Short answer: Slack alternative for small teams. 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 Slack alternative for small teams. Review Basic and Pro per paid account, included storage and a 3-day trial before moving your group.
Product view: conversations, files and next steps in one place.
Compare the accounts you will actually pay for
Small teams often meet Slack when the free plan’s 90-day history is no longer enough, then discover paid Slack is priced per user. BusyVault is also priced per paid account, not as one fee for an unlimited company. The useful comparison is the same headcount, the same billing period, and whether the work needs included storage more than a large app directory.
Fewer tools, one project place
A five-person team does not need a canvas, a list app and a chat if the job is a file, a decision and a next step. BusyVault keeps those three in the channel. Use the cost calculator with your real account count before you treat any headline price as the team budget.
Decide after one small-team week
Choose Slack if you already rely on its admin controls or external Slack Connect rooms. 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 “Slack alternative for small teams” 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 Slack alternative for small teams, 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 Slack alternative for small teams, 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.
Five people, one paid seat each
A small team still pays per person who needs an account. Five people on Basic are five times 9 USD a month, not one shared login. Each paid account includes 25 GiB, and extra space is 0.03 USD per GiB a month. The 3-day trial is enough to run one client job. It is not a free year. If Slack Connect rooms are already the contract, stay there.
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
Account budget
Count everyone who needs paid access, including regular collaborators.
First project
A new teammate finds the brief, latest file and next task from one project channel.
Recurring cost
Check renewal period and extra storage separately from the headline subscription price.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Asked before
switching.
What does BusyVault Basic cost for five paid accounts?
At the published Basic rate, five paid accounts cost USD 45 per month or USD 430 billed for a full year, before tax and additional storage. Each account includes 25 GiB; do not assume that allowances form a shared storage pool. Compare the same number of paid people and the same period in both products.
