of storage per workspace.
In the free plan, you can also import data from Slack and get all Pumble’s benefits for free.
If you want to upgrade, Pumble’s Pro plan starts at just $2.99 per user per month (billed monthly; or $2.49 billed annually), which is affordable even for growing teams.
Pumble’s Pro plan includes all free features, plus:
- Group meetings,
- Screen sharing,
- 10 GB storage per seat, and
- More integrations.
Pumble offers two more paid plans:
- BUSINESS — Priced at $4.99 per user per month; offers more administration features.
- ENTERPRISE — Priced at $7.99 per user per month; offers more control and security features.
Unlimited messaging history — free with Pumble
Slack, on the other hand, felt a lot more restricted.
With the free version, you get just 90 days of messaging history, limited integrations, and no access to key features like scheduled messages or group calls.
To unlock these features, you’ll need to buy their Pro plan, which is priced at $8.75 per user per month — and that adds up fast.
Slack also has two more paid plans:
- Business+ — Priced at $18 per user per month; offers advanced AI features and more security.
- Enterprise+ — No public price; offers more security features.
The math doesn’t lie — Pumble is significantly more affordable than Slack if you want to upgrade to any of its paid plans.
💡 Pumble Pro Tip
If you’re considering switching from Slack to Pumble, we have a step-by-step guide on how to do it easily and quickly:
Pumble vs Slack: Similar UI, but Pumble is less cluttered
When it comes to design and day-to-day use, Pumble and Slack offer a similar experience.
Pumble offers a clean, minimal and focused workspace. I didn’t need any tutorial or onboarding to find my way around, and everything was easy to access.
The sidebar holds all your channels, direct messages, app messages, drafts, mentions, files, and people.
You can customize the sidebar by breaking it down into sections and grouping related channels together — one group for internal updates, one for client work, and one for fun stuff, for example.
You can also choose what you see in your sidebar.
Pumble also lets you customize your theme — you can pick from light, dark, or something in between.
Slack offers a similar design and interface.
You also have a customizable sidebar with all of your messages and channels, and you can customize the appearance of your workspace by changing the themes.
However, I did find Slack’s interface to be a little bit more complicated. The interface feels somewhat more cluttered with all the options and buttons in the navigation bar.
Both apps offer solid user interfaces, but Pumble keeps things more simple and easier to manage, especially if you like working distraction-free.
Customize your workspace with Pumble
Pumble vs Slack: Communication features
When it comes to communication features, both Pumble and Slack cover the basics:
- Public and private channels,
- Threads,
- Mentions, and
- Direct messages.
However, the difference lies in how much each platform lets you do — especially in the free plan.
With Pumble, I had unlimited message and file history right out of the box. I don’t have to worry about cutoffs and digging for old conversations only to find out they’ve disappeared.
Threads are easy to follow, and you can create public and private channels for different needs.
In Pumble, you can also:
- Pin important messages,
- React with emojis,
- Create groups, and
- Schedule messages.
Slack, by contrast, limits free users to 90 days of message and file history.
I can see this easily being a problem for teams that rely on written communication, or when you simply need to reference an old message for any reason.
Keep your files safe with Pumble
When it comes to calls, Pumble offers 1-on-1 voice and video calls even on the free plan.
You can also send voice and video messages, which I found super helpful for quick updates that don’t require a meeting. Group video conferencing is available on paid plans.
Slack offers 30-minute 1-on-1 Huddles in the free plan, which are audio conversations you can turn into video calls. On the paid plans, you can have up to 50 participants.
Overall, Pumble offers more flexible, full-featured communication options, without boxing you into a paid plan, or deleting your important messages after 90 days.
💡 Pumble Pro Tip
To learn more about how voice and video messages can elevate your teams productivity and save precious time, read our guide:
Pumble vs Slack: Both apps offer customizable notifications
I’m someone who likes to stay responsive — but not at the cost of constant interruptions.
Thankfully, both Pumble and Slack offer solid notification customization.
With Pumble, you can:
- Mute channels or DMs,
- Pause all notifications, and
- Fine-tune alerts for each conversation.
You can also toggle the DND mode manually or set up a schedule to activate it during focus hours or after work.
Furthermore, you can change how notifications sound by customizing sounds for messages and incoming and outgoing calls.
You can also choose to be alerted of unread messages as well as product updates and news via email.
Stop notification overload with Pumble
Slack’s notifications are also very flexible, and allow you to customize your workspace according to your needs by:
- Muting channels,
- Pausing all alerts,
- Setting notification schedules, and
- Choosing whether to get notifications for every message, or only when you’re mentioned.
Overall, both apps get the job done and offer great options to customize your workflow.
However, I found Pumble’s settings more intuitive and easy to navigate, especially for users who don’t want to spend time fine-tuning every detail.
💡 Pumble Pro Tip
For more information on Pumble’s notifications and how to make your workspace free from distractions, read our guide:
Pumble vs Slack: Slack offers advanced search options, but is limited by history
On paper, Slack has slightly more advanced search tools, but in practice, that power doesn’t mean much if you want to find a message or file older than 90 days.
That’s exactly what I ran into when testing Slack’s free plan. I tried searching for older messages in my workspace, only to find it had already been archived.
Unless you’re on a paid plan, Slack’s search is limited by its short message retention window.
On the other hand, Pumble offers unlimited messaging history — even on the free plan.
So, while the search options might not be as sophisticated, the search actually works when you need it.
I was able to find conversations from weeks and months ago without hitting a wall or needing to upgrade.
In Pumble, you can also search through:
- Files,
- People and user groups,
- Channels, and
- Messages.
For teams that rely on chats as living knowledge bases, having access to full conversation history matters more than unnecessarily complex search filters.
Pumble vs Slack: Slack offers more integrations
If your team relies heavily on deep integrations with a wide range of third party apps, Slack definitely has the edge, with over 2,600 integrations. It connects with major tools like Google Drive, Zoom, Trello, Asana, and various productivity tools.
However, Pumble focuses more on quality over quantity. While it doesn’t have Slack’s massive catalog, it does support popular tools like:
Also, Pumble’s integration catalog is always expanding, and is soon expected to include other apps such as Asana, Trello, Google Drive, Hubspot, Giphy, OneDrive, etc.
Furthermore, with Pumble’s API, you can build custom apps that integrate your internal tools, processes and data.
Build your own integrations with Pumble
Where Pumble really stands out is in its native ecosystem.
Pumble is built by CAKE.com, the brand behind Clockify (time tracking tool), and Plaky (project management tool). These 3 apps together create a unified workspace for communication, tasks, and time management — without needing a dozen plug-ins to make it all work.
I rely on this trio daily — I message and call my team with Pumble, track my time and productivity with Clockify, and manage my tasks with Plaky. The way these apps are interconnected and work perfectly together creates a seamless, uninterrupted workflow.
Additionally, CAKE.com offers a bundle plan for teams wanting to use Pumble, Clockify and Plaky together, making it cost-effective and easy to manage.
Overall, Slack wins on sheer volume of integrations, but Pumble isn’t far behind with its carefully thought-out integrations and as part of a tightly connected suite built for productivity.
Pumble vs Slack: Slack’s guest feature is more expensive
Both Pumble and Slack support guest access, allowing you to invite external collaborators — like freelancers, clients, or contractors — without giving them full access to your workspace.
In my testing, the experience felt similar on both sides. You can control which channels or conversations guests see and contribute to, and restrict what they can do. You can also set time limits on how long guests can get access to your workspace.
You also have the ability to invite single-channel guests (which are free for both apps) or multi-channel guests (which are charged as regular users).
The key difference? Cost.
Slack only allows guest access on paid plans, starting at $8.75 per user per month, which adds up fast if you’re working with multiple external partners.
Pumble also requires a paid plan for guest access (BUSINESS or higher), but since these plans start at $4.99, the same functionality becomes far more affordable.
Collaborate with external partners for less via Pumble
In conclusion, both apps offer the same guest access experience, but Pumble makes it more budget-friendly for teams who regularly work with external users.
💡 Pumble Pro Tip
If you want a more detailed explanation of Pumble’s guest access feature, read our guide:
Pumble vs Slack: Both tools take security seriously
Security is a top priority for both Pumble and Slack.
Pumble is certified for ISO/IEC 27001:2022 and SOC 2, meaning it follows strict protocols for information security, risk management, and data privacy.
Pumble also includes security features such as:
- Multi-factor authentication,
- Data encryption,
- Roles and permissions for admins,
- Single Sign-On, and
- Custom data retention.
Slack also maintains SOC 2 compliance and offers SSO, domain restrictions, and advanced admin tools.
In short, both tools take data protection seriously and offer advanced security features in their respective Enterprise plans, so the main difference comes down to the price of each plan.
Pumble vs Slack: Pumble offers free 24/7 customer support
When something goes wrong — or you just have a question — customer support matters more than people think. I tested both platforms’ support response and there’s a noticeable difference in availability.
With Pumble, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that they offer 24/7 customer support across all plans, including the free one. I sent a quick question late at night and still got a fast, helpful response.
You have multiple ways of contacting their support team:
- Email,
- Chatbot,
- Phone support, or
- Contact form.
So, with Pumble, you get round-the-clock access to customer support without having to upgrade.
And, if you do upgrade to paid plans, Pumble goes even further by assigning a dedicated customer success representative — someone who knows your workspace and can help you directly as your team grows.
On the other hand, Slack provides standard support for free plan users, which mostly means business hours and slower email responses.
You’ll need to be on a paid plan to access priority support, and even then, the fastest response times (4 hours) are reserved for the top-tier Enterprise customers.
If your team values quick answers and peace of mind — especially if you work odd hours or have employees across time zones — Pumble gives you consistent, reliable support without extra costs.
Try Pumble
If you’ve made it this far, one thing’s clear — Pumble gives you more, for less.
With Pumble, you have:
- No message limits,
- No steep pricing, and
- No unnecessary noise and distractions.
Although Slack is a great tool for large enterprises that need its vast integration ecosystem, Pumble emerged as an ideal communication tool for startups, small or medium-sized businesses, and any team that prioritizes value, simplicity, and permanent access to their own data.
With Pumble, you get a simple yet powerful platform your team can afford to grow with.
Try Pumble for free today and see for yourself how smooth team communication and collaboration can be.
