Does it worth to save €2000 annually on communication? Part I.

It's no surprise that a large portion of corporate training and workshops revolve around communication — after all, effective communication is the backbone of smooth operations, business growth, and satisfied customers. Plus, good communication helps organizations avoid unnecessary costs and inefficiencies.

In the wake of the COVID era, with remote work becoming the norm for many, the effectiveness of online communication has taken center stage. Whether employees have spent decades in traditional offices or are part of the digital-native generation, everyone now has to collaborate in virtual spaces. That’s why finding the right online communication platform has become absolutely critical.

In today’s enterprise landscape, the most widely used platforms are Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Slack. However, Google Meets & Chat and Discord are also making strides in corporate settings. For companies already using the Microsoft ecosystem, Teams is often the go-to choice. Meanwhile, in the tech and startup world, Slack continues to enjoy a solid reputation due to its intuitive interface, reliability, and a wealth of integration and automation options.

How Slack Fit into Our Workflow

Slack quickly became the core of our team’s communication, acting as the backbone of our daily interactions. At its heart, Slack is structured around workspaces — essentially virtual offices — where teams can centralize discussions, share files, and coordinate tasks. These workspaces are split into channels, which can be organized by project, department, or any topic we needed to keep discussions focused. The flexibility to create public channels (where anyone in the workspace can join) or private ones (restricted to certain members) allowed us to balance open communication with confidentiality when needed.

Slack also excels in making team communication more personal and efficient. Direct messages (DMs) enable one-on-one or small group chats, perfect for quick discussions without disturbing the larger group. With its simple interface, we could search through old conversations, tag colleagues to bring specific items to their attention, and even inject some personality into our messages through emojis, GIFs, and reactions.

What really stood out was Slack’s ability to support more than just messaging. It seamlessly integrated voice and video calls, complete with screen sharing capabilities, right within the app. This meant we didn’t need to juggle multiple tools for our meetings and discussions. Add in useful features like post reminders, scheduled messages, and in-app polls, and Slack became more than just a chat tool—it was the nerve center of our internal communication.

Centralizing Everything with Integrations

We also took full advantage of Slack’s vast integration options to streamline our notifications. By connecting Slack with tools like ClickUp, Jira, GitLab, and Semgrep, we created a centralized space where all our alerts, updates, and task reminders could flow in. This not only reduced the need to jump between apps, but also kept the team on the same page and allowed us to react quickly when needed. Essentially, Slack became our go-to command center for staying on top of projects and deadlines.

The Real Cost of Slack

While Slack’s free plan was a great starting point, it didn’t take long for us to run into limitations. Initially, Slack restricted free users to only the last 10,000 messages, meaning valuable discussions and context quickly disappeared from view. This became a pain point within a few months, forcing us to upgrade. While Slack has since revised the free plan to include the last three months of message history, it still omits key features like group audio and video meetings, which are critical for team collaboration.

To unlock Slack’s full potential, we opted for the Pro plan, which starts at $8.75 per user per month. This upgrade gave us access to all of our past messages and allowed us to make the most of Slack’s integrations. However, there was still one lingering challenge: we were limited to a single workspace. As our company grew and projects multiplied, managing everything within one workspace became less practical. Multiple workspaces would have allowed us to better structure communication across different teams and projects.

By mid-2024, we were spending approximately €2000 annually on Slack licenses for both our internal team and external contributors. As Alias continued to expand, we realized this cost was only going to rise with the addition of new team members and projects.

What Exactly Are Open Source Projects?

Open source projects are software initiatives where the source code is made publicly available for anyone to view, use, modify, and distribute. These projects are typically developed collaboratively by global communities of developers, which encourages transparency and fosters continuous innovation. Unlike proprietary software, open source tools offer flexibility and openness, allowing users to contribute improvements, fix bugs, or tailor the software to meet specific needs.

One of the standout advantages of open source software is its cost-effectiveness. Because the code is free to access, businesses and individuals can leverage high-quality tools without the burden of hefty licensing fees. Additionally, the collaborative nature of open source means that issues are often identified and resolved quickly due to the large pool of contributors. This diversity of thought and expertise frequently drives innovation, as developers from different backgrounds bring fresh ideas to the table. Moreover, with open source, users are not locked into a single vendor’s ecosystem, which grants them the freedom to adapt and customize the software to fit their unique requirements.

However, there are also challenges associated with open source software. One potential drawback is inconsistent support. While popular projects may boast active communities and comprehensive documentation, smaller or niche projects might lack regular updates or structured assistance, which can leave users to troubleshoot problems on their own. Furthermore, since many open source projects are developed voluntarily, there may be slower development cycles or limited accountability for major bugs or security vulnerabilities. For businesses that rely heavily on consistent support and performance guarantees, this can pose a risk.

Despite these trade-offs, open source software continues to drive technological innovation, offering users a powerful mix of control, flexibility, and community-driven development.

Why Mattermost?

When we began evaluating open source alternatives, one solution immediately stood out: Mattermost. Its user interface was strikingly similar to Slack — the platform we were already familiar with — making the transition smooth. It was clean, intuitive, and easy to use. More importantly, Mattermost had been around since 2015, meaning there was a well-established community behind it. With regular updates and long-term support, it promised the kind of stability we were looking for.

On paper, it seemed like the perfect fit. But how would it perform in practice? Could we successfully replace Slack with Mattermost and save €2000 annually? We’ll share all our findings in Part II of this blog series. Stay tuned!