Collaboration tools for small businesses in 2026
This comparison is published by Synintra, which is one of the tools in it. So we made two commitments. We publish no price the vendor does not publish itself: when the pricing is not public or not readable, we say so. And we say what the others do better than us, because a comparison that always sides with its author helps nobody.
On this page 11 sections
The prices below were taken from the vendors' official websites on 24 October 2026, excluding tax. Prices move often, and launch offers even more so: check them before you decide.
Where we sit, so you do not read ten minutes for nothing. Synintra is made for small teams that want a single, simple tool: team channels, to-dos, shared notes and client tracking, connected to each other, with one price per company and free external guests. If what you need is messaging connected to dozens of apps, a very advanced knowledge base or a complete suite with telephony and a website, the rest of this page tells you who to talk to.
First, ask yourself three questions
Do you already pay for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace? If so, you already have team messaging (Teams or Google Chat) included in your subscription. The real question becomes: does your team use it? If nobody has adopted it, it is often because something other than messaging is missing.
Do you work a lot with outsiders? Clients, subcontractors, your accountant. The cost and simplicity of inviting them vary enormously from one tool to another, and it is rarely the first thing people look at.
How many tools do you want to manage? Messaging, a notes tool, a task manager and a CRM: that is four subscriptions, four accounts to create for every new hire, and a lot of copy-pasting between them.
The table
| Tool | What it does best | Pricing model | Public price found | External guests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Synintra | Channels, to-dos, notes and clients connected in a single tool | Per company | Free during early access, then a paid plan announced in advance | Free and not counted, partner companies included |
| Slack | The most polished team messaging, integrations | Per user | Pro €8.25 per month (€6.75 billed annually); free plan limited to 90 days of history | On paid plans: single-channel guests free (5 per paid member), other guests charged; channels shared between companies if each one pays |
| Microsoft Teams | Included in Microsoft 365, integrated with Outlook and Office | Per user | Included in Microsoft 365 subscriptions, pricing on Microsoft's website | Guest access available |
| Google Chat | Included in Google Workspace, with Gmail and Drive | Per user | Business Starter €6.80 per month on monthly billing | External conversations available |
| Notion | Very powerful documents and databases | Per member | Plus €9.50 per month; Business €19.50 | 10 guests on the free plan |
| Basecamp | Projects run with clients, flat pricing | Flat fee per team | Per month: $29 up to 5 people, $79 up to 10, $99 up to 15; unlimited $199 per month billed annually ($329 billed monthly) | Counted in the number of people |
| Bitrix24 | Very broad suite: CRM, tasks, chat, telephony, website | Flat fee per team | Per month: Basic (5 people) €49 billed annually or €69 billed monthly; Standard (50 people) €99 billed annually or €144 billed monthly | Not verified |
| Wimi | French collaboration suite: chat, tasks, documents, calendar | Per user | Projects €12 per month; Suite €15 | Not verified |
Synintra
Synintra brings together team channels, a personal to-do list, shared notes written by several people and tracking of clients and prospects. Their strength lies in how they connect: a message becomes a note or a to-do in one click, a note can be shared in a channel, a partner joins the channel for their project and only that one. The price is set per company, never per user, and inviting your clients and partners is free.
What others do better. Slack and Teams have integration catalogues we do not have. Notion goes much further with databases. Bitrix24 covers far more trades, telephony and website included. We replace neither your email nor your office suite.
Slack
The benchmark for team messaging: threads, audio calls, search, and a huge ecosystem of apps. For a team that lives in its tools and wants to plug everything into its messaging, it is often the best choice.
Points to watch for a small business. The price is per user. The free plan keeps only 90 days of history and limits connected apps to 10. Guests are only available on paid plans, and channels shared with another company require each company to be on a paid plan. Slack remains a messaging tool: notes, tasks and client tracking happen in other tools.
See also our Slack alternative page.
Microsoft Teams
If your company already pays for Microsoft 365 for Outlook and Office, Teams is included. It integrates naturally with Word, Excel and SharePoint documents, and handles video meetings at scale.
Points to watch. Teams is powerful, and that richness has a downside: in many small teams, it is only used for video calls while day-to-day conversations stay on WhatsApp and in email. If that is your case, the issue is not price but adoption.
Google Chat
Google's equivalent: included in Google Workspace, alongside Gmail, Calendar and Drive. The natural choice if your whole company already lives in Google.
Points to watch. It is a messaging tool, simple and effective. Client tracking and meeting notes live elsewhere: in other apps of the suite, or in third-party tools.
Notion
A documents and databases tool of great flexibility: company wiki, procedures, custom project tracking. Teams that like building their own organisation love it.
Points to watch. That flexibility takes time: you have to design your spaces, and someone has to maintain them. Notion is not team messaging; most teams use it alongside Slack or Teams. AI is only included from the Business plan up.
Basecamp
A project management tool designed for working with clients, with a flat price per team rather than per person. A model close to ours on pricing.
Points to watch. Invited clients and suppliers count towards the number of people on your plan, which can make a project with many outside participants expensive.
Bitrix24
A very complete suite: CRM, tasks, messaging, video, telephony, website building, with a flat price per team. For a company that wants a single vendor for almost everything, it is a serious option.
Points to watch. The breadth comes at a cost in simplicity: getting to grips with it takes time, and many features will never be used by a team of ten.
Wimi
A French collaboration suite that puts sovereign hosting forward: chat, tasks, shared documents, calendar. A consistent choice if sovereign hosting is a purchasing criterion for your clients.
Points to watch. The price is per user. We found no client and prospect tracking in its published plans.
How to choose
- Your team already genuinely uses Teams or Google Chat: stay there, and only add what is missing.
- You want to connect your messaging to lots of apps: Slack.
- You want to build your own documentation and your own databases: Notion.
- You run projects with clients and want a flat fee: Basecamp, or Synintra if you have many guests.
- You want a suite that covers almost everything, telephony included: Bitrix24.
- You want a single, simple tool where messages, tasks, notes and clients are connected, with one price per company and free guests: Synintra.