The 16 Best Slack Apps for Remote Teams

Cassy Aite
July 19, 2024
The 16 Best Slack Apps for Remote Teams

With fewer distractions, changing workforce demographics, and diminished office politics, remote teams are an intriguing perk that can attract and attain top talent. They’re a long-term solution and a workplace perk wrapped into one — a beneficial solution for both employee and employer.

The only drawback to remote work arrangements is the inability to lead and manage remote team members appropriately, especially across multiple time zones and departments. However, innovative companies are filling the void, and Slack might be the best remote communication and collaboration tool available today.

Slack’s direct messaging and communication channels provide real-time interaction, but its app integration is something every company should use to its advantage. You can bolster your team’s productivity, engagement, collaboration, and more by using Slack apps — also known as Slack integrations. With free options and various pricing models, multiple Slack apps can fit your budget and purpose.

Take your remote-office communication to new heights with this comprehensive list of the best Slack apps.

The 3 Best Slack Apps for Productivity

Slack open on a laptop with a pair of glasses on the keyboard

Though early studies of remote work demonstrated that work-from-home employees were more productive than their in-office counterparts, the tide is turning. According to a January 2024 report from the Los Angeles Times, remote workers are 10% to 20% less productive than onsite employees. Scour the internet, and you’ll find multiple accounts of remote workers being less productive or more productive compared to traditional work arrangements.

Whichever side of the argument you’re on, you can’t ignore the lapse in communication — and potentially productivity — that remote work creates. If you streamline productivity in your company, here are some of the best Slack apps for that.

1. Zapier

With Zapier, the ability to automate repetitive tasks and move information between Slack and other programs has never been simpler. Using Zapier’s interface, you can easily send “zaps” — or automated tasks — in just minutes.

Zapier allows you to transfer information from Google Drive, Sheets, or Docs, place new tasks in Evernote, or send messages from your Gmail or another email account automatically. Integrated with over 1,000 other apps, it provides functionality and ease of use designed to turn your Slack workspace into a lean, mean production machine.

2. Guru

If frequently asked questions and repetitious inquiries are bogging down productivity, Guru is the answer to your problems. Guru’s Slack bot — a type of chatbot that engages users in AI-based conversation — sifts through your Slack channels to develop a knowledge base and FAQ solution for your entire team.

Ideal for onboarding and project management, Guru’s chatbot answers important questions without bothering managers or other employees. It truly delivers productivity, information, and organization all at once.

3. Polly

Slack conversations and questions often fall on deaf ears, hindering even the best managers and business owners. In the spirit of brevity and democracy, Polly can help you avoid an online chorus of crickets by giving your Slack team a quick poll.

Through Polly’s simple poll and yes/no functions using Slack’s slash commands, you can schedule meetings — including standup meetings or the one-off variety — get RSVPs for virtual happy hours or holiday gatherings, or even start an interactive conversation based on people’s “Hot Takes” on a topic. For the fearless leader in the office, Polly makes scheduling, getting answers, and interacting that much easier.

The Best Slack Apps for Employee Engagement, Company Culture, and Fun

A person on a video call with other remote workers

Remote-first companies must always prioritize team culture and employee engagement. Without fine-tuning these aspects, your team can grow tired, burned out, or unappreciated.

Slack apps are well aware of these pitfalls. They aim to liven up the virtual office while bringing people together and invigorating their zest for work. Here are some of the best Slack apps for boosting engagement, whether you’re acknowledging achievements, celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, or promoting socializing and open conversation.

4. Lunch Roulette

Distributed and globalized workforces certainly don’t have the camaraderie of in-office employees — or at least without the proper tools. That’s where Lunch Roulette comes in.

Using its Slack integration, Lunch Roulette automates and streamlines online meetings by scheduling virtual coffee breaks, lunches, social gatherings, sales team meetings, or onboarding events with your team members.

Select your participants or choose random ones, and Lunch Roulette sends out invites and confirmations. It even gives you a report to see who attended and who didn’t — designed to help you improve employee participation.

Through this app, team communication can flourish, isolation diminishes, and all Slack users within your organization get to know each other just a little bit more. Those are just some of the perks that make Lunch Roulette one of the best Slack apps to boost employee engagement, team building, morale, and culture.

5. Giphy

Injecting some fun in the virtual office can take the doldrums out of the daily routine. The good news is that you don’t have to schedule event after event to do so. Just search your Slack app directory for Giphy.

Featuring 80 animated emojis and a monstrous GIF library, Giphy adds some excitement to everyday Slack messages and conversations without being too much of a distraction throughout the day.

6. Donut

Loneliness is all too common in the virtual workplace — up to 58% feel that way most of the time. Fortunately, you can combat isolation with a little help from Donut. Designed to simulate and stimulate watercooler conversation, Donut is a communication tool that sends notifications to random people in your Slack channel, encouraging them to engage in conversation.

Paired with another Slack app like Lunch Roulette, Donut is the interactive personal liaison and matchmaker you’ve been waiting for.

7. Disco

Employee recognition is necessary for any remote team, promoting teamwork, morale, and culture. Disco makes this process possible in seconds. Using a separate Slack channel, Disco helps you foster employee recognition on a daily or weekly basis. You can send kudos to individuals for their achievements and milestones or recognize team collaboration with a quick message.

Disco also has a function that allows your employees to nominate others for awards — such as employee of the month, best leader, or other recognitions of your choosing.

8. Leaderboard

A little friendly competition is always welcome in the workplace. It motivates individuals and wrests them out of their comfort zones. But with competition comes embellishment and exaggeration. If only there were a way to track it.

Now there is — thanks to Leaderboard. Whether you’ve created an intra-office trivia league, online gaming, or fitness-tracking program, Leaderboard takes the results and churns them into Slack-based standings. Let the friendly banter and good-hearted bragging begin.

The Best Slack Apps for Project Management and Workflow

Remote worker at their laptop with an open notebook set aside

Workflows, project management, and task management can notoriously reach a bottleneck with online teams. Asynchronous work schedules and communication are the harbingers of this problem, and the inability to link up or meet exacerbates the problem.

But with the right mix of project management tools and the best Slack apps to complement them, you have a foolproof way of ensuring everything stays on track.

9. Workday

Planning, engagement, and efficiency are the three tenets that make Workday an irreplaceable part of your Slack app library. Through its comprehensive Slack-based interface, Workday puts employees at the center of human capital management.

Via the Workday app, employees and employers can check in with each other and share information regarding:

  • PTO requests
  • Expense reporting
  • Streamline feedback
  • Continued education enrollment

Workday is an essential time-saving addition to medium- to large-sized businesses, giving you more time to devote to other tasks.

10. Asana

Asana is already one of the best work management platforms available today. But by adding integration, it’s also one of the best Slack apps for your business.

Instead of using the two platforms separately, the Asana Slack app allows you to assign projects, view progress, and mark projects as completed. If you’re already using Asana, this integration is a no-brainer.

11. Trello

Trello is one of the top-rated project management tools for remote teams. Like Asana, it drastically benefits users through its Slack app integration. Using its Kanban-style board with project cards, you can divide projects into multiple steps and watch as employees work their way through a particular project.

Team members can edit these cards as the project progresses—all within Slack. You no longer need to switch between applications to update your project, eliminating confusion and guesswork — easily boosting it into the top tier of the best Slack apps.

12. Clickup

Clickup is proof that the to-do list never goes out of style. With this app integration, you can assign tasks to one or multiple recipients in list form, provide files or templates to complete the task, and receive updates to gauge progress and provide the information to the rest of your team or superiors.

13. Salesforce for Slack

Salesforce has been at the front of the CRM industry for over two decades, seamlessly combining intuitive software and interfaces with sales data, marketing initiatives, and customer interactions. However, Salesforce is a lot to handle, especially when you’re moving back and forth between Slack, Salesforce, and other programs.

Nevertheless, Salesforce has created a suite of apps designed to fully integrate Slack into the fold. No matter what position or job duty an employee has, these apps refine and simplify workflow.

The Best Slack Apps for Meetings, Conferencing, and Conversation

A man with a headset on, sitting and gesturing in front of his laptop

Video calls are the lifeblood of remote teams. They emulate a real-life meeting and encourage social conversation that enhances engagement. Using one of the best Slack apps for online meetings, you remove one extra step in the process, streamlining the event with ease.

14. Zoom

Since its boom during the COVID era, Zoom has been the go-to virtual meeting platform for millions of companies. Though it’s easy to use on its own, syncing it to Slack is just as easy. From Slack, use slash commands to set up meetings and start them. In addition, you can check other team members’ availability if Slack has access to Google Calendar or other scheduling apps — creating a reliable way to ensure everyone’s always at a meeting on time.

15. Loom

Asynchronous communication is part of remote work — there’s no way around it. But if you can’t schedule a meeting, Loom can fill the gap. As one of the best Slack apps for communication and conversation, it allows you to record a short video that you can post directly into Slack.

Whether you need a short instructional video, an onboarding greeting, or just well wishes, Loom allows you to do it quickly and easily.

16. Microsoft Teams

If you use Microsoft 365, integration with apps like Slack is essential for communication, file-sharing, and other daily tasks. With the Microsoft Teams Slack app, you can seamlessly connect the Teams video meeting with your Slack workspace. The best part is that admins don’t have to add it. Each individual can install the integration and use it on their own accord.

Outside of Slack, Gift Cards Reign Supreme

The best Slack integrations can streamline your business processes, promote employee morale, and take company culture to a new level. But aside from integrating an app, you still need ways to transform your business into a place where people feel welcomed, engaged, and appreciated.

For all that the best Slack apps provide, the tangible qualities of rewarding a job well done and thanking those who make your operations run like clockwork are noticeably absent.

Thankfully, Hoppier has your back. With Hoppier, you can send virtual gift cards to employees across the globe in just seconds. Enter the amount, choose an expiration date, select from a list of hundreds of vendors, and presto — you’re done. Plus, any remaining unused balance goes back into your account, providing cost savings and eliminating waste.

Hoppier remote onboarding gift card

Where Slack apps fail, Hoppier provides. It’s another tool to foster a strong working relationship between you and your team.

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