Mattermost
Slack
| Feature | Mattermost | Slack |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $10/mo | Free / from $7.25/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.2 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | devops-teams, security-conscious-orgs, government, enterprise | teams, enterprise, remote-workers, developers |
| Founded | 2015 | 2013 |
| Messaging | ✓ | ✗ |
| Channels | ✓ | ✓ |
| Playbooks | ✓ | ✗ |
| Integrations | ✓ | ✓ |
| Self Hosting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Compliance | ✓ | ✗ |
| Huddles | ✗ | ✓ |
| Workflows | ✗ | ✓ |
| File Sharing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Search | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Mattermost Pros
- Self-hostable
- Open source
- DevOps integrations
- Secure
✗ Mattermost Cons
- Smaller ecosystem
- Fewer integrations than Slack
- Self-hosting complexity
✓ Slack Pros
- Excellent integrations
- Channels system
- Huddles
- Searchable history
✗ Slack Cons
- Message limit on free plan
- Notification overload
- Can be distracting
The Verdict
Mattermost is built for devops teams and security conscious orgs, with a focus on messaging and channels. Slack targets teams and enterprise and leads with channels and huddles.
Pricing is close: Slack starts at $7.25/mo versus $10/mo for Mattermost — not a deciding factor on its own.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Both tools are a solid fit for enterprise — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.
