Slack free tier deletes messages older than 90 days and the paid tier starts at $87/year per user. Matrix is a federated protocol; Element is the most polished client. Together they give a small team a chat workspace without per-seat fees.

What you gain

• End-to-end encrypted rooms by default for private conversations
• Federation across servers, talk across organizations without bridges
• Self-host on a small VPS or use matrix.org free
• Threading, reactions, voice rooms, and bridges to Slack/Discord/IRC

What you give up

Self-hosting Synapse or Dendrite is real work, plan a weekend and ongoing maintenance. Encryption keys can be lost on device reset if backup isn’t configured. The mobile app is fine but heavier than Slack on battery.

The math

Element on matrix.org is free. Self-hosted Synapse runs about $5 to $10/month for a five-person team. Slack Pro is $87/year per user, so a five-seat team pays $435/year.

Who should switch

Distributed teams that want chat under their own control, or organizations that need encryption guarantees Slack can’t offer. If your team uses 15 Slack integrations daily, audit those first; many have no Element equivalent.