Twist vs Slack: Focus vs Features

Modern workplaces offer us various work models — in-office, remote, or hybrid. 

However, our common goal is effective communication and collaboration, and that is why we need communication and collaboration tools.

Yet, with so many such tools on the market, we’re spoiled for choice. 

That’s why we’ll try to make that choice a bit easier for you by comparing two of the most popular communication apps in detail — Twist and Slack. 

First, we’ll do a quick overview. 

Afterward, we’ll compare the following categories:

• Pricing plans,
• Interface,
• Communication,
• Notifications,
• Search,
• File sharing and storage,
• Integrations,
• Support, and
• Security.

Finally, we’ll reach the verdict and crown the winner. 

We hope that at the end of this blog post, you’ll have all the information necessary to choose the right tool for you.

Let’s begin!

Twist vs Slack overview

We’ll start with a brief overview of both communication tools.

Let’s begin with Twist.  

With their catchy adage “Work async not ASAP”,  the team behind Twist has captured the hearts of many. 

Twist is a communication tool dedicated to asynchronous communication, designed for teams who can’t rely on real-time communication. 

This minimalist messaging app is focused on threaded conversations, providing users with a calmer experience due to the lack of distractions. 

It is available on iOS, macOS, Android, Windows, and the web.

Slack is an app for business communication. 

It allows you to exchange instant messages — direct or group ones — in so-called Channels. 

Moreover, in Slack, you can share files and use integrations with other apps.

This business messaging platform is also available on iOS, macOS, Android, Windows, and the web.

The table below shows you the main features of both apps — Twist and Slack. 

If you’re looking for more information on these apps, dive into our detailed analysis of Twist and Slack. 

Twist vs Slack pricing plans 1:0

Both these apps have free and paid versions.

If we look at the free versions first, we’ll notice that Twist allows you:

• Access to one month of comments and messages,
• Up to 500 members and unlimited guests, and
• Up to 5 integrations. 

On the other hand, Slack’s freemium version allows you access to:

• 10,000 messages,
• 10 integrations, and
• Voice calls.

Speaking of paid plans, for $5 per user per month, Twist offers you access to:

• A full history of comments or messages, 
• Unlimited members, 
• Unlimited integrations, 
• Unlimited guests, 
• Unlimited file storage, and 
• Priority support.

Slack enables you with some of these features for a price of $6.67 per user per month. 

That is precisely why Twist is this category’s winner — for a more affordable price, it offers more features. 

For easier comparison, here’s a brief overview of both apps’ pricing plans: 

Twist vs Slack interface 0:1

Moving on to the category that especially concerns the users who spend a significant part of their workday staring at business communication apps — which is unavoidable if you’re working remotely or in distributed teams. 

That’s why a user-friendly and clean interface is all the more important. 

Let’s start with Twist. 

Twist boasts a clean, uncluttered interface that helps you focus on your conversations, thereby encouraging mindful communication with your team. 

The team behind Twist has opted for a two-column layout — with threads dominating the interface, so you can follow conversations better. 

When you’re finished interacting with a thread, once you mark it as done, Twist moves it from your inbox from “Active” to the “Done” view. 

Aside from that, Twist offers you to choose between a light and a dark mode. 

Let’s move on to Slack. 

Slack also prides itself on a user-friendly, intuitive interface. 

All channels and DMs are on the left side of the screen. 

There are also commands for shortcuts — you can start a new channel or insert a GIF this way.

Slack also allows you to select light or dark mode.

But, in addition, it offers a wider range of colors to choose from when defining a theme. 

Those users who feel especially creative can even make their own custom theme. 

Thanks to its advanced options for customization, in this round, Slack is the winner. 

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Twist vs Slack communication 1:1

Here’s where the situation gets a bit complicated. 

Namely, both apps offer quality communication options, but whether you’ll prefer one or the other depends on you.

Both apps have dedicated channels for group conversations, and conversations have threads. 

However, Twist is more suitable for those who don’t need answers ASAP, and it focuses on asynchronous communication. 

That’s also the reason why it provides a calmer mode of communication for your teams and gives you a chance to do some deep work. 

Moreover, Twist’s threaded structure resembles an email app interface. That way, you can organize your conversations by topic.

On the left, you can see the channels, while the main part of the screen is covered with threaded messages you have chosen.

If you need a real-time chat app and you’re worried Twist resembles an email app a bit too much (and you think an email-like app may not be your best solution), Slack is a better option for you. 

So, neither of these apps is inherently better than the other. It’s only a matter of what your team needs.

Just keep in mind that both apps have limited chat history in the free plans — Twist’s is limited to one month of comments and messages, whereas Slack’s history is limited to 10,000 of the most recent messages.

Let’s look at the table summarizing the communication options of these two apps.

Twist vs Slack notifications 0:1

Twist strives to notify you less and improve communication by making it asynchronous and more relaxed.

Since conversations are organized into threads, you can:

• Snooze your notifications, 
• Finish your work, and then 
• Respond to comments in the thread when it suits you.

Aside from that, Twist allows you to set a Do Not Disturb mode. 

Namely, you can select a time period when you don’t want to be disturbed. You can even make a weekly schedule if you know you have some more pressing tasks on your to-do list. 

However, Slack’s diverse notification system allows you to choose whether you want to receive notifications or not. 

If it suits you, you can pause the notifications, and get less of them, just like in Twist, but here — the choice is yours. That’s why Slack is the clear winner of this category. 

In Slack, you get notified when:

• You get a direct message from someone
• Someone mentions you
• You get a reply on a thread you’re following
• You receive a message from Slackbot

Just like Twist, Slack has a Do Not Disturb mode, which is especially useful for teams working across different time zones. It’s also useful when you’re working on an important project and you don’t want to get distracted. 

To sum up, if you don’t want to miss any important messages in your group conversations, Slack is a better option for you. 

Still, the choice is ultimately yours — you decide whether you want to get all or just some notifications. 

All things considered, Slack is a more customizable business messaging platform when it comes to notifications, and that’s why it’s this category’s winner. 

Twist vs Slack search 0:1

We can all agree there’s nothing more annoying than when you can’t find that important piece of information from the last meeting. The search may cost you your precious time, your nerves, and not to mention your productivity.

Yet, it doesn’t have to be so challenging if your communication tool has great search options.

For one, Twist offers you advanced filters. You can choose whether to search:

• Threads only,
• Messages only, or
• Both.

Twist also allows you to choose a recipient or sender of the message, thread title, keywords, etc.

Twist’s filters are a foolproof way to avoid information overload in the form of numerous message snippets you don’t need.

However, the only downside may be that Twist’s free plan enables you to search the messages only from the last month. 

Slack facilitates the search for messages, files, channels, and people.

It allows you to search for information within a certain period and even to exclude specific channels from your search.

The problem with searching in Slack is similar to the one in Twist — on the free plan, you can only search within the last 10,000 messages. 

Still, this downside is not enough to throw Slack off the throne in this category, thanks to its advanced search filters.

However, if you need more, keep in mind that Pumble offers you unlimited search even in the free plan, without limitations concerning timeframe or number of messages. 

Twist vs Slack file sharing and storage 0:1

Whether you’re working in-office, remotely, or practicing a hybrid model of work, an unavoidable aspect of modern work is certainly file sharing.

Luckily, we have an abundance of business collaboration tools with file-sharing features at our disposal.

For starters, let’s have a look at Twist’s file sharing options.

Twist allows you to share files in threads, as well as in comments to a thread.

Again, Twist’s main limitation is the file storage, which amounts to only 5 GB per workspace on the free plan. Aside from that, there is a 100 MB file size limit for attachments.

Moving on to Slack — it allows you to share files up to 1 GB in size, which makes Slack a much more convenient choice for file sharing.

Still, in the free plan, Slack also limits you to 5 GB of file storage per workspace. 

So, if you’re looking for a solution with more storage space, you should consider Pumble, which offers you 10 GB of file storage in the free plan.

Twist vs Slack integrations 0:1

Integrations are useful for collaboration with third parties and an overall better workflow.

Since Twist is a product made by Doist, it integrates well with another popular app from the same company — Todoist. 

Aside from Todoist, Twist integrates with another 33 apps. 

Keep in mind that the free plan offers up to 5 integrations. 

Slack is definitely the winner in this category with its mind-blowing 2,400 integrations in paid plans. 

In the freemium plan, Slack offers integration with 10 apps.

All the integrations are organized into categories, so you can more easily find what you need. 

Finally, here’s a quick overview of integrations for both apps. 

Twist vs Slack support 1:1

In this category, the situation is more balanced.

Let’s compare Twist and Slack in terms of the support they offer:

• Both apps offer standard customer support in their free plans.
• Both Twist and Slack offer priority support in their paid plans. 
• Aside from that, Slack offers dedicated support in their Enterprise plan.
• A knowledge base is available on both apps’ websites.
• Although neither one of them offers phone support, both apps do have support teams available to help users via email.

So, here’s a quick summary of the support options these two apps offer.

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Twist vs Slack security 1:1

In the end, we have to consider security and data protection, which are important for collaboration and communication, both within teams and with third parties. 

It’s nice to have independent verification of security and privacy, as well as compliance controls. 

Although both apps use data encryption in transit and at rest, Slack is audited against more compliance and assurance programs, including SOC2, SOC3, and ISO/IEC.

Twist, on the other hand, is GDPR compliant. 

Aside from that, Twist offers advanced security controls in a paid plan. 

To sum up, in this category, we have a tie.

Twist vs Slack Verdict 5:8

In the end of this showdown, all that’s left is for us to add the numbers, and crown the winner.

We compared Twist and Slack to help you choose a collaboration and communication tool that suits your needs.

Although Slack has taken the crown in this showdown, both apps are worth considering. 

Both Twist and Slack have affordable pricing plans and useful communication and collaboration features, and it’s up to you to decide which one suits you better.

Namely, if you value asynchronous communication and peace and quiet during your work hours, Twist is a more convenient option for you.

On the other hand, for dynamic teams that place great emphasis on immediate communication, Slack is certainly a better solution.

Take your time, assess your needs, and choose the app that is right for you. 

Looking for a Twist or Slack alternative? Try Pumble

Now that you know how Twist and Slack compare, perhaps you’ll find that neither option fits your teams’ needs.

As an alternative to them, you can try Pumble, a team messaging app.

Among other things, Pumble offers:

• Unlimited users and message history for free, 
• 10 GB of free storage space per workspace,
• Video calls,
• Customizable notifications, and
• A user-friendly interface with an abundance of features.