Slack vs Discord for work: an honest comparison for a business with assistants

Discord was built for friends and communities. Slack was built for work. Here's where each wins, what each costs, and which fits a team with remote assistants.

What if you also need to see what your assistant got done?

Slack and Discord keep the conversation. Running a remote assistant takes three more things: the jobs they repeat every week, the logins they use, and a report of what got done. Most owners add a password manager, a time tracker and a doc of SOPs on top, and pay for each one.

Routines: the jobs your assistant repeats, written as steps they tick off
Shared logins: share a login with one assistant, and revoke it when they leave
End-of-day reports: what got done and the hours worked, as a PDF or a link

Slack vs Discord on price and calls

Prices in US dollars as listed on slack.com and discord.com on 7 October 2026.

Free plan: 90 days of message history, up to 10 apps, one-to-one huddles / Chat, voice and video, with uploads up to 20MB
Paid plans: Pro: US$7.25 per user a month, billed yearly (US$8.75 monthly) / Nitro, a personal subscription: US$2.99 or US$9.99 a month
Voice: Huddles you start: one-to-one on Free, group on Pro / Voice channels you hop in and out of, no call needed

The verdict, if you work with remote assistants

Use Slack to run a business and Discord to run a community. Discord's voice rooms are always open and your team can use it without paying. Slack connects to over 2,600 work apps and keeps your full history on Pro. With remote assistants, you'll also want the jobs they repeat, the logins they use and a daily report in one place, and neither is built for that.

The hidden cost of free

Discord's paid plan is Nitro, which each person buys for perks such as bigger uploads and HD streaming. Your team can chat and talk without it. Slack Free keeps 90 days of messages, so a business that briefs its assistant in chat usually ends up on Pro, at US$7.25 per user a month billed yearly.

Which is better for talking with your team during the day?

Discord, if your team likes an always-open room. You hop into a voice channel and whoever's there can talk, without calling anyone. Slack calls are huddles you start: one-to-one on Free, group calls with screen sharing on Pro.

What each one was built for

Discord says it was built to solve one problem: how to talk with friends while gaming together. Slack's directory lists over 2,600 work apps, from Google Drive to Salesforce. If your chat needs to connect to the tools you run the business on, that's Slack's side.

When to choose Discord over Slack

Pick Discord if you're running a community, a customer group, a class or a gaming team. People can join for free, the voice rooms are always open, and Discord says more than 90 million people use it every day. For running a business with staff, Slack or a work chat fits better.

How to decide between them

Pick Discord for a community, a fan or customer group, or a team that wants an always-open voice room.
Pick Slack for a business that needs its chat connected to work apps, with full history on Pro.
Pick Crewhall if you have a Catalyst assistant, or plan to: it puts their routines, logins and end-of-day report next to the chat.

Slack, Discord, or something built for assistants?

Crewhall is our app. Catalyst built it for clients who work with our remote assistants, and it comes with every placement. It has chat, calls with screen sharing, routines, shared logins, SOPs and the end-of-day report in one place. It isn't sold on its own, so if you don't work with assistants, pick from the other two.

See Crewhall

Sources

Slack: slack.com/pricing, read 7 October 2026
Discord: discord.com, discord.com/company, discord.com/nitro and the File Attachments FAQ on support.discord.com, read 7 October 2026
Crewhall: the app itself, checked 7 October 2026

Frequently asked questions

Is Discord good for business?

For some. Discord works well for a community, a customer group or a team that likes an always-open voice room. For running staff and remote assistants, a work chat such as Slack or Crewhall fits better.

Is Discord free?

You can chat, talk and share files up to 20MB without paying. Nitro, at US$2.99 or US$9.99 a month, is a personal subscription for perks such as bigger uploads and HD streaming.

Can Discord replace Slack for a small business?

It can for chat and calls. Slack connects to over 2,600 work apps, and Discord was built for friends and communities, so most businesses that rely on other tools stay with a work chat.

Is Slack free?

Yes, with limits. Slack Free keeps 90 days of message history, connects up to 10 apps and allows one-to-one huddles only.

Which is better for remote teams?

It depends on how your team talks. Slack suits a team that works in writing and connects other apps to its chat. Discord suits a team that likes dropping into a voice room. Both handle chat, calls and screen sharing.