UPDATE – If you’re interested in the HipChat Server beta, you can apply here.
UPDATE 2 – HipChat is now free for unlimited users. Read more here.
Both HipChat and Slack continue to evolve their product offerings with the most notable improvement being HipChat’s recent beta release of video chat and screen sharing. Here’s a quick rundown of the two offerings with a few important distinctions highlighted.
| HipChat | Slack | |
| Cost | ||
| Pricing | $0 per user (unlimited users, no limitations)$2 per user (HipChat Plus which includes video calling and unlimited, searchable message history) | $0 per user (unlimited users, but limited to searching latest 10k messages, 5 integrations, 5GB file storage)$8 per user |
| Contract | No | No |
| Features | ||
| Persistent Rooms | Yes | Yes |
| Private Rooms | Yes | Yes |
| 1-to-1 Chat | Yes | Yes |
| Video Chat | Yes | No |
| Screen Sharing | Yes | No |
| File Sharing | Yes | Yes |
| Search | Yes (launches browser) | Yes (native) |
| Multiple Accounts | No | Yes |
| Google Authentication | No | Coming Soon |
| Guest Access | Yes | Coming Soon |
| SSL | Yes | Yes |
| UI Language | English Only | English Only |
| Self-hosted Option | In Beta | No |
| Extensibility | ||
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | Lots | Lots |
| Integration Limit | No | Yes (maximum of 5 on free plan) |
| Platforms | ||
| Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, Browser | Mac, Android, iOS, Browser | |
The 10,000 messages limit is confusing. Unless I’m misunderstanding the FAQ, it only limits how many are searchable in the archive on the free plan. You can send as many as you’d like, but only the 10,000 most recent are stored. (That’s an important distinction.)
Thanks for the comparison. I use HipChat at work. It does the job, but it hasn’t blown me away like it seems to have many people. Slack looks like it is coming together nicely.
Thanks for the clarification. That’s definitely an important distinction.
I’ve updated the post.
Hipchat search is native. At least in the Ubuntu/Linux version is displayed like a new room/conversation inside the app window.
Slack always stores all your messages on every plan. On the Lite (free) plan, only the 10,000 most recent messages are available through search and the archives. Once you upgrade your plan, you have access to all your messages.
(Disclaimer: I work at Slack.)
HipChat’s admin site says Google Authentication work is in progress too.
HipChat’s free tier isn’t without limitations. As your comment on Plus implies, free is limited to 25,000 searchable messages. It also limits file uploads to 5 GB. As with Slack, if you upgrade to Plus your older messages are still there for you to search.
Thanks for posting this. I see you have Windows listed for Slack in platforms, but all that I see is a Chrome app, which is no better than a browser in my opinion.
Good catch. I’ve updated the post to reflect this. Thanks!