54 Essential Slack Statistics: 2022 Market Share Analysis & Data

Slack. If you look it up in the dictionary, it means “not using due diligence, care, or dispatch.” In other words, negligent. However, the word can be considered synonymous with productivity nowadays—thanks to a communications software of the same name.

Once an internal communication tool of the founder’s previous company, Slack has grown to become a valuable enterprise social networking software. Today, it empowers hundreds of thousands of employees to communicate with their colleagues and employers with ease. And as the following Slack statistics show, it has been a boon to productivity.

Slack User Statistics

Slack daily active users on Feb. 1, 2014 were but 14 people. However, it has come a long way since then, even becoming a huge threat to Microsoft.

• A report revealed that at the end of October 2019, Slack had 12,000 daily active users. (TechCrunch, 2019)
• At the end of January 2019, 85 organizations were paying for use of Slack. (TechCrunch, 2019)
• Another figure shows that in May 2018, there were 8,000 DAU of the platform and 37.5% are paying users. (TechCrunch, 2019)
• The solution ended 2019 with 8.7 million DAU and 14.6 million monthly active users (MAU). (GP Bullhound, 2019)
• By 2025, the software is forecast to have 47.2 million DAU and 79 million MAU. (GP Bullhound, 2019)
• 96% of Slack traffic in April 2019 was direct. In comparison, Salesforce direct traffic was only 53%. (GP Bullhound, 2019)
• 2% of respondents in the Netherlands use Slack regularly. It is the same for the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and France. (Statista, 2021)
• In the US, 3% use Slack on a regular basis. The figure is the same for Finland. (Statista, 2021)
• Only 1% of respondents use Slack regularly in Italy and Spain. (Statista, 2021)
• 9 hours is the average length of time a Slack user is signed on to the platform. (TechJury, 2021)
•  5.3% of law firms in the US used Slack in 2019. (Legaltech News, 2019)
• 43% of Fortune 100 businesses use Slack for company communications. (TechJury, 2021)
• Slack penetration in the US by July 2020 was only 2%. (Vorhaus Advisors, 2020)
• New York is home to over 420,000 users of the team collaboration software. (TechJury, 2021)
• After FY 2020, Slack recorded more than 110,000 paid customers, translating to a 25% year-over-year increase. (Slack, 2020)
• 893 of paying customers had over $100,00 in annual recurring revenue. (Slack, 2020)
• 70 of paying customers had more than $1 million in annual recurring revenue. (Slack, 2020)
• For Q2 of FY 2021, Slack added 8,000 new paid customers. (Slack, 2020)

Impact of Covid-19

• 12% of US workers used messaging platforms such as Slack to communicate with colleagues during the pandemic as of March 2020. (eMarketer, 2020)
• Slack Technologies ended FY 2020 with 110,000 paid customers. (Statista, 2020)
• The company expects to end Q3 2021 with 142,000 paid users. (Statista, 2020)
• In April 2020, Slack.com received 176,000 monthly traffic from Romania. (SEMrush, 2020)
• 472,000 – the audience reach of Slack as a video communication site in the UK in December 2020. In the previous month, Slack had 507,000 in traffic. (Ofcom, 2021)
• Slack is one of the most-used collaboration tools for remote work in the United States, with 7% of employees saying they utilize it. (Clutch, 2020)

Slack Revenue Statistics

Never mind that Microsoft Teams has overtaken Slack when it comes to the number of users. The business communication platform still continues to grow, as Slack statistics 2021 show.

• Overall Slack revenue in 2019 was $390 million. (GP Bullhound, 2019)
• Forecasts put future 2025 revenue at around $4.2 billion. (GP Bullhound, 2019)
• Average revenue per paying user (ARPPU) in 2019 was $9.5. (GP Bullhound, 2019)
• Projected ARPPU in 2025 is $13.8. (GP Bullhound, 2019)
• The company reported a total revenue of $181.9 million for Q4 2020. (Slack, 2020)
• This translates to a 49% year-over-year increase. (Slack, 2020)
• Overall revenue for FY 2020 was $630.4 million. (Slack, 2020)
• That figure was an increase of 57% year-on-year. (Slack, 2020)
• Q2 FY 2021 had slack taking in a total revenue of $215.9 million, a 49% year-over-year increase. (Slack, 2020)
• Slack’s revenue projection for the third quarter of FY 2021 is $220 million to $223 million. (Slack, 2020)
• For the full FY 2021, revenue estimates are $868 million to $873 million. (Slack, 2020)

Slack Productivity Statistics

Teams with highly engaged employees are more productive by 21%. On top of that, they experience 28% less internal theft. There are many ways to keep workers engaged and one of those is communicating with them regularly. The Slack productivity statistics below show how a collaboration application contributes to work productivity.

• 32% – that is how much email use can be reduced by using Slack. (Kommando Tech, 2019)
• Slack can cut meetings by 23%. (Kommando Tech, 2019)
• Sales teams that use Slack are 5 times more likely to win in business transactions. (Kommando Tech, 2019)
• Only 5.2% of a worker’s screen time is spent on messaging. (Kommando Tech, 2019)
• 84% of workers feel more connected with their teams on Slack. (Slack, 2021)
• 75% of professionals rely on Slack to complete tasks. (Slack, 2021)
• 91% of users report that their ability to work remotely improved after adopting Slack. (Slack, 2021)

Slack Integrations

Integrations are now the norm for any platform through APIs. Slack is no different. And these Slack statistics API have proven that it is one of the best productivity tools. 

• Slack Apps and Integrations is a sought-after platform by 3.3% of developers worldwide. (Stack Overflow, 2020)
• It is utilized by 7.3% of developers globally. (Stack Overflow, 2020)
• Over 2,400 apps are available in the Slack App Directory for integration. (Slack, 2021)
• A case study demonstrated how Slack API reduced a company’s day-long procedures to 30 minutes. (Slack, 2021)
• Slack has proven that it can help reduce support tickets by 2,500 per week. (Slack, 2021)
• One workflow that integrates Slack API has assisted an organization in handling 3,800 queries per week automatically. (Slack, 2021)

Slack Issues and Concerns

Slack is no stranger to security issues. In one infamous situation, it was hacked over four days. It was still a fledgling application then and the incident showed just how vulnerable it was.

• The work communication solution was once hacked over four days in February 2015. (Wired, 2015)
• In 2019, Slack filed a report with the SEC, saying that the platform is facing threats from criminal organizations, nation-states, and nation-state-supported actors. (Komando.com, 2019)
• It has undergone 300 rigorous security tests to achieve FedRAMP Agency Authority to Operate. (Slack, 2020)
• 3.01% of malware disguised as Slack in 2020. (Securelist, 2020)
• The platform has nine certifications and attestations, including ISO IEC 27001. (Slack, 2021)
• It supports compliance for four regulatory bodies. (Slack, 2021)

The Slack Paradox

Slack is designed to improve productivity by reducing the use of emails. In some cases, it has succeeded, as a few Slack statistics above have shown. But this has also proven its downside, as users are sending and receiving hundreds of messages per day. And often, workers are talking about work instead of actually doing work. The proverbial water cooler has moved online and is now easier to access.

There is hope yet for Slack and its users. That hope lies mostly in its users. As Matt Galligan of the crypto-financial services firm Interchange said, “We have to learn how to responsibly use it.” Users need to draw the line in their workplace communication platform before their productivity suffers.

Fortunately for CEOs or Slack power users, one of the many Slack features is the analytics dashboard. With that, they can guide their employees towards more productive habits.

But if Slack does not work for your organization, there are still good Slack alternatives.

References:

1. Miller, R. (2019, October 24). Stewart Butterfield says Microsoft sees slack as existential threat. TechCrunch.
2. GP Bullhound. (2019, July). Slack – Biggest disruptor since Salesforce. GP Bullhound.
3. Statista. (2021, April). Global consumer survey. Statista.
4. Warren, Z. (2019, October 2). By the numbers: The 2019 LTN tech survey. Legaltech News.
5. Bulao, J. (2021, March 18). 19 slack statistics that show how big it is in 2021. TechJury.
6. Richter, F. (2020, December 10). Slack’s customer growth accelerates during the pandemic. Statista.
7. Vorhaus Advisors. (2020, July 1). United States: Messenger app penetration 2020. Statista.
8. Warren, T. (2021, April 28). Microsoft teams usage jumps to 145 million daily active users. MSN.
9. Team at Slack. (2020, March 12). Slack announces fourth quarter and fiscal year 2020 results. Slack.
10. Team at Slack. (2020, March 12). Slack announces second quarter fiscal year 2021 results. Slack.
11. Kats, R. (2020, April 16). While working from home, US adults rely on email and video conferencing. eMarketer.
12. Herhold, K. (2020, April 16). Working from home during the coronavirus pandemic: The state of remote work. Clutch.
13. SEMrush. (2020, May 15). Romania: Traffic on remote working platforms during COVID-19 2020. Statista.
14. comScore, & Ofcom. (2021, February). Effects of COVID-19 on online consumption in the UK in 2020. Ofcom.
15. Sanders, G. I. (2019, June 3). Employee productivity statistics: Everything you need to know for 2019. Dynamic Signal.
16. Milenkovic, J. (2019, December 4). Slack statistics to annoy your colleagues with. KommandoTech.
17. Slack. (2021). Welcome to your new HQ. Slack.
18. Stack Overflow. (2020, February). Stack Overflow developer survey 2020. Stack Overflow.
19. Slack. (2021). Slack integrations. Slack.
20. Slack. (2021). Slack API. Slack.
21. Greenberg, A. (2015, March 27). Slack says it was hacked, enables two-factor authentication. Wired.
22. Komando Staff. (2019, November 12). If you use slack, you must know about this massive security alert. Komando.com.
23. Slack. (2020, August 7). Introducing powerful new layers of enterprise-grade security. Slack.
24. Galov, D. (2020, December 10). The story of the year: Remote work. Securelist.
25. Slack. (2021). Security at slack. Slack.

By Nestor Gilbert

Nestor Gilbert is a senior B2B and SaaS analyst and a core contributor at FinancesOnline for over 5 years. With his experience in software development and extensive knowledge of SaaS management, he writes mostly about emerging B2B technologies and their impact on the current business landscape. However, he also provides in-depth reviews on a wide range of software solutions to help businesses find suitable options for them. Through his work, he aims to help companies develop a more tech-forward approach to their operations and overcome their SaaS-related challenges.