Team Chat and Messaging Software · Video Conferencing Software
Microsoft Teams review
Microsoft's chat, meetings and calling app, sold standalone as Teams Essentials or bundled in Microsoft 365 plans.
Microsoft Teams at a glance
- Starting price
- $4.00/user/month paid yearly (Teams Essentials)
- Pricing model
- per user, bundled in Microsoft 365 or standalone
- Public pricing
- Yes
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- No
- Contract
- annual auto-renewing subscription; monthly option on some plans
- G2 rating
- 4.4 (19,192 reviews)
- Headquarters
- Redmond, US
- Funding or owner
- Part of Microsoft
- Integrations
- Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Outlook, Entra ID
Who Microsoft Teams is for
Choose Microsoft Teams if
- Organizations already on Microsoft 365 and Entra ID.
- Small businesses wanting meetings for up to 300 people at about $4/user/month.
Look elsewhere if
- Teams wanting a lightweight tool; reviewers report slow, resource-heavy clients.
- Buyers needing group video calls beyond 20 people from a chat.
Microsoft Teams pricing
| Plan | Price | Unit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teams Essentials | $4.00 | per user/month, paid yearly | Standalone; meetings up to 300 people |
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic | $7.00 paid yearly; $8.40 monthly billing | per user/month | Includes Teams; $5.40/user/mo paid yearly variant without Teams |
USD figures are from Microsoft US pages (teams pricing page and Business Basic page). One Malaysia-locale page showed $2.00 for Essentials, which is a regional price. Business Standard and Premium prices are not included here.
What Microsoft Teams really costs
- Per seat per month
- $4.00 (Teams Essentials, paid yearly); $7.00 Business Basic paid yearly.
- Billing
- Annual commitment for list prices; monthly billing priced higher on Business Basic.
- Annual discount
- Business Basic: $7.00 yearly vs $8.40 monthly (about 17%)
- 20 users per year
- Essentials: 20 x $4 x 12 = $960/year; Business Basic: 20 x $7 x 12 = $1,680/year.
- Add-ons
- Teams Phone and calling plans, audio conferencing, Teams Premium, Teams Rooms: separate licenses, prices not listed here.
- Renewal terms
- Annual auto-renewing subscription per Microsoft pricing page.
Cheaper per seat than Microsoft Teams
Chanty3 EUR (annual billing); GetApp lists $3.
Microsoft Teams features by buying criteria
| Criterion | What we found |
|---|---|
| Channels and threading | Standard, private and shared channels; up to 1,000 channels per team; teams up to 25,000 members. |
| Built-in video and huddles | Calls from chat up to 20 people; meetings up to 300 people on Essentials and Business plans, up to 1,000 on enterprise plans. |
| Search and message history limits | Chat stored in Exchange Online mailboxes; admin search and hold needs Exchange Online mailbox. |
| App integrations and bots | Teams apps available on Business and Enterprise plans; Loop integrations. |
| Guest and external access | Shared channels support external participants with Entra work or school accounts only. |
| Security and admin controls | Built on Entra ID and Microsoft 365 compliance; certification list not verified. |
| Pricing model and transparency | Per user, bundled with Microsoft 365 or standalone Essentials. |
| Target company size | Small businesses (Essentials, Business) to enterprises (E3/E5) |
| Participant and meeting length limits | 300 on Essentials and Business plans; 1,000 on F1/F3/E3/E5 and similar; breakout rooms only up to 1,000 attendees; meetings and events capped at 30 hours. |
| Recording and AI transcription | Recording max 4 hours or 1.5 GB, then restarts; recordings not uploaded stay downloadable 20 days. |
| Calendar and chat integrations | Tight Outlook and SharePoint integration; files stored in SharePoint (up to 250 GB per file) |
| Webinars and large events | Webinars and town halls (Teams events) available on Business plans; webinars/events on Business Standard and Premium per footnote. |
| Meeting room and hardware support | Teams Rooms licensed separately. |
What reviewers say about Microsoft Teams
Praised for
- Easy to use, strong file sharing and communication features.
- Tight fit with Microsoft 365.
Common complaints
- Performance issues and heavy resource use.
- Complicated interface, slow loading.
Themes paraphrased from public reviews on G2 and similar sites, not quotes.
What most Microsoft Teams reviews leave out
- Teams Essentials ($4/user/month) is cheaper than Business Basic ($7) but does not include the rest of Microsoft 365 apps.
- Meeting cap is 300 people on Essentials and Business plans, 1,000 on enterprise plans.
- Teams live events retired June 30, 2026; events scheduled earlier run until Feb 28, 2027.
- Admin chat search and legal hold need users to have Exchange Online mailboxes.
- Audio conferencing, Teams Phone and Premium are separate licenses.
Microsoft Teams alternatives
SlackTeams wanting channel-based chat with a large app ecosystem.$8.75/user/month monthly, about $7.25/user/month billed annually (Pro)
Zoom WorkplaceTeams whose main need is reliable video meetings with chat attached.$14.16 per user/month billed annually (Pro); $16.99 billed monthly
Google MeetTeams already on Google Workspace that want meetings tied to Calendar and Gmail.$7 per user/month (Business Starter, annual commitment)
Cisco WebexEnterprises that want meetings plus calling and room hardware from one vendor.Free plan; paid tiers not verifiable from vendor (third-party lists Meet about $12 per user/month annual)
Google ChatTeams already on Google Workspace that want chat without a second license.$7 per user/month (Workspace Starter, annual commitment billed monthly)- ChantySmall teams wanting cheap per-user chat with tasks.Free up to 5 members; Business 3 EUR per user/month billed annually (EUR only)
Microsoft Teams compared
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from Microsoft Teams's own pricing, product or documentation pages, G2 and company records, checked on October 24, 2026. Unknown values are left out instead of estimated.