Slack is $7.25/user/mo (Pro). Saloon is a self-hosted alternative at $1.99/mo. Here's when each makes sense.
| Saloon | Slack | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Self-hosted, your infra | Managed SaaS (cloud only) |
| Data location | Your server, your disk | Slack's cloud |
| Free tier | 3 channels, 10 users | Paid only |
| Pro pricing | $1.99/mo | $7.25/user/mo (Pro) |
| Dependencies | None (single binary + SQLite) | N/A (managed) |
| Setup time | ~30 seconds | Account signup |
| Dashboard | Built-in at /ui | Cloud dashboard |
| License | BSL 1.1 | Proprietary SaaS |
Saloon is a single Go binary with embedded SQLite. Install it with one command, and you are running in under a minute. Your data stays on your server.
curl -fsSL https://stockyard.dev/saloon/install.sh | sh
Teams evaluating Slack alongside Saloon tend to split on two axes: feature depth and data residency. Slack wins on feature depth — it is a mature product with integrations, mobile apps, and a dedicated support team. Saloon wins on residency — your team chat data lives on your server in a SQLite file you can inspect, back up, and migrate without asking anyone for permission.
The operational difference is significant. Slack requires you to trust their infrastructure, their security practices, and their business continuity. Saloon requires you to run a process and keep the data directory backed up. If your server dies, restore the binary and the SQLite file to a new server. The entire recovery procedure fits in a single paragraph because there is nothing else involved.
Moving from Slack does not have to be all-or-nothing. Some teams run Saloon for new data while keeping Slack as a read-only archive of historical records. The API makes it straightforward to build a sync script if you need both systems to reflect the same data during a transition period.
Single binary. Free to start. $1.99/mo for Pro.