Flowdock vs. Slack

Flowdock is well suited for small teams and to environments that doesn't need too much reliability. I think it has some management problems that can make your life difficult if you have to manage a big amount of users. If you want just a tool communication with basic features (without using any integration or robust features) it can be suitable for you. You should try Flowdock using its free version for a small team and compare with others similar products. Flowdock delivers team chat and collaboration features, but is not necessarily the best product. Maybe some usability problems that disturb me won't be so relevant to you.

Incentivized

Slack is very well suited for a team that is working to provide a better customer experience. It is also suited for other functions such as using it a notification for a virtual meetings. It is also suited to create channels for different teams or for specific people in a team.

Incentivized

• Mobile app experience
• Software integrations
• Notifications

• Slack's instant messaging enables our team to communicate in real time, accelerating decision-making and problem-solving.
• When we have tight deadlines, rapid approvals may be requested in seconds with the help of dedicated project channel.
• Slack’s channel system helps organize conversations by topics, teams, or projects. This makes it easy to focus on relevant discussions.
• We have separate channels for our marketing, operations, finance, business development & warehouse team.
• Slack enables quick file sharing directly in conversations or channels.
• When launching a new marketing campaign, our team shares assets like photos and videos directly in the marketing channel.

Incentivized

• One thing a little bit annoying is that a lot of links to others Flowdock sections (preferences, external services, etc) will open a new window/tab. Each click may take you to a new window and you can get lost easily.
• There isn't a quick access list to members of your organization to start a private chat. I took a while to find how to do that. The interface and usability could be better.
• There isn't an app for Windows Phone.
• Sometimes you try to load some conversation and it doesn't show anything. It is not frequently but happens sometimes.

Incentivized

• Updates: some of updates were great because they added a lot of new stuff, but some of them were not - for example, whenever the interface changes. We are used to the previous one and the new one is very different. I mean, you don't fix what's not broken, right? So, we don't see any need to change the visual that much.
• Bug - sometimes the app opens all by itself (minimized) and when I click it, I can't open again. I have to go to the browser and click an option to have it open in the app.
• Complexity - some of the complex part of the app is not that user friendly. There are functions there (pools, for example) that are not easy to handle. We don't have enough info to create one, it seems it expects us to know how it works.

Incentivized

I go with the flow because I'm a newer employee and Flowdock works as advertised. If it were my decision to choose a team communciator for the organization, I'd recommend we go with Slack for its robust features and ever-changing/evolving software integrations. Slack is the outright innovator in the space and will continue to hold that role for some time.

As useful as Slack has become within our company, I feel fairly confident we will continue to use Slack as a communication tool. They continue to improve their software and add value to its use within our office. Customer service delivers, which is an absolute must. Looking forward to how they improve.

Incentivized

As long as you use the basic chat features and nothing more, it really is super easy to understand and use. Once you want to take advantage of some of the more advanced features and capabilities, that's when things get complicated. Anyone who has use SMS or a chat program before will be able to figure out the basics though, so rolling this out should be relatively straightforward and not required exhaustive training. Teaching chat etiquette is something else though.

Yes, the app works 24/7. I don't even recall having any period that we could not use since the implementation. Even the maintenance periods are barely noticeable and our work is not impacted by it when it happens.

Incentivized

Slack is a soft app, we don't have many issues with it. I recall one or two people complaining about something during our usage period, but I didn't have a bad experience. When the app is slow, usually the problem is with my computer or my internet. The app works just fine.

Incentivized

I've never had to contact support for Slack which is a great testament to its ease and use. Adding people outside of the organization takes a little getting used to, but ultimately allows for greater collaboration between FTE and contractors. There is no clear alternative to this software, so it's the best we can do for now.

It always helps if you communicate to everyone in the organization how important it is to drop whatever other chat tools they are using and jump quickly to Slack. They will all fall in love with it.

Incentivized

Slack is a similar software.

Private chat or channels are well implemented in both softwares and both are also very easy to setup.

Besides of some usability problemas I think Flowdock is still better than Slack in this user experience and design.

The second point is the price. Flowdock is half price of Slack ($3/month). If you are a student or a non-profit organization, you are able to get some special license.

Incentivized

It was too email centric - you get too many emails telling you to go there, so it seemed inefficient. There wasn't enough non-project functionality so it was never really "always open" for people the way Slack is, it just felt like an extra thing to do, rather than a tool that was truly integrated into our workday.

Incentivized

• Our company uses it by default.
• I enjoy the ability to communicate outside of text messages...keeps the conversation on in it's own bucket.

• When looking at whether to invest in Slack vs. Microsoft Teams, I always recommend Slack. Slack's interface is a lot easier to learn and is more user-friendly.
• I would recommend Slack, no matter the price tag, the ease of communication and making announcements for our team is priceless. From little things to "there's pizza in the break room!" to important updates for the whole team, it truly makes communication very easy and frequent.
• If you have a lot of team members who are remote, Slack is invaluable. It's more personal and lighthearted than emailing and quicker.

Incentivized