Compare
Four vendors, or one workspace you own.
Most organisations meet in one product, chat in another, send files with a third and keep passwords in a fourth. Here is what OnlySmack replaces, where your data lives either way, and how it compares with Slack, Teams and Mattermost, from their public pages in October 2026.
What it replaces
Four tools out. One install on your own hardware.
Each of these is a good product. Each also keeps your organisation’s data in its own cloud, under its own terms. OnlySmack covers the same jobs from your own servers.
| Today | The job | Its data lives | OnlySmack module | Your data lives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoom | Meetings and recordings | The vendor’s cloud | Meet | Your own server |
| Slack | Team chat | The vendor’s cloud | Channels | Your own server |
| WeTransfer | Sending large files | The vendor’s cloud | Drop | Your own server |
| Zoho Vault | Team passwords | The vendor’s cloud | Vault | Your own server |
For most organisations outside the vendors’ home countries, “the vendor’s cloud” means abroad. Product names are trademarks of their owners.
OnlySmack next to Slack, Teams and Mattermost.
| OnlySmack | Slack | Microsoft Teams | Mattermost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hosting | ||||
| Runs on your own servers | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Where messages are stored | Your Postgres | Slack’s cloud | Microsoft’s cloud | Your servers (self-hosted) |
| Talk and meet | ||||
| Channels, DMs, threads | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Calls with screen share | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes(Calls plugin) |
| Recordings stored in your storage | Yes | No | No | Depends on setup |
| Meetings with outside guests, no account | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Whiteboards | Yes | Canvas (documents) | Yes | No |
| Share | ||||
| Large file transfers with password and expiry | Yes | No | Through OneDrive | No |
| Direct LAN transfer between computers | Yes | No | No | No |
| Control | ||||
| Sign in with your own IDs, no email | Yes | No | No | No |
| Per-person IP access policies | Yes | Enterprise only | Through Entra ID | Yes |
| Audit log | Yes | Enterprise only | Yes | Yes |
| Single sign-on | Not yet | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Clients | ||||
| Desktop apps | macOS, Windows | macOS, Windows, Linux | macOS, Windows, Linux | macOS, Windows, Linux |
| Mobile apps | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Slack’s comfort, on your own soil.
OnlySmack keeps the parts of Slack people like: channels, threads, reactions, quick calls. The difference is where it runs: on your servers, in your country, with meetings, transfers, a password vault and audit controls in the same install.
Choose OnlySmack if…
- your messages and recordings must stay on your own servers
- you need one record of who saw, shared and downloaded what
- you send large files outside the organisation
Choose Slack if…
- you need SSO or a large app marketplace today
- you don’t want to run a server
- you work in Slack Connect with many outside companies
Chat and meetings outside the Microsoft stack.
Teams is the default when an organisation lives in Microsoft 365. OnlySmack is for organisations that want meetings, chat, transfers and shared credentials in one install they host, outside any foreign cloud.
Choose OnlySmack if…
- your data must stay on your hardware, in your country
- you want guest meetings on your own domain
- you want the audit trail in your own database
Choose Teams if…
- you already run Microsoft 365 and Entra ID
- you need deep Office integration
- Microsoft’s cloud already meets your data rules
Self-hosted, built for running a company.
Mattermost is a respected self-hosted chat for technical teams. OnlySmack covers more of the workspace in one install: meetings with recording and AI notes, protected transfers, LAN sharing, a team password vault and the Shield controls, without plugins.
Choose OnlySmack if…
- you want meetings, transfers and a password vault without plugins
- you sign people in with staff IDs, without email
- you want one console for every control
Choose Mattermost if…
- you need SSO now
- you want an open-source edition
- your teams already depend on Mattermost plugins
Compared against public product pages in October 2026. Product names are trademarks of their owners. Tell us if something here is out of date: hello@wolfiz.com.
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