Slack has revolutionized how we communicate in business. From quick notes about a product launch to sharing a story about your dog, it has found a way to connect the ever growing Gig Economy of remote workers as well as those who sit next to you. Did you know it can get even better with apps?
Good, because the Slack apps we list in this post will only add to the emoji level excitement you get every time you get a new Slack notification.
Its true, Slack is outstanding on its own, but there’s plenty of features users wish they had that Slack hasn’t been able to get to for users.
And there’s no way they could’ve packed in every app without losing the ability to focus on its core offering.
Lucky for you, not all of the Slack apps you’ll read about today require a subscription.
That’s not to say you should only look for free Slack apps. Some of the premium Slack apps are so worth the investment, you’ll want to get a subscription today if you’re serious about taking your Slack game to the next level.
But before we get into the free and premium Slack apps, let’s quickly go over how to discover and install Slack plugins with instructions provided from Slack.com.
Explore the Slack App Directory (From Slack)
The App Directory lists every app, add-on, or plugin that can be integrated with Slack. No matter what your area or specialty, there’s an app, add-on, or plugin to help make your work more pleasant, productive, and hopefully fun! Check out the Slack App Directory and start browsing.
Browsing Tips for Slack Apps (From Slack)
The Slack App Directory is always just a click away — on your desktop, click your workspace name in the top-left corner to open the menu and choose Apps & integrations.
To view the apps other members are already using, click Manage at the top right.
If your Workspace Owner has the Approved Apps feature enabled, click Approved for this Workspace (below Categories) on the left side of the page to view a full list of apps members have permission to use.
Discover Slack apps in Slack (From Slack)
If you’d like to see the apps already in use by other members as well as discover new ones, there’s no need to even leave Slack. On your desktop, simply click the plus icon next to Apps in the left sidebar.
Tip: Any apps (with a bot) that you’ve installed to Slack will be listed at the bottom of your left sidebar under Apps.
Install Slack apps (From Slack)
When you’ve found an app you’d like to add to Slack, simply click Install (if you’re browsing in Slack on your desktop) or the button below the app’s icon in the App Directory. Follow the directions to get the app up and running.
Now that you know how to use Slack apps let’s take a look at some of the best free and premium Slack apps available today.
Best Free and Premium Slack Apps
There is no such thing as a free lunch… except with some of these Slack Apps
Many of these do have premium offerings or requires a subscription s if you want to add bells and whistles to your free slack app.
And while this isn’t an exhaustive list, it does cover some of the top Slack apps that you can download and use immediately.
In no particular order because we love all of our Slack apps equally of course.
Zapier + Slack App
Zapier fits in as a Slack app that allows you to create quick integration points for the web apps they use into their workflow. Zight (formerly CloudApp) recently announced a relationship with Zapier
What to do with Zapier + Slack App (From Slack App Directory)
- Post details of new orders from your eCommerce store (Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, + more) to a Slack channel.
- Move important tasks out of Slack and into a project management app (Asana, Trello, Basecamp) when you star a message.
- Pipe in form responses (event registrations, contact forms) to a Slack channel.
- Check for new assigned tasks in a project management app (every hour, day, week) and send yourself a DM with a list of new tasks.
To see more about the Zapier and Slack App integration go here.
Pingdom + Slack App
Pingdom as a slack app is a website monitoring service that tracks the up time, downtime, and performance of websites, ensuring you’re the first to know when a problem occurs.
What to do with Pingdom + Slack App (From Slack App Directory)
- This integration will post notifications to a channel in Slack when one of your Pingdom alert policies is triggered (a change in uptime/downtime).
- A paid Pingdom account is required to use this integration.
To see more info on the Pingdom and Slack App integration go here
Delighted + Slack App
Delighted as a Slack app that will send your Delighted NPS, CSAT and CES feedback into Slack channels. This will help to ensure you are the first to know of any changes with your customer feedback scores.
What to do with Delighted + Slack App (From Delighted)
- View real-time customer responses and immediately take action to resolve issues and further engage satisfied customers.
- Keep your entire team in sync with daily customer health updates.
- With survey responses delivered directly into your Slack channel, feedback becomes more visible and actionable than ever before.
To see more about the Slack App integration with Delighted go here.
Zight (formerly CloudApp) + Slack App
Zight (formerly CloudApp) as a Slack app becomes your customer experience and productivity weapon with its ability to capture and record high definition screen recordings with audio, GIFs, create and markup annotated screenshots (blur, arrows, emoji), and quickly share files. Zight (formerly CloudApp) helps you communicate faster with your team and customers using visuals. You can sign up for free.
What to do with Zight (formerly CloudApp) + Slack App (From Slack App Directory)
- Collaborate Visually in Slack’s Team Messaging App – Create a GIF, the link is copied to your clipboard, message it immediately by pasting it into Slack’s team collaboration app and see an instant preview. Our customers see a 300% reduction in time to communicate a complex concept, creating a more efficient and enjoyable workplace.
- Record Your Screen, Instantly Share in Slack – Zight (formerly CloudApp) breaks down the need for meetings, reviews, and nonstop back and forth, helping you quickly get to the point of a problem with annotations and short videos. Spend less time conversing in the Slack messaging app and get more done! Slack teams are global, distributed, and usually separated by a set of headphones. We move at the speed of GB/s but still communicate through text.
- Send Captured Content directly from the Mac App – By using the hotkey of your choice, you can take a screenshot and post it directly in the Slack app. Pick a channel, add a message, post your content. Zight (formerly CloudApp) adapts to your workflow so you don’t waste time opening windows or apps, looking for your content in your desktop files and uploading large files. Sharing a piece of your mind is as easy as this 10 second GIF.
You can find visual examples of using Slack and Zight (formerly CloudApp) here.
Woopra + Slack App
Woopra as a Slack App provides you views on the customer journey that can help your analysts, sales, and marketing teams to improve campaign efficiency and attribution.
What to do with Woopra + Slack App (From Slack App Directory)
- You will be able to configure Woopra triggers and label actions to send messages to your organization’s Slack channels.
- You can template these messages very simply in Woopra’s trigger configuration to contain data from Woopra. For instance, we at Woopra have a message configured to fire in our Slack whenever someone makes a payment: “#payments: Woohoo!! Jon Snow from The Night’s Watch renewed his subscription for $2000!”
To see more info on the Woopra and Slack App visit here.
Zoom + Slack App
Zoom as a Slack App provides you the opportunity to conduct a seamless video conference with its remote video conferencing product that has both premium and free offerings.
What to do with Zoom + Slack App (From Slack App Directory)
Start Zoom meetings with flawless video, crystal clear audio, and instant screen sharing from any Slack channel, private group, or direct message using the /zoom slash command.
- Start an instant meeting with a topic
- Start an instant meeting
- Zoom meeting within Slack
- Meeting summary with recording link
- Join a meeting
- In meeting experiences
To see more info on the Zoom and Slack App visit here
GitHub + Slack App
Github as a Slack App will help bring together two powerful workspaces into one. You can communicate to GitHub without ever leaving the Slack App.
What to do with GitHub + Slack App (From Slack App Directory)
- Subscribe to repositories
- Use /github subscribe [owner/repo] in Slack to start receiving updates about that project.
- Stay up to date
Get updates about what’s happening with your repositories in Slack discussions for activities like:
- New commits
- New pull requests
- New issues
- Code reviews
- Deployment statuses
Give your team more information in Slack when you share links to GitHub activities and properties like:
- Pull requests
- Issues
- Linked comments
- Code snippets
- Developer profiles
Take actions with slash commands
Slack conversations often lead to decisions and actionable takeaways. Now it’s easier to start on next steps from Slack with slash commands for common GitHub actions, using /github [action] [resource]. For example, these commands let you:
- Close an issue or pull request
- Reopen an issue or pull request
- Open a new issue using a Slack dialog
To see more on the GitHub and Slack App integration visit here
Google Drive + Slack App
The free Google Drive Slack App allows you to get updates in the Slack App of changes to Google Drive files. You can also link your Zight (formerly CloudApp) files to Google Drive through the new Zapier integration.
What to do with Google Drive + Slack App (From Slack App Directory)
- Share and manage access to your files — either to view, edit, or leave comments — from within Slack.
- Get updates in Slack on changes in Drive, like comments, access requests, and new files shared with you.
- Reply directly to comments from within Slack and have them posted to the file. Continue the conversation with any additional comments in Google Drive going straight into that Slack thread.
- Find your files quickly, even if you don’t remember their name, by searching directly in Slack. Slack automatically indexes the contents of any Google Drive file you share so you can find when you need it.
- Create new Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets directly from Slack by clicking the “+” button to the left of the Slack message box.
- Import an existing file from Google Drive directly from Slack by clicking the “+” button or pasting a link. You’ll see a preview of the file in Slack.
To see more on the Google Drive and Slack App integration visit here
Zendesk + Slack App
The Zendesk and Slack App integration will allow you to track, prioritize, and solve customer support tickets.
What to do with Zendesk + Slack App (From Slack App Directory)
With message actions for creating tickets and adding comments, Slack for Zendesk Support empowers your agents to deliver an amazing customer experience – every time and even more efficiently.
- Create tickets and add internal notes in seconds with Slack message actions
- Get real-time notifications on new and updated tickets delivered to any Slack channel – to make sure the broader team is connected to important customer issues
- Simplified installation for your entire Slack workspace
A Zendesk Support account on a Team plan or higher (trial or paid) is a prerequisite to using this app. To see more on the Zendesk and Slack App integration visit here
Customer.io + Slack App
The Customer.io Slack App allows you to bring user and customer behavior straight into your Slack application.
What to do with Customer.io + Slack App (From Slack App Directory)
Create specific channels for behaviours to monitor, like #new-users or #VIPcustomers, or add notifications to existing ones. For example, you can set up Customer.io to learn exactly when..
- You receive a new signup from a customer with high MRR
- A customer increased their plan to enterprise account
- A VIP customer increases key red-flag activity, like data exports
- Target leads sign up, with specific persona title (“VP of Product” for example)
- A customer bounces from onboarding, or displays signs of churn
Customer.io brings customer activity from your app and into your Slack team, making it transparent and immediately actionable.Start a free 30-day trial on our site, or contact us with any questions at [email protected].
Best Free and Premium Slack App Conclusion
Of course there are 1000’s of other Slack apps out there that provide best in class opportunities for customer experience and productivity. While you are researching Slack Apps for your workplace, we hope this list is helpful to make the most of improving your customer experience and productivity through using the Zapier, Pingdom, Delighted, Zight (formerly CloudApp), Woopra, Zoom, GitHub, Google Drive, Zendesk, and Customer.io Slack Apps.