“How did people get work done without any computers?” It might seem like second nature already, but most small businesses require a cloud collaboration app for employee efficiency, even if you don’t have remote offices. A good cloud collaboration tool can provide chat channels, manage projects and ultimately, increase productivity. This is a must-have for small businesses, but some collab-apps come with a price, so here are 10 Cloud Collaboration tools for small businesses that won’t break your budget.
This app puts user experience as its number 1 priority, Jostle is a collaboration app with instant messaging that is easy to use with a simple design. Features include: posts integrated to the News and Events section, Private chat channels, and an integrated calendar for project management. It starts at $8 per person monthly and decreases the more employees you have.
Glip: Task Management/MessagingCompetitively priced, Glip provides task management features such as to-do lists, integrated calendars, file uploading, audio and video calling (with minutes depending on which plan you have), screen-sharing and a team messaging platform. Glip has a free plan and its basic plan is priced at $5 per person monthly.
Let’s Chat is one of the simplest cloud collaboration tools designed for smaller teams, installation and integration is a very simple process. The design is also simple and pretty, even on the mobile apps. Oh, and the best part is Let’s Chat is 100% free.
Samepage is one of the classic cloud collaboration tools that focuses on project management, its task management features include calendars that allow for comments and note cards, file sharing that is integrated with Dropbox, Instant Messaging, and video conferencing. Samepage also has a free plan, its Pro Plan is $10 per user monthly and $100 per user annually.
For all the small businesses that run Microsoft Office for your activities, Yammer is one of the cloud collaboration tools for you. This project management app includes file sharing, discussions forums, file/video uploads, that are designed specifically for Microsoft integration, it is now also a Microsoft product. Yammer enterprise starts at $3 per user monthly.
Mattermost is a team messaging and project management app made in 2011, along with file sharing Mattermost features other business tools such as performance monitoring or compliance reporting. Mattermost is also open-sourced which makes it highly customizable. Contains free option, Enterprise accounts are $1.67 per user monthly.
Riot.im: Instant Messaging +The app formally known as Vector is for the tech-savvy businesses. Riot is a collaboration app that also includes chat, file transfer, iOS/Android Integrations, video and audio calling. Riot is also open sourced and has seen many of its developer clients modify their accounts to their needs. Riot is completely free, with paid hosting plans on the works.
On a similar note, Gitter is also an instant messaging app with unlimited chat rooms and mobile app integrations. It is also open sourced for customization which is widely known within its many communities, which are chat rooms for Javascript, CSS and other topics. Gitter is free for up to 25 users.
Twist: Cloud Collaboration and Communication appTwist is a simple Instant Messaging and Collaboration app, it has simple email channels, 5GBs of total file storage, mobile app integrations and simplistic designs. The app’s Google authentication (for easy login) is to help enhance its number one selling point, organization. Twist comes with a free plan but also has an Unlimited plan for $6 per user monthly.
Slack is a cloud-collaboration tool used by most companies, it contains chat channels, audio and video calling, file sharing, and other integrations such as Twitter, Dropbox and Soundcloud. You might have thought of this app when reading the title, since I looked at Slack alternatives before writing this blog post. Slack also has a free plan, and its standard plan is $6.67 per user monthly.
Create your FreeConference.com account and get access to everything you need for your business or organization to hit the ground running, like video and Screen Sharing, Call Scheduling, Automated Email Invitations, Reminders, and more.
