Short answer: Google Chat alternative for project files. Put the current file, the decision and the next owner in one channel. Basic is 9 USD per paid account a month, or 86 USD a year, with 25 GiB. The trial is 3 days. The iPhone and iPad app is coming soon. The encryption scope is on the security page.
Compare a Google Chat alternative for project files. Keep files with the conversation, review account pricing and test one project for 3 days.
Product view: conversations, files and next steps in one place.
Chat in Workspace, files in Drive, work in neither
Google Chat is a natural choice when the company already pays for Workspace. The project then splits: the decision is in Chat, the file is a Drive link, and the next step is a comment somewhere else. BusyVault is for teams that want the file uploaded into the project channel, previewed there, and tied to a checklist. It does not replace Docs, Sheets or Gmail.
Stay in Google for documents
If co-editing a spreadsheet is the job, keep that spreadsheet. Use BusyVault for the surrounding project: source files, review rounds and checklists. Judge the switch by whether people stop asking where the approved file went.
Decide on one Drive project
Do not migrate a company off Workspace because a chat page suggested it. Migrate the project that is already split across Chat and Drive. Check that choice on one live job in the web app. The trial is 3 days and includes 10 GiB. Basic is then 9 USD a month with 25 GiB, or Pro is 30 USD with 100 GiB. Extra storage is 0.03 USD per GiB a month. One paid account does not cover the team.
What to write down before you switch
Read “Google Chat alternative for project files” as a buying note for one job, not as a score. Name the file you would actually send, the history you still need to search, and who pays for each account. BusyVault is the hosted app for that job. Other products stay on this page only where the comparison says who runs the server or what one upload allows. There is no star rating and no laboratory winner. Keep the quote you were sent beside any public price printed here.
Files, history and the next owner
On Google Chat alternative for project files, keep the file next to the sentence that approved it. Slack documents a 1 GB cap on one upload and, on the Free plan, 90 days of visible history. Those two limits are the public facts this site already cites.
BusyVault bills storage per paid account: 25 GiB on Basic and 100 GiB on Pro. Extra storage is 0.03 USD per GiB a month after you confirm the charge. Basic is 9 USD a month or 86 USD a year. Pro is 30 USD a month or 288 USD a year. One subscription does not cover the team.
The trial is 3 days and 10 GiB. Use it to upload a real file and to search for a decision, not to announce a company-wide move. If the file does not fit or the old decision cannot be found, say so in the channel before you promise the room is the archive.
Where the app runs
BusyVault runs in the browser and can be installed from Chrome or Edge on Windows, macOS and Linux. The Android app is on Google Play and uses the same account. The iPhone and iPad app is coming soon. Enterprise customers can run BusyVault on their own servers under a separate contract. There is no public installer on this site for that path. This page does not claim SOC 2, ISO 27001 or HIPAA.
A check you can finish this week
For Google Chat alternative for project files, finish four lines and stop. Line one is the project name. Line two is the channel name. Line three is where the current file lives. Line four is the next owner. Add one rule for meetings: what must be decided live, and what must be written down the same day.
Ask someone who was not on the call to find the file without help. If they open the right channel first, the structure works. If they search three threads and still ask which version is current, move the file to the channel and leave a pointer. Owners and administrators can export a BusyVault backup from workspace or channel settings. After a restore, check the text, the file references and who can open them. Keep the original files until that check passes. Product questions go to the address on the support page.
Drive stays, the project still needs a home
Google Chat is included with Workspace, so the chat line is not an extra price. The project still needs a place for the file, the comment and the next owner. If that place is already a Drive folder plus a Chat room, write the gap before you buy another product. BusyVault is optional for the job that is split, not a reason to leave Workspace.
Use these checks to record what worked, what failed and what needs another tool. They are evaluation criteria, not claimed test results.
A practical acceptance checklist
Check
Evidence to collect
Source of truth
Specify which documents remain editable in Drive and which become delivered files.
Linked access
Test a Drive link from the intended reviewer's account.
Duplicate copies
Record which revision is authoritative when a document is exported into the project channel.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Asked before
switching.
Should a Google Workspace team move its documents into BusyVault?
Start by deciding which system owns each document. Keep live co-editing in Google Docs when you need it, and test BusyVault for project discussion and deliverables. A linked Drive document still follows its own permissions. Check recipient access separately from membership of the BusyVault channel.
