Microsoft Teams and Slack are the two leading collaboration platforms in 2026. Swiss enterprises often face the decision: Slack as the specialised chat tool or Teams as the integrated Modern Workplace hub? This comparison provides the decision basis.
Feature overview
| Feature | Microsoft Teams | Slack |
|---|---|---|
| Chat (1:1 and channels) | ✅ Full | ✅ Full |
| Audio/video meetings | ✅ Up to 1,000 attendees | ✅ Up to 250 (Pro) / 1,000 (Enterprise Grid) |
| Telephony (PSTN) | ✅ Teams Phone, Direct Routing | ⚠️ Slack Huddles, no PSTN |
| Documents / co-authoring | ✅ Native (Office, SharePoint) | ⚠️ Via integrations |
| Apps / bots | ✅ 2,000+ incl. Power Apps | ✅ 2,400+ incl. Workflow Builder |
| Compliance / records | ✅ Microsoft Purview | ⚠️ Enterprise Grid only |
| Swiss data residency | ✅ Teams in Switzerland data centre | ❌ US / EU only |
| AI / Copilot | ✅ M365 Copilot | ✅ Slack AI |
Pricing (2026, CHF/user/month)
- Microsoft Teams Essentials: ~4 (standalone)
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic (incl. Teams): ~6
- Microsoft 365 Business Standard (incl. Teams + Office Desktop): ~13
- Microsoft 365 E3 (incl. Teams + compliance): ~37
- Slack Free: 0 (90-day history)
- Slack Pro: ~7
- Slack Business+: ~13
- Slack Enterprise Grid: on request (typically CHF 20–35)
In most Swiss setups, Teams is significantly cheaper in the overall package because it is already included in Microsoft 365 – while Slack is added on top of an existing M365 licence.
Data residency and FADP
Microsoft Teams can run in the Swiss Microsoft region (Zurich/Geneva) – chat messages and files stay in Switzerland. Slack stores data in the US by default; Enterprise Grid offers EU residency since 2023, but no Swiss residency.
For Swiss enterprises with high compliance requirements (banks, insurers, public sector), Teams is often the only viable option.
Modern Workplace integration
Teams is deeply integrated into Microsoft 365: SharePoint sites automatically have a Teams counterpart; OneNote, Planner, Stream, Forms are native Teams apps. Power Apps and Power Automate run directly inside Teams. Microsoft 365 Copilot extends Teams with generative AI.
Slack shines with a huge third-party ecosystem (Notion, Linear, GitHub, Jira), but for Microsoft-driven Swiss enterprises native M365 integrations usually win.
Telephony (VoIP)
Microsoft Teams Phone integrates PSTN telephony directly:
- Calling Plans (Microsoft as carrier)
- Direct Routing (Swiss carriers such as Swisscom, Sunrise, Wingo)
- Operator Connect (simplified Direct Routing)
Slack Huddles is an internal audio feature, not a replacement for a PBX.
CNEXT recommendation
- Swiss SMBs on Microsoft 365: Teams – no real value in adding Slack.
- Tech start-ups on AWS/Google: Slack can make sense.
- Banks, insurers, public sector (CH): Teams – data residency and compliance are critical.
- Existing Slack customers required to use M365: plan a migration to Teams, run in parallel during transition.
Slack → Teams migration
CNEXT runs structured Slack-to-Teams migrations:
- 1Workspace and channel inventory
- 2Mapping concept (Slack channels → Teams channels)
- 3History migration (last 12 months for search)
- 4Adoption programme and training
- 5Slack sunset after 2–3 months of parallel operation