What is Slack and what is it used for?
Quick Answer: Slack is a business communication platform developed by Slack Technologies (acquired by Salesforce in 2021 for $27.7 billion). Launched in 2013, it provides channels, direct messaging, Workflow Builder, and integrations with over 2,600 apps. Over 200,000 organizations use Slack daily as of 2026.
What Is Slack?
Slack is a cloud-based business communication platform that organizes team conversations into channels. It was developed by Slack Technologies, founded in 2013 by Stewart Butterfield, Eric Costello, Cal Henderson, and Serguei Mourachov. Salesforce acquired Slack in July 2021 for $27.7 billion.
Company Background
Slack originated as an internal tool developed during the creation of a video game (Glitch) by Tiny Speck. The team recognized the communication tool was more valuable than the game itself and pivoted. As of early 2026, Slack reports over 200,000 paid organizations and is available in 150+ countries.
Key Features
- Channels: Organized conversation spaces by topic, team, project, or client
- Direct messages: One-on-one or group conversations
- Huddles: Audio and video calls directly within Slack
- Workflow Builder: No-code automation for forms, routing, and notifications
- Canvas: Collaborative documents embedded within channels
- Slack Connect: Communicate with external organizations in shared channels
- Search: Full-text search across messages, files, and channels
Pricing (April 2026)
- Free: Message history limited to 90 days, 1:1 huddles
- Pro: $8.75/user/month — unlimited history, group huddles, Workflow Builder
- Business+: $12.50/user/month — SAML SSO, data exports, compliance features
- Enterprise Grid: Custom pricing — org-wide deployment, DLP, eDiscovery
Primary Use Cases
Slack is used for team communication, project coordination, customer support (via Slack Connect), incident response, and workflow automation. It competes with Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, and Discord (for developer communities).
Integration Ecosystem
Slack's App Directory includes over 2,600 integrations: Jira, Google Workspace, Salesforce, GitHub, Zoom, Asana, and Trello among the most popular. The Slack API supports custom bot and app development.
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