Slack to increase prices for Pro customers

Freebie users to get 90 days of message history and file storage

Everything seems to be getting more expensive these days, including chat platform Slack.

The Salesforce subsidiary announced the price rise almost exactly a year after the $27.7 billion acquisition was completed.

Slack was keen to point out that the price increases were the first since the service launched in 2014, and would affect users on its Pro subscription. That said, it also made some changes to the existing Free tier that might cause some consternation in the name of trying out new features.

The changes come into effect from September 1 so there is still time to lock the existing annual rates before the hammer falls.

From that date, monthly Pro subscriptions will rise from $8 to $8.75 per user per month, while customers making an annual commitment to the service will see their Pro subscriptions rise from $6.67 to $7.25. UK pricing will be set at £7 and £5.75 per month respectively.

Slack is also tinkering with the free tier, making it more time-based. Rather than a 10,000-message limit and 5GB of storage, users will instead get full access to the last 90 days of messages and files. Free users will also get access to new features such as Clips, which permit audio, video, and screen-share messages in direct messages and channels.

The changes to the Free tier might not be entirely welcome and could result in users having to change their workflow to deal with the 90-day rule regardless of all the other features now on offer. Or finally make the move to a paid tier.

Slack is facing stiff competition from the likes of Microsoft Teams, which also includes a free tier and is tricky to avoid if you are a Microsoft 365 customer. Then there is Matrix, which recently nosed its way past the 60 million user mark. Or that communication and collaboration itch could always be scratched by Mattermost.

The messaging landscape was quite different when Slack first appeared. Competition has had an affect and while Slack's first increases might seem small, the costs will mount up for organizations with hundreds or thousands of users. Formerly loyal customers could well start considering the alternatives. ®