Pumble review 2026: the best free Slack alternative?
Our verdict
Pumble · Free plan (unlimited users & message history); paid from $2.49/user/mo billed annually
Pumble is the best free Slack alternative for small teams. Its free plan gives you unlimited users and, crucially, unlimited message history, the exact thing Slack limits to 90 days, and its paid tiers start at a fraction of Slack's price. It has a smaller ecosystem and fewer power features, but if you want Slack's core experience without the cost, it is a genuinely easy switch.
Pros
- Free plan with unlimited users and unlimited message history
- Familiar, Slack-like channels and threads
- Voice and video calls even on free
- Cheapest paid tiers around (from $2.49/user)
- Integrates with Clockify and Plaky
Cons
- Smaller app and integration ecosystem than Slack
- Fewer power-user features and bots
- Less brand familiarity than Slack
Slack is excellent, but its free plan has a sting: once a message is 90 days old, you cannot see it unless you pay. For a small team, losing your history is a real problem. Pumble was built to answer exactly that, offering a Slack-like experience with unlimited history for free.
We tested Pumble as a day-to-day Slack replacement. Our take: for small teams that want the core of Slack without the cost, it is the best free option going.
What is Pumble?
Pumble is a team chat app from CAKE.com, the makers of Clockify. It gives you channels, direct messages, threads, and voice and video calls, in a layout that will feel instantly familiar to anyone who has used Slack. The headline is its free plan: unlimited users and unlimited, searchable message history.
Key features
What you get:
- Channels, direct messages and threads, Slack-style.
- Unlimited, searchable message history on the free plan.
- Voice and video calls and messages.
- Integrations with Clockify and Plaky, plus other apps.
- Apps for web, desktop and mobile.
Pricing
The free plan is the reason to look: unlimited users and unlimited message history, where Slack caps free history at 90 days. Paid plans start at around $2.49 per user a month (billed annually) on Pro, rising through Business and Enterprise, all well below Slack's pricing. For a small team, the saving over a year is significant.
Where it falls short
Pumble's ecosystem is smaller than Slack's, so if your workflow depends on lots of third-party apps and bots, Slack still leads. It also has fewer power-user features, and Slack's brand familiarity can matter when you collaborate with outside partners. For most small teams, though, none of that outweighs free unlimited history.
Who should use Pumble?
Choose Pumble if you are a small or budget-conscious team that wants Slack's core experience without losing your history or paying Slack's prices. If you rely on a big ecosystem of integrations, Slack is still the more powerful choice, and if you already pay for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, Teams or Google Chat come effectively free. For a standalone team chat on a budget, Pumble is our pick.
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Founder & reviewer
I run a web agency and use these tools daily on real client projects, so every review is based on hands-on, in-production experience.