For years, Slack has been our go-to communication tool. It streamlined conversations, made it easy to collaborate in real time, and helped us stay organized as a team. Honestly, it worked well for us, and we had no major complaints.
However, as our company expanded to 2,000 employees, we began to realize that we needed something more than just a chat tool. Our communication needs had evolved, and so had our expectations of what a platform should offer.
That’s when we decided to switch to Pebb. And while Slack had served us well, Pebb filled in the gaps we hadn’t even realized were there.
More Than Just Chat: The Need for a Digital Hub
Slack was great for fast-paced conversations, especially in a tech-driven environment like ours. But as our organization grew, we realized that we needed more than quick messages and project-specific channels. What we really needed was a hub—a central space where employees could stay connected, not just through chat, but through everything happening across the company.
Pebb provided that. It wasn’t just about messaging—it was about building a community. Our employees needed a platform where they could actively explore updates from different departments, share important news, and stay connected on a deeper level. While Slack kept us connected through notifications, Pebb’s news feed gave us a place to actively discover what was happening across the organization, from project updates to key company announcements.
A key advantage of moving from the purple to the orange app has been its searchable employee profiles. Every employee has a detailed profile that includes not only their job title and department but also who their manager is, their hobbies, and a description of their daily responsibilities. This has been incredibly helpful for larger teams like ours, where it can be challenging to know who does what. Now, it’s easy to find the right person to reach out to for specific tasks, or even just to learn more about your colleagues.
“Digital Hub” also means a place for keeping important documents organized and easily accessible. Whether it’s company policies, training materials, or procedural guides, and Pebb does that very well with a feature they call the “Knowledge Library” where every doc or image can be stored in one place arranged in folders. No more searching through endless chat histories to find a lost file—now, everyone knows exactly where to go for the documents they need. This has made internal processes smoother and has saved us a lot of time, especially for our frontline teams.
Moving Beyond Messages Push Notifications
One of the things we appreciated about Slack was how it streamlined notifications. Messages came in, you responded, and work moved forward. But as our team grew, we realized that communication had become reactive rather than proactive. We were only hearing about things when they directly involved us, and this led to a sense of isolation across departments.
With Pebb’s news feed, employees now have a space where they can scroll through updates, announcements, and even colleague achievements. It’s not just about waiting for a chat notification to ping—it’s about engaging with the broader organization. For example, I now have a much better understanding of what our marketing team is working on, and I can see updates from other departments that I’d previously have been unaware of. This has helped foster a more connected and informed workforce, which was something we didn’t even realize we were missing with Slack.
Clubs: More Than Just Chat Groups
Slack channels were great for focused discussions, but over time, they became cluttered and hard to navigate. Conversations got buried, and it was easy to lose track of important information. We wanted a way to organize collaboration more effectively and help employees feel more engaged in their work.
That’s where Pebb’s Clubs came in. Clubs offer a space where teams can come together around specific projects or shared interests. What surprised us was how much they transformed the way people collaborated. Employees who hadn’t interacted before were suddenly brainstorming together, sharing ideas, and even helping each other out in ways we hadn’t seen before. It felt less like a tool for work and more like a community space, where people actually wanted to participate. We’ve created clubs for everything from product updates to fitness challenges.
In fact, I’ve noticed that the Clubs have had a tangible effect on employee morale.
People are more engaged, more motivated, and there’s a stronger sense of teamwork across departments. This level of engagement has been key to reducing turnover and increasing job satisfaction. Slack was great for conversations, but Pebb’s Clubs gave us a community-centered environment that we didn’t know we needed.
Connecting Frontline Employees
One of the biggest gaps we had with Slack was that our frontline and deskless employees rarely used it. Slack wasn’t designed for people on the move—it’s more suited to desk workers who are plugged in all day. This meant that a large portion of our workforce was essentially disconnected from the company’s digital communication.
With Pebb, that all changed. Frontline employees now feel like they’re part of the conversation. They’ve started sharing pictures in the company feed, showing off product displays in our stores, and giving the rest of the team a view into what’s happening on the ground. This was something Slack never quite achieved for us. Now, even our employees who aren’t sitting at a desk all day are engaged with the company culture, and it’s made a huge difference.
Pricing: Getting More for Less
Slack’s pricing was never unreasonable, and for smaller teams, it’s a great value. But as we grew, the costs started to add up, especially considering the limitations of the free plan. Slack’s paid tiers offer a lot of advanced features, but the higher price point wasn’t sustainable for the size of our company.
What attracted us to Pebb was its pricing model. The Free Forever Standard Plan includes everything we need to keep our employees connected—chat, news feeds, dynamic profiles, and clubs—without costing a dime. And for organizations that need more, the premium plan is just $2 per user/month, which is much more affordable than Slack’s paid tiers. We’re now able to get more features and functionality at a fraction of the cost, which made the transition to Pebb not just an operational decision, but a financial one as well.
Slack Alternative or a New Communication Category?
To be clear, we didn’t move away from Slack because it wasn’t doing its job. Slack was excellent at what it was designed for—a messaging platform. However, as our company grew and our communication needs evolved, it became clear that we needed more than just a tool for chatting. What we were truly missing was a digital hub, a central space where employees could connect, collaborate, share ideas, and engage with each other on a deeper, more meaningful level.
Pebb delivered exactly that. It transformed the way we communicate by fostering a sense of community and inclusion, especially for our frontline workers who had previously felt disconnected. Now, collaboration feels more natural, and the platform gives us the ability to organize our projects and teams in ways that keep everyone engaged and productive. The pricing was also a key factor—it made financial sense, and the features filled in the gaps we hadn’t even realized were there.
If Slack works for your team and meets your current needs, that’s fantastic. But if you’re looking for something more than a chat tool—something that builds connections, engages employees, and helps create a true community—then Pebb is worth considering. It’s more than just a Slack alternative; it feels like a new category of workplace solution.
It certainly was for us.
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This post brought to you by Sahil Sagar
Photo: iStock
