8seats

Overview

8seats is a team messaging platform for frontline and deskless workforces, including staff in retail, hospitality, logistics and construction. It suits organizations that need phone-number onboarding and a way to administer conversations across locations.

Its distinct formats for broadcasts, group discussions and private chats make it a practical fit for operational communication. The main trade-off is that Starter is capped at 10 employees, while Business is needed for unlimited employees and multi-location management.

Key features

Rooms are for team-wide broadcasts, Tables for focused group conversations, and Direct Messages for one-to-one chats. Separating these uses can help teams distinguish announcements from day-to-day discussion; organizations that prefer a single chat format may not need all three.

Employees can join with a phone number rather than a company email, which is useful for workforces whose staff do not have corporate accounts. An admin dashboard manages communication and user access across locations. Role-based permissions restrict who can view or manage conversations, and administrators can remove access instantly. Guest access supports communication with external partners, while branding customization lets organizations adapt the app’s appearance.

The maker says messages are encrypted in transit with TLS 1.3 and at rest with AES-256. It also says the service runs on AWS and is built for 99.99% uptime. File sharing and audit logs are included. The Help Centre offers tutorials, FAQs, troubleshooting information, support requests and bug reports.

Pricing

Starter is a useful no-cost option for a small team, and unlimited guests mean external collaborators do not consume its employee allowance. But the 10-employee cap and 1 GB storage limit constrain its use as a growing team’s main workspace. Its 365-day history provides a defined year of searchable context, rather than indefinite retention.

Business is the relevant step up for larger teams or organizations coordinating multiple locations. It removes the employee ceiling and adds operational tools, but the price is per user, so costs rise with headcount. The pricing page offers Monthly and Yearly options and says “Save 16%”; it also presents the Business price as $2.99 a month (billed user/mo).

Platforms

8seats is available on Android, iOS, macOS, web and Windows. Mobile apps suit staff who rely on phones, while web and desktop access can accommodate office-based administrators and workers.

Who it's for

8seats is best suited to frontline and deskless organizations that need staff to join without company email and managers to coordinate users across locations. The maker specifically names retail, hospitality, facilities management, transport, logistics and construction. A small operation can start on Starter; a larger or multi-location workforce will need Business. Organizations that depend on a particular named third-party integration should consider another option, since no such integrations are named.

Pros and cons

• Phone-number onboarding: Employees can join without a company email, useful for deskless teams.
• Distinct messaging formats: Rooms, Tables and Direct Messages give broadcasts, group conversations and private chats separate roles.
• Access administration: Role-based permissions and instant access removal help managers control who can see conversations.
• Free plan has clear boundaries: Up to 10 employees, 1 GB storage and 365 days of history make the entry point usable, but limit its suitability for larger teams or long-term archives.
• Business charges per user: Unlimited employees and multi-location management support larger operations, but per-user pricing scales with headcount.

Alternatives

For other options, see Secure Team Chat Software. Rocket.Chat has a free Starter plan for 50 users and supports Linux and self-hosting, making it a fit to consider when those platform options matter. Wire says its source code is fully open source and available on GitHub for verification, a reason to consider it when code transparency matters. Crypho offers a free personal-use plan with encrypted calls and video calls, but limits that tier to one group and files up to 3 MB.

Troop Messenger offers a free plan for 1–50 users with 50 GB of storage and a seven-day enterprise experience, so it may suit readers prioritizing a larger stated storage allowance. Celo has a free plan for up to 10 users with HIPAA-compliant messaging, read receipts and delivery status. Eleven for Business offers a free plan with every feature, up to three spaces and 1 GB of files per space.

Element offers Community for 1–100 users and an Enterprise plan from 100 users. eXpress offers custom pricing for a corporate plan that works on a customer server or in a secure cloud.

Verdict

Choose 8seats if your frontline workforce needs phone-based onboarding, separated messaging formats and centralized access management across locations. Its strongest case is accommodating employees without company email; its clearest reason to look elsewhere is a need for a named third-party integration, while teams above 10 employees must move beyond the free plan.