Talkspirit, best alternative to Microsoft Teams?
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- Microsoft Teams is a team messaging app inside the Microsoft 365 suite; Talkspirit brings roles, objectives, meetings, projects, documents, newsfeed and chat together in one platform.
- Both tools share instant messaging, document sharing and integrations with third-party applications such as Github, Google Drive, Pipedrive or Trello.
- Talkspirit hosts customer data in France and Switzerland, outside the American Cloud Act, a growing requirement for European organisations.
- Guest access opens the platform to contractors and clients, and sign-in without a work email address includes frontline workers, which Teams does not allow.
- Talkspirit does not replace Microsoft 365: many organisations keep both, office tools on one side, organisation and internal communication on the other.
- Five criteria to decide: scope, hosting, who needs connecting, governance, and support for the rollout.
Microsoft Teams is installed in most companies that already run the Microsoft 365 suite. The question that keeps coming up in IT and internal communication departments is a different one: does this team messaging app cover everything your organisation needs, or should you add a European alternative such as Talkspirit alongside it?
Here is what the two solutions have in common, where they differ, and the criteria that help you decide.
Talkspirit, Microsoft Teams: for whom, for what?
Talkspirit and Microsoft Teams share the same objective: to encourage collaborative work within teams. Smoother exchanges between colleagues, shared documents, and less time spent looking for them.
Do you spend hours every day going through your inbox looking for documents you cannot find? A collaborative platform is a simple answer to that recurring problem.
Read also: 12 alternatives to internal email
Using a collaborative platform such as Talkspirit, or a team messaging tool such as Microsoft Teams, has become a near necessity. Especially to connect employees spread across several sites or working remotely, and to run cross-functional projects involving several departments or third parties (service providers, partners).
Talkspirit, Microsoft Teams: what they have in common
Talkspirit and Microsoft Teams are two collaborative tools that put technology at the service of teams. They naturally have a lot in common.
Encouraging teamwork
Both are built to encourage teamwork across your departments. On Talkspirit as on Microsoft Teams, employees exchange through instant messaging, in groups or person to person, and share documents as a team.
Bringing the business environment together
Both solutions integrate third-party applications. If you use Github, Google Drive, Pipedrive or Trello on a daily basis, you can keep using them straight from the platform: once configured, their updates flow into it, so you no longer have to log into every business tool separately.
Those shared advantages aside, Talkspirit differs from Microsoft’s solution on several counts.
Talkspirit vs Microsoft Teams: what sets Talkspirit apart
One platform to organise, communicate and collaborate
Microsoft Teams is a team messaging app, one of the many applications that make up the Microsoft 365 suite. Talkspirit is an operating system for the organisation, which brings together:
- the structure of the organisation, its roles and accountabilities,
- objectives and how they are tracked,
- a meetings module,
- a project management module,
- a knowledge and document management space,
- a newsfeed and a home portal,
- an instant messaging app.
These features are natively integrated, so they are one click away, and employees sign in through single sign-on (SSO).
An open hub for every stakeholder
Talkspirit is an open ecosystem that welcomes your external stakeholders: service providers, partners, customers and suppliers. Guest access lets you invite your teams, but also your contractors or clients, to a single project, which is then the only thing they can see.
Unlike Teams, which assumes a Microsoft 365 account, Talkspirit also lets you invite employees who have no professional email address. That connects office teams and frontline workers, who are usually the ones left out of internal tools.
European hosting, outside the Cloud Act
Talkspirit hosts its customers’ data in France and Switzerland, within a European framework. The platform is not subject to the American Cloud Act, which makes it a sovereign alternative to Microsoft Teams for organisations that need one, a growing requirement across the Benelux and the rest of Europe.
In force since 2018, the Cloud Act allows US authorities to require any American service provider to hand over data stored on its servers, whether those servers sit in the United States or abroad. Microsoft, as a US provider, falls within its scope.
Read also: Digital sovereignty, what companies stand to gain
What Talkspirit does not replace
Talkspirit does not set out to replace the Microsoft 365 suite. Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams video meetings carry on as before, and many organisations keep both: Microsoft 365 for office work, Talkspirit for what Teams does not cover, namely the structure of roles, company-wide internal communication, and access for employees without a work email address. So it is not always a matter of choosing one against the other.
How to choose your alternative to Microsoft Teams
Lists of Teams alternatives are plentiful, and they all look alike. Five criteria are usually enough to narrow the field down to two or three candidates:
- Scope: are you replacing a messaging app, or bringing communication, collaboration and organisation into one place?
- Hosting: where does the data live, and which legislation is the provider subject to?
- Who needs connecting: office teams only, or frontline workers and external partners too?
- Governance: does the tool stop at channels, or does it help clarify who decides what?
- Adoption: who supports the rollout, and on what terms?
Read also: How to choose the right collaborative tool, and our comparisons Talkspirit vs Microsoft 365 and Talkspirit vs Slack.
| Criterion | Microsoft Teams | Talkspirit |
|---|---|---|
| CriterionScope | Microsoft TeamsTeam messaging and video meetings, one building block of the Microsoft 365 suite | TalkspiritA platform that brings together roles, objectives, meetings, projects, documents, newsfeed and chat |
| CriterionData hosting | Microsoft TeamsUS provider, subject to the Cloud Act | TalkspiritData hosted in France and Switzerland, outside the Cloud Act |
| CriterionAccess for frontline staff | Microsoft TeamsA Microsoft 365 account and a work email address are required | TalkspiritGuest access for externals, and sign-in without a professional email address |
| CriterionStructure and governance | Microsoft TeamsOrganised by teams and channels | TalkspiritExplicit roles, circles and accountabilities, connected to everyday work |
An accessible solution from a financial point of view
Obviously, this last point is essential. Talkspirit is almost 30% cheaper than Microsoft Teams. Available from 3€ per month, and per user, with access to all the platform’s features! What’s more, it is possible to test the Talkspirit platform free of charge for 30 days, in order to evaluate whether it really suits your needs. A free trial period, with no commitment and no credit card!
In short
Microsoft Teams remains a solid team messaging app for organisations already equipped with Microsoft 365. Talkspirit covers a different, wider scope on organisation and internal communication, with European hosting and open access for frontline workers and external partners alike. The right choice depends on the problem you are trying to solve.
Want to look at Talkspirit in more detail? Talk to one of our experts to go through your needs, or get in touch with the team.
Authors: Paul Maubareyt, Benoît Renoul
FAQ
Microsoft Teams is an instant team messaging app, one of the applications in the Microsoft 365 suite. Talkspirit covers a wider scope: roles and accountabilities, objectives, meetings, project management, knowledge and document management, a newsfeed and instant messaging, all natively integrated.
Yes. Talkspirit hosts its customers’ data in France and Switzerland, within a European framework, and is not subject to the American Cloud Act. That makes it a sovereign alternative for organisations that require one.
In force since 2018, the Cloud Act allows US authorities to require any American service provider to hand over data stored on its servers, whether those servers sit in the United States or abroad. Microsoft, as a US provider, falls within its scope.
Not necessarily. Many organisations keep Microsoft 365 for office work, and roll out Talkspirit for what Teams does not cover: the structure of roles, company-wide internal communication and access for frontline workers. Talking it through with a Talkspirit expert is the quickest way to see which applies to you.
Talkspirit is an open ecosystem that welcomes your stakeholders, including service providers, partners, customers and suppliers. Guest access lets you invite contractors or clients to a single project, and employees without a professional email address can be connected too.
Both aim to support teamwork: employees exchange through instant messaging, in groups or person to person, and share documents as a team. Both also integrate third-party applications such as Github, Google Drive, Pipedrive or Trello.
