4 Slack alternatives you need to try: Say hello to open source collaboration

Slack is reliable and configurable, but it's also pricey and proprietary. Whether you're about enterprise-level collaboration or family communication, there's an option here for every team.

For years now, Slack has been the de facto standard app and service for collaboration and group communication. There are good reasons for this: Slack is consistently reliable and extremely configurable, offering numerous options to workgroups large and small.

But for some users, Slack's proprietary license is a hard pill to swallow. On top of that, Slack can get pretty pricey (even for businesses). And because Slack is a cloud-based infrastructure, it presents the same security and privacy issues as any cloud service.

For those who prefer their software and services to be open source, fret not because options are available. Whether you're just getting a company off the ground, looking to switch from Slack, or even want to use such a service for family communication and collaboration, here are five open-source alternatives to Slack.

1. Element

Element is more about communication but it also offers file sharing, video and voice calls, and organizational features that make collaboration possible.

Unlike many collaboration tools, Element takes a decentralized approach, which means hosting happens on participating servers around the globe. This makes for a more secure option than centralized services because data is not stored in a single location. Users also have full control over their data and can ensure their conversations are safe, thanks to strong end-to-end encryption (which means only the sender and receiver can view a conversation).