LayersvsSlack Complete comparison
Chat and calls, free plan limits, mail and tasks next to chat, AI, pricing and deployment — from an EU cloud to your own server. Based on public data.
Where Layers goes further than Slack
Free for up to 20 people
No time limit, no card: 5 GB per workspace, files up to 25 MB. Slack Free shows the last 90 days of messages, and data older than a year is deleted.
Calls with the whole group
Group calls and guests by link on every plan; recording from the Plus plan, or self-hosted with the LiveKit Egress service, installed separately. On Slack Free huddles are one-to-one; group huddles are on paid plans, up to 50 people.
Mail and tasks next to chat
Chat, calls, mail, projects, pages, calendar and drive behind one sign-in. In Slack, emails can be forwarded to a channel or a DM.
Your data, your choice
Your own server on Docker, or a cloud in an EU data center on every plan. Slack is cloud only; EU data residency is on Business+ and Enterprise.
Why teams switch
What Layers has out of the box
No paying extra for group calls, and no keeping mail and tasks in other services.
Calls
Call the whole group, even on the free plan
On Slack Free a huddle is one-to-one; group huddles need a paid plan. In Layers, Start a call sits in the group header on every plan: you join with camera and mic off, and colleagues follow.
All about communication →
Meeting recordings
After the call, see who spoke and for how long
A group moderator turns on recording — in the cloud from the Plus plan, self-hosted with the LiveKit Egress service, installed separately. After the meeting it has Summary, Speakers and Notes tabs. Speakers shows each person’s talk time and share. Transcripts need a connected speech recognition model and use AI credits.
More about Calls →Mail in the same window as chat
Slack can take emails forwarded to a channel. In Layers mail is a module of its own: connect your work mailboxes, and the inbox, folders, labels and threads sit next to chat.
More about Mail →
Agents over MCP
An agent creates tasks with assignees and due dates
Slack has an MCP server too: search, messages, canvases and lists. In Layers an agent over MCP breaks a plan into tasks, sets assignees and due dates, and the tasks land in the backlog just like ones created by hand.
More about AI →Point by point
Layers vs Slack, feature by feature
Twelve capabilities across communication, work, AI and data. Based on public data as of October 4, 2026.
Communication
Chat
Team messaging
Yes. Channels, DMs and threads are the core of Slack
Yes. Groups, threads, mentions, reactions and pins
Group calls
Team meetings
Partly. Huddles: one-to-one on Free, up to 50 people on paid plans
Yes. Group calls from chat on every plan; recording from Plus
External people
Clients and partners
Partly. One-to-one messages on Free; group Slack Connect from Pro
Yes. Guests join a call by link once you let them in
Work next to chat
Docs
Notes and knowledge base
Yes. Canvases — docs inside channels
Yes. Page tree, version history, publishing with a PIN
Tasks
Who does what, by when
Yes. Lists: assignee, due date and status
Yes. The Projects module: sprints, board, milestones, task keys
Work mailboxes
Partly. Emails can be forwarded to a channel or DM
Yes. Mailboxes over IMAP and SMTP or EWS, a shared inbox for colleagues
AI and agents
AI assistant
Answers about the team’s work
Partly. Advanced AI on Business+ and Enterprise+
Yes. On every plan; the credit amount depends on the plan
MCP server
Claude, Cursor and other agents
Yes. Official MCP server: search, messages, canvases, lists
Yes. Tasks, pages and forms via a scoped token
Data and access
Self-hosting
Run it yourself
No. Cloud only; Slack offers no self-hosted option
Yes. Docker; the license is checked on the server itself
EU data storage
Where the data lives
Partly. On Business+ and Enterprise; data is stored in the US by default
Yes. The platform runs in an EU data center on every plan
Linux app
Team computers
Partly. Beta: .deb, .rpm and snap
Yes. deb, rpm and AppImage
Free for a team
Start without paying
Partly. 90 days of history, one-to-one calls, up to 10 apps
Yes. Up to 20 people, no time limit: 5 GB, files up to 25 MB
One window for the whole team
Chat, calls, tasks, docs and mail in one workspace.
What it costs
The models differ: Slack charges per user and unlocks group calls and full history on paid plans. In Layers modules aren’t locked by plan, and the price depends on team size.
Slack
$7.25 · $15
Pro · Business+ — per user per month, billed yearly
- Monthly — $8.75 and $18
- Free: 90 days of history and one-to-one calls
- EU data residency on Business+ and Enterprise
- No self-hosting
From slack.com/pricing as of October 4, 2026.
Layers
$9
per person per month — teams up to 50
- Teams up to 500 — $39 per person
- Modules aren’t locked by plan; the admin turns them on
- Cloud in an EU data center
- Self-hosted — pricing on request
From layers.md/pricing.
Free for teams of up to 20, no time limit, no card.
Self-hosted
Slack is cloud only. Layers runs on your server too
Slack offers no self-hosted option, and its EU data residency is on Business+ and Enterprise. The Layers cloud runs in an EU data center on every plan. Self-hosting runs on Docker, the license is checked on the server itself, and the admin panel shows who signed in and from which devices.
How to start
There is no import from Slack yet: conversations in Layers start fresh.
Free for up to 20 people
No time limit, no card: 5 GB per workspace, files up to 25 MB.
Start free →EU cloud
When the team grows — from $9 per person per month; modules aren’t locked by plan.
Pricing →Your own server
Runs on Docker, the license is checked on the server itself; the first 90 days are a trial.
Deploy on your server →How is Layers different from Slack?
Slack is a messenger: channels, huddles, canvases and lists. Layers puts group calls, projects, pages, mail, calendar and drive in the same window as chat; call recording is from the Plus plan, and the desktop app adds the SumDoc and SumSheet editors. And Layers can be deployed on your own server.
How much does Layers cost compared with Slack?
Layers is free for teams of up to 20, with no time limit. The paid cloud starts at $9 per person per month, and modules aren’t locked by plan. Slack as of October 4, 2026: Pro — $7.25, Business+ — $15 per user per month billed yearly; monthly — $8.75 and $18.
What are the limits of Slack’s free plan?
According to Slack’s help center, Free shows the last 90 days of messages and files, and data older than a year is deleted. Huddles are one-to-one, and you can install up to 10 apps.
Can Slack run on my own server?
No. Slack itself says it is a cloud platform with no self-hosted option. Layers installs on your server with Docker, and the first 90 days are a trial. Pricing on request: we’ll discuss your team size, support and licence terms.
Where is the data stored?
In the Layers cloud — in an EU data center, on every plan. On your own server — with you. Slack stores data in the US by default, and EU data residency is on Business+ and Enterprise.
What doesn’t Layers have yet?
Import from Slack, an app marketplace and sign-in via SAML, LDAP or SCIM. You sign in with a password, or with Google, Yandex, VK or Gosuslugi.
Which devices does Layers run on?
In the browser, on macOS, Windows and Linux, on iPhone, iPad and Android. And on your own server.
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Start free in the cloud or deploy Layers on your own server.
Slack is a trademark of Slack Technologies, LLC, a Salesforce company. Compared using public data as of October 4, 2026. Layers is not affiliated with Slack Technologies, LLC; Slack’s plans and features may change. Logos and names belong to their owners and are used only to identify the product in this comparison.
Sources on Slack: slack.com/pricing, help: Feature limitations on the free version, help: Use huddles in Slack, help: Data residency for Slack, help: Send emails to Slack, help: Download Slack for Linux (beta), features/task-list, blog/compare/slack-vs-mattermost, docs.slack.dev/ai/slack-mcp-server.