8seats is a work messaging platform built as a WhatsApp alternative for frontline and deskless teams. It organizes conversations into Rooms for team-wide broadcasts, Tables for focused group discussions, and Direct Messages for private one-to-one chats. Employees can join with a phone number rather than a company email, while an admin dashboard manages users and communication across locations. Teams can include outside guests and partners, and organizations can customize the app’s appearance to match their branding. The maker says messages are encrypted in transit with TLS 1.3 and at rest with AES-256. Role-based permissions govern who can view and manage conversations, and administrators can remove access instantly. 8seats is available on Android, iOS, macOS, web, and Windows. The Starter plan is free for up to 10 employees, with unlimited guests, 365 days of message history, and 1 GB of storage. Business is listed at $2.99/user/mo and adds unlimited employees, expanded storage, checklists and tasks, multi-location management, announcement broadcasts, and advanced controls.
Who it is for
It is aimed at frontline and deskless workforces, including retail, hospitality, facilities management, transport, logistics, and construction teams. Phone-number onboarding and multi-location administration may suit organizations whose employees do not use company email.
What is good
- Employees can join without a company email address
- Rooms, Tables, and Direct Messages support different conversations
- External guests and partners can participate
- Role-based permissions control conversation access
- Available on Android, iOS, macOS, web, and Windows
What to know first
- Starter is limited to 10 employees
- Starter includes 1 GB of storage
- Starter message history is limited to 365 days
Verdict
8seats combines several team messaging formats with phone-number onboarding and multi-location administration. Its free Starter plan has clear employee, storage, and history limits; Business is listed at $2.99/user/mo.
8seats plans and pricing
All plansCompared on secure team chat software
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- $2.99/user/mo
- Guest access
- Yes
- Message retention
- 365 days
- File sharing
- Yes
- Audit logs
- Yes
- Mobile apps
- both
