Since Microsoft Teams arrived a few years ago, the conversation has been about a rivalry with fellow communication tool Slack. Microsoft’s service has consistently bested Slack across various measurements. Slack moved from lamenting the fact Teams is bungled in Office 365 to more recently suggesting the two apps are not competitors at all.

In the COVID-19 world of remote work, there seems to be enough market for everyone. Both Microsoft Teams and Slack are enjoying surges in usage and popularity. However, it is Teams that has beaten Slack to another important milestone.

As MSpoweruser reports, Microsoft Teams has reached 50 million downloads on the Google Play Store. In comparison, Slack is still slotted into the 10+ million category. Furthermore, Teams currently has a higher rating on the Android platform with 4.4 out of 5.

Looking to the wider communications market, Zoom has passed 100 million users and Google Meet has passed 50 million. However, those may not be viewed as direct competitors to Teams. For example, Zoom and Meet are primarily video conferencing tools that are increasingly being embraced by consumers as much as enterprise users.

Teams is a more rounded collaboration and communication tool for the workplace and remains more oriented towards business users.

Market Growth

As mentioned, the current work-from-home era caused by the COVID-19 pandemic suggests there’s enough market for all major providers. Zoom’s userbase increased from 10 million to over 300 million in the space of the last three months. Teams has seen growth of users from around 20 million to over 70 million in that time.

While Slack has not detailed its exact numbers recently, it too has seen record amounts of daily active users. What happens when lockdown restrictions ease and people return to work will be interesting. It stands to reason numbers will decline for the major communication tools.

You can download Microsoft Teams from the Google Play Store here. Slack is available on the store here.