Microsoft debuts free version of Microsoft Teams with team storage capped at 10GB, and Microsoft 365 launches live events with facial recognition and more
including free version of Microsoft Teams LinkedIn : Satya Nadella CEO at Microsoft Peter O'Kelly / Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check : 4 new ways Microsoft 365 takes the work out of teamwork … Peter Bright / Ars Technica : Microsoft finally gives Teams what it needs to take on Slack: A free version Nat Levy / GeekWire : New Microsoft 365 tools will tell users to stop emailing after-hours, enable live video events Tom Warren / The Verge : Microsoft matches Slack with a free version of its Teams chat app Devindra Hardawar / Engadget : Microsoft takes on Slack with free version of Teams Gavriella Schuster / The Official Microsoft Blog : Inspire 2018: Opening doors for partner innovation, growth and differentiation Tweets: Tom Warren / @tomwarren : Microsoft is going after Slack today. A new free version of Microsoft Teams (its slack competitor) is launching today. Here's all the details: http://www.theverge.com/... http://twitter.com/... Harold van de Kamp / @haroldvandekamp : Compare the #MicrosoftTeams plans https://buff.ly/2L9nxuU pic.twitter.com/tLvgutAWJ9 Richard Hay / @winobs : It took me less than 5 minutes to set up a free Microsoft Teams site. pic.twitter.com/trHLOTIMsa Anne Michels / @anne_michels : Features included in the free version of #MicrosoftTeams for up to 300 people: - Unlimited chat messages &search - Built-in audio & video calling - 10 GB of team file storage +2 GB personal storage - content creation with Office Online apps - Unlimited app integrations pic.twitter.com/IoGY3CwiXa Richard Hay / @winobs : Microsoft Teams (Free) has a dark mode - I think the subscriber version does as well. pic.twitter.com/eM45erufxF Richard Hay / @winobs : So items shared in channels in Microsoft Teams (Free) are publicly accessible to the team site (10GB). If you upload a file to the OneDrive area - that is your personal storage - 2 GB - and is still in the SharePoint Online site. Links/Files can be shared though. pic.twitter.com/uvsXHkaXz9 Mary Jo Foley / @maryjofoley : Those having trouble finding the link to sign up for the free version of Microsoft Teams, try this: https://products.office.com/ ... More info: https://www.zdnet.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft launched Teams in late 2016 as a Slack competitor sold inside Office 365 and then made it a free, on-by-default feature for Office 365 business users the following spring — so until now, using Teams at all required a paid Microsoft subscription. The new free tier removes that gate entirely, with a 10GB team storage cap and 2GB per user, while Microsoft 365 simultaneously gains live events with facial recognition and after-hours email nudges. The move lands mid-adoption-curve: by September Microsoft would report Teams usage climbing from 200,000 to 329,000 organizations in six months.
First-order effects
- Small teams without any Office 365 subscription can now run on Teams at zero cost, putting Microsoft head-to-head with Slack's free product for the first time rather than competing only for existing Microsoft customers.
Second-order effects
- Slack now faces a rival whose free tier is subsidized by the Office franchise, pressuring it to defend its own freemium funnel and its integration-led differentiation instead of competing on price.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, workplace chat consolidates around productivity suites — consistent with the framing that [[a:955483|Teams serves Microsoft's ambition to build an OS for the cloud while Slack builds an enterprise social network]] — leaving standalone chat vendors to justify themselves as unbundled point solutions.
The trend: Team communication software is shifting from standalone products to bundled features of broader productivity platforms, with Microsoft using free tiers to widen the top of its Office 365 funnel.