Is Slack a European company?

No. Slack is headquartered in San Francisco, United States and owned by Salesforce (United States). As a US company it falls under US law, including the CLOUD Act, wherever it stores your data.

Is there a free European alternative to Slack?

Element, Wire, Infomaniak and Nextcloud have a free plan with no time limit.

Which Slack alternatives keep your data in Europe?

Wire, Infomaniak, Stackfield, Teamwire and ginlo Business store customer data in Europe by default.

Is there an open-source European alternative to Slack?

Yes: Element, Wire, Nextcloud and Twake Workplace. Open-source tools can also be self-hosted on your own servers in Europe.

Can Slack store data in Europe?

Yes. Slack offers data residency in Frankfurt and Paris among other regions, from the Business+ plan up, arranged through its sales team. Without it, data is stored in the US.

Is there an open-source European Slack alternative?

Element, built on the Matrix standard, Nextcloud Talk and Twake Chat are open source and run on your own servers. Mattermost and Rocket.Chat are open source too, but are not European companies.

Checked November 2026

10 Best European Alternatives to Slack (2026)

Team messaging app with channels, direct messages, huddles and a large app directory. Owned by Salesforce since 2021. The European alternatives that replace it best are Element (United Kingdom) for public sector and regulated teams needing self-hosted chat, Wire (Switzerland) for teams that need encrypted chat and calls and Infomaniak (Switzerland) for small businesses that want one Swiss provider.

European alternatives: 10; From 4 countries
Keep data in Europe: 5; By default, no setting needed
With a free plan: 4; No time limit
Open source: 4; Can run on your own servers

Slack alternatives from Europe, compared

Best first for someone replacing Slack. Headcount and founding year come from LeadWave's database; prices, hosting and G2 ratings from each company's own pages and G2, checked in November 2026.

European alternatives to Slack
Alternative	Headquarters	Founded	Employees	G2 rating	Free plan	Paid plans from	Your data	Open source
1Element	London, United Kingdom	2017	—	4.2 (43 reviews)	Yes	Free	Self-hosted	Yes
2Wire	Zug, Switzerland	—	—	4.2 (61 reviews)	Yes	€7.45/user/month	In Europe	Yes
3Infomaniak	Geneva, Switzerland	—	—	—	Yes	Free	In Europe	No
4Nextcloud	Stuttgart, Germany	2016	—	4.4 (171 reviews)	Yes	€71.29/user/year	Self-hosted	Yes
5Stackfield	Munich, Germany	2012	—	4.3 (14 reviews)	No	€9/user/month	In Europe	No
6Twake Workplace	Issy-les-Moulineaux, France	—	—	—	No	—	Self-hosted	Yes
7Teamwire	Munich, Germany	—	—	4.4 (52 reviews)	No	€79/account/month	In Europe	No
8Threema Work	Pfäffikon SZ, Switzerland	2012	—	4.4 (9 reviews)	No	CHF 3/user/month	—	No
9Talkspirit	Paris, France	—	—	4.6 (117 reviews)	No	—	—	No
10ginlo Business	Munich, Germany	—	—	—	No	—	In Europe	No

The 10 alternatives in detail

1. Element

Secure team messaging built on Matrix

Messaging and calling platform from the team that created the Matrix open standard. Organisations self-host it or buy a managed server. Used by several European governments, including in openDesk.

Compared with Slack: Channels, direct messages and calls on the open Matrix standard, self-hosted or managed. Fewer ready-made app integrations than Slack.

Headquarters: London, United Kingdom
Founded: 2017
Your data: Self-hosted
Price: Free
Free plan: Yes
G2 rating: 4.2 (43 reviews)
Best for: Public sector and regulated teams needing self-hosted chat

2. Wire

End-to-end encrypted messaging, calls and file sharing

Encrypted messenger for teams with chat, voice and video calls, and file sharing. Offered as a cloud service with servers in the EU, or on your own servers. Free for teams of up to five.

Compared with Slack: End-to-end encrypted chat, calls and file sharing, free for up to five people. Simpler channels and far fewer integrations than Slack.

Headquarters: Zug, Switzerland
Your data: In Europe
Price: From €7.45/user/month, billed yearly
Free plan: Yes
G2 rating: 4.2 (61 reviews)
Best for: Teams that need encrypted chat and calls

3. Infomaniak

Swiss email, cloud storage, chat and video meetings

Swiss hosting company whose kSuite bundles email, kDrive storage with online document editing, kChat messaging and kMeet video calls. Runs in its own data centres in Switzerland.

Compared with Slack: kChat offers Slack-style channels inside Infomaniak's Swiss suite with email and storage. Smaller integration catalogue.

Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
Your data: In Europe
Price: Free
Free plan: Yes
Best for: Small businesses that want one Swiss provider

4. Nextcloud

Self-hosted files, office editing, chat and calls

Open-source collaboration platform you run on your own servers or through a hosting partner. Nextcloud Hub covers file sync, online document editing, Talk chat and video calls, mail and calendar.

Compared with Slack: Talk adds chat and calls to Nextcloud's self-hosted files and office. Less polished chat than Slack, but data stays on your servers.

Headquarters: Stuttgart, Germany
Founded: 2016
Your data: Self-hosted
Price: From €71.29/user/year, billed yearly
Free plan: Yes
G2 rating: 4.4 (171 reviews)
Best for: Organisations that want to run the platform themselves

5. Stackfield

Team chat, tasks and video calls in one tool

German collaboration tool that combines chat rooms, tasks, documents and video meetings in one workspace. Made and hosted in Germany.

Compared with Slack: Chat rooms combined with tasks and documents, hosted in Germany. More of a project tool than a pure chat app.

Headquarters: Munich, Germany
Founded: 2012
Your data: In Europe
Price: From €9/user/month, billed yearly
Free plan: No
G2 rating: 4.3 (14 reviews)
Best for: Small teams wanting chat and project tasks together

6. Twake Workplace

Open-source mail, chat, drive and calendar

Open-source workplace suite from the French company Linagora, with Twake Mail, Twake Chat, Twake Drive and a calendar. Available as a cloud service or installed on your own servers.

Compared with Slack: Open-source Twake Chat, part of Linagora's suite with mail and drive. Younger product with a smaller user base.

Headquarters: Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
Your data: Self-hosted
Price: On request
Free plan: No
Best for: Organisations wanting an open-source suite from a French vendor

7. Teamwire

Business messenger hosted in Germany

Secure messenger for companies and public bodies, with chats, calls, user management and alerting. Runs in a German cloud, a private cloud or on premises.

Compared with Slack: German-hosted business messenger with admin controls and alerting. Built around mobile messaging rather than channels and apps.

Headquarters: Munich, Germany
Your data: In Europe
Price: From €79/account/month
Free plan: No
G2 rating: 4.4 (52 reviews)
Best for: Organisations replacing WhatsApp-style chat at work

8. Threema Work

Swiss encrypted messenger for companies

Business edition of the Swiss Threema messenger, with central user management and end-to-end encryption. Works without a phone number. Built for mobile messaging rather than channels and integrations.

Compared with Slack: Swiss encrypted messenger for companies, managed centrally. Mobile-first; no channel-based workspace like Slack.

Headquarters: Pfäffikon SZ, Switzerland
Founded: 2012
Owned by: Comitis Capital (Germany)
Your data: Not stated
Price: From CHF 3/user/month, billed yearly
Free plan: No
G2 rating: 4.4 (9 reviews)
Best for: Companies that need a managed, secure mobile messenger

9. Talkspirit

French collaborative workspace with team chat

French workplace platform that combines team chat, groups, a news feed and shared documents for internal communication.

Compared with Slack: French workspace with team chat, groups and a news feed. Also covers internal communication, which Slack doesn't.

Headquarters: Paris, France
Your data: Not stated
Price: On request
Free plan: No
G2 rating: 4.6 (117 reviews)
Best for: French companies wanting chat plus an internal news feed

10. ginlo Business

Encrypted business messenger from Munich

Encrypted messenger for companies with a management cockpit for users and devices. Operated only in certified data centres in Germany.

Compared with Slack: Encrypted business messenger operated in German data centres. Suited to small teams, not large channel workspaces.

Headquarters: Munich, Germany
Your data: In Europe
Price: On request
Free plan: No
Best for: Small firms wanting a German-hosted mobile messenger

Why look for a European alternative to Slack?

Slack is headquartered in San Francisco, United States and owned by Salesforce (United States). These are the reasons buyers in Europe most often give for looking elsewhere:

Slack belongs to Salesforce, a US company, so US law, including the CLOUD Act, applies.
Without data residency, Slack stores data in the US. Residency in Frankfurt or Paris requires the Business+ plan or higher and is set up through sales.
Slack has no self-hosted edition, which some public bodies and regulated firms need.

How this list was made

A company counts as European if it's headquartered in Europe: the EU, the EEA, Switzerland, the UK, or elsewhere in geographic Europe, never Russia or Belarus. Headquarters means where it's run from, not a registered office. Companies founded in Europe but headquartered elsewhere today are listed separately, and a non-European owner is always named.

Each company was checked against its own legal notice, pricing page and data-processing terms, and its G2 page. Headcount, funding and founding year come from LeadWave's database of SaaS companies. No company paid to be listed or ranked.

More European alternatives

Frequently asked questions

It depends on what you use Slack for. Element (United Kingdom) for public sector and regulated teams needing self-hosted chat, Wire (Switzerland) for teams that need encrypted chat and calls and Infomaniak (Switzerland) for small businesses that want one Swiss provider. All 10 on this page are headquartered in Europe; the table compares their hosting, prices and G2 ratings.