45 Best Online Collaboration Tools & Software Platforms For Business Teams That Are Irrefutably Awesome In 2023

Online collaboration tools & software empower employees to work together on projects from anywhere in the world.
At SnackNation, we believe that collaboration and transparency are two key components to the modern workplace experience. Our teams harness the power of the best online collaboration tools to help increase productivity and efficiency .

Remote working conditions (or aspects of it) have become commonplace in today’s workplace. And with this kind of shift, it is more urgent than ever for organizations to leverage the best online collaboration tools to keep their teams on the same page at all times. 
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together .” -African Proverb
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Click To Tweet
Thankfully, there is nearly an endless list of such online tools for remote team collaboration available today. In this guide, we look at some of the tried and true selections that can help boost your team’s productivity and remote onboarding experience . 

Online collaboration tools help both remote and in-house teams achieve greater levels of transparency, execute projects better, optimize resources and work together better overall.


There are collaboration tools for just about every aspect or type of business.


Most online collaboration tools support more than one means of communication such as chat, instant messaging, screen sharing, audio/video conferencing, and file sharing.  


It is important to choose your collaboration tools based on your business needs and budget.

Once you finish reading through our list, you can get additional online team collaboration and employee engagement ideas from The Assist — a free weekly email for professionals full of actionable workplace culture , productivity, and leadership inspo.
“One thing The Assist has helped me immensely with is keeping our company culture alive during this new shift to hybrid work. It is important for us to have a team who is happy and healthy and The Assist has provided tons of options to help make that possible for our team.” -Julie P. Executive Assistant, Classcraft
Online Communication Tools 
1. monday.com

What would it mean for your productivity if you never had to check email, Slack, Salesforce, and Excel just to track down information about one project?
Whether you’re working in the office, from home, or from across the globe, monday.com helps your entire team stay in sync. This work operating system (Work OS) keeps all of your work clearly organized on one visual platform everyone can access.
Without any coding skills, you can customize monday.com so that it works best for your team. Automate data entry, workflows, and other repetitive tasks, so you can focus on more meaningful work. Then assign tasks so nothing falls through the cracks.
Plus, we surveyed 1,273 executives that use collaboration tools on a regular basis. And they voted monday.com as their favorite platform.
Pros

Sign up for a free trial without entering your payment details
Download pre-designed templates perfectly suited to your workflows
Get the “bird’s eye view” of multiple projects in one convenient location
Check your progress at any time from the mobile app
View your projects in a calendar mode so you never miss any deadlines
Assign new tasks to available team members so no one is overloaded
Automate your workflows without coding
Integrate all of your other apps on one unified platform

Cons

Mobile app can be cumbersome, but they are working on it constantly
More content on advanced concepts

 
2. Miro

Miro is a visual collaboration platform that empowers people globally to create their best work yet. Miro’s infinite online canvas is packed with features and integrations so you and your team can collaborate seamlessly whether you’re working remotely, in the office, or in a hybrid setup.
At first glance Miro might seem like just a digital whiteboard, but its capabilities go far beyond that. It’s an infinite canvas for your team to connect, collaborate, and create — together.
Pros

100s of pre-made templates for distributed teams
Embedded video, chat, and commenting functionality
Easy screen sharing and presentations
Mouseover collaboration to track collaborators’ cursors
Works with your hybrid tech stack with 100+ integrations

Cons

The mobile version has less functionality
Zooming can be jumpy on larger projects

 
3. ClickUp

ClickUp is the centralized work hub built for the way today’s teams want to work.
By bringing everyone together with context, clear priorities, and visibility with ClickUp—your team can boost collaboration and productivity while saving time to focus on the work that matters most.
ClickUp’s flexible Workspace allows teams to break down silos, share information, and see where everything stands at a glance.
With ClickUp , teams gain access to over 100+ unique work tools that replace your disconnected apps or integrate with the ones you want to keep. What’s more, seamless collaboration tools in ClickUp make it easy for teams to work better together across all types of work from idea to execution.
Pros

Intuitive UI
Customizable tasks
Advanced automations
Collaborative Docs
Real-time chat
Native time-tracking

Dive in by signing up for FREE to start customizing your own ClickUp workspace.
Cons

Feature-rich environment can make personal use more difficult
Most teams-oriented functionality is behind a paywall

 
4. Nectar

Nectar is an award-winning employee recognition & rewards platform that bolsters online collaboration. It creates a simple, standardized way for organizations to give out recognition, spot bonuses, awards and wellness challenges all within budget. This includes peer to peer recognition as well as manager to direct reports.
With Nectar , you can reinforce great work anytime, anywhere through an interactive recognition feed. Keep morale up, teams connected and promote your company’s core values in an online working environment.
Pros

Connects with your other tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams and more to make recognition as seamless as possible
Has a robust rewards engine with hundreds of global gift card options or branded company swag
Has a free tier along with paid plans

Explore pricing and features to find the Nectar plan that best fits your team.
Cons 

Wish there was more functionality on the free tier
Reward options are limited outside of the US, UK or Australia

 
5. Bonusly

Make visibility a priority this year with Bonusly . This online collaboration platform gives managers , executives, and employees the ability to see and celebrate great work through an easy-to-use interface. Helping to create a culture where recognition is part of your day, Bonusly encourages employees to recognize their colleagues and promotes workplace collaboration .
Using this team collaboration software is a breeze, as it integrates seamlessly into the other online communication tools at your business. You can use it on a daily basis without feeling like you’re doing any extra work!
Bonusly’s 360-degree recognition also makes teamwork visible to everyone and empowers employees at all levels of your company. You can show appreciation for each other and build stronger working relationships while incentivizing a culture of online collaboration.
Pros

Analytics point out team members’ strengths
Make it easy for managers and leaders to gather, understand, and act on employee feedback with fun, lightweight surveys of all types.
Easy onboarding meaning employees can start using it on their first day
Best suited for teams/companies of 100+
Automated custom rewards for employee milestones and completed projects

Cons

No free plan, but they do offer a free trial here
Expanding list of rewards

 
6. Favro

Remote and asynchronous teams face communication challenges that in-office teams don’t. With Favro’s stopwatch-style timer , teams can track time and see real-time updates from their desktop, web browser, or mobile device.
A virtual dashboard lets them view activity scores, enable optional screenshotting, and set productive and unproductive apps and websites for each member of their team. Integrations with over 30 popular project management, help desk , and HR apps make Favro even more powerful for growing teams.
Pros

Beautiful UI/UX
Simple tracking
Unlimited screenshots
Automated timesheets
Customizable invoices
Easy team payments

Cons

Relies on integrations
If you’re looking for just a time tracker, there are free options that don’t provide the same features Favro does but are cheaper.

 
7. Teamwork

Teamwork was built so you can manage ALL your client work in one platform. From invoicing, to time tracking, to unlimited client access, everything you need to run your client services is in Teamwork.
Teamwork gives you the tools and reports you need to maximize resources and never miss a billable minute again. Get a bird’s eye view of every project, from milestones to capacity planning, budgeting and time tracking and more.
Break work and projects into tasks and layers of subtasks – so nothing slips through the cracks and everyone knows what to do and when it’s done.
Pros

Signup for a free 30-day trial of Teamwork with no commitments
Teamwork has the growth-focused features like time tracking, custom client permissions, assigning tasks to multiple people and more
A user-friendly learning curve and the essential features (like reports and resource management)
Teamwork has the collaboration, client features and robust flexibility necessary for managing multiple complex projects
Solid functionality so your team can manage large, complex projects without the learning curve and limitations
Collaborate in real-time with your team and clients to get your questions answered and projects delivered on time & on budget.

Cons

UX can be a bit cumbersome, but they are currently working on an overhaul

 
8. Empuls

Empuls is a holistic employee engagement solution that aims to improve company culture & bring the entire digital workplace to life.
It helps HR leaders, CHROs, and CXOs to effortlessly execute key activities such as award workflows, budget automation, and industry-endorsed real-time surveys. With many key features such as communication feeds , messaging, and groups, the software equips employees to engage meaningfully with their peers and aligns them with the organization’s shared values.
Empuls also enables organizations to constantly measure and analyze the levels of employee satisfaction by keeping track of Employee NPS and thus helping them improve the overall employee experience and drive higher productivity. Explore pricing and features to find the Empuls plan that best fits your team.
Pros

Empuls is self serve & DIY and makes it extremely easy for HRs to get started within a day.
HRs can also start from existing tools like HRIS, Slack, Teams, Gsuite & more seamlessly.
Comes with rich features to engage employees through game mechanics, contests, water coolers, one on one feedback, peer & social recognition, and a wide variety of benefits like rewards & perks.
Good for small & medium size companies

Cons

No free plan, but they do offer a free trial
Expanding list of rewards

 
9. Nifty

True collaboration is where communication meets action. If you’re planning in one place and discussing in another — where is the collaboration truly occurring?
Nifty is the award-winning project management tool that closes the gap between communication and action to serve as the all-in-one remote office you and your team have been looking for. Packed with easy-to-use project management tools as well as direct and group messaging experiences, Nifty is the glue between planning and execution.
Pros

Build roadmaps with Nifty’s milestones which are phase-based Gantts that roll up tasks into actionable steps and automate progress as the tasks are completed.
Timeline, Kanban, List, and Swimlane views let teams of all types visualize their work in the way that suits them best.
Tags scale across tasks, docs, and files in all projects to create scalability within the workspace
Built in docs, including a two-way Google Doc, Sheet, and Presentations bring your notes, content, and specifications directly into your workspace.
Overviews, Workloads, and All Tasks give automated managerial insight on project and portfolio health and make managing resources across projects as simple as can be.
Project Discussions and Team Chat give opportunities for group and direct communications

Cons

API in the process of being opened

 
10. Otter.ai

Otter automatically transcribes your audio into text. Text notes full of timesaving ways to search, find, and share with your team no matter where they are. Otter has several integrations with apps like Zoom that make collaboration and remote work faster and more efficient.
Price: Starts at $9.99, billed every month. Learn more on Otter.ai Plan’s pricing page .
Free Plan: Yes, with limited usage and features. Get started .
Here are just a few of the things we love about Otter and the one minus we could think of.
Pros

Otter integrated with Zoom making it quick and easy to add live comments, delegate tasks, and action items in real-time
Allow Zoom participants to add photos, audio, and highlights in real-time to create collaborative meeting notes
Get a text summary of your meetings instantly, no waiting for notes to be cleaned up. No delays, no loss in productivity
Search within and across all your transcribed conversations

Cons 

Love that Otter is available on desktop and mobile we wish more of Otter Premiums were available in the free version

 
11. Chanty

Chanty is a simple team chat solution, with easy-to-use collaboration features, unlimited message history, and workplace apps to enable teams to foster healthy relationships through transparent and accessible communication.
It is a messaging tool that enables your team members to complete projects, activities, or tasks easier and faster. It also helps you consolidate all the information you need in one easy-to-use application.
Pros

Unlimited searchable message history
Inbuilt task manager
Simple and clean interface
Easy-to-start and easy-to-use

Explore pricing and features to find the Chanty plan that best fits your team.
Cons

Limited in custom integrations

 
12. Whereby

Whereby is the best way to meet over video. You don’t need to download an app or any software. Just choose your own personalized URL and meet using your browser – on mobile or desktop – in one click.
Whereby has a range of features to help you collaborate and communicate. Like Breakout Groups, virtual whiteboards with Miro, screen sharing and recording, and integrations with Google Docs, Trello and YouTube.
Pros

Voted ‘easiest to use’ video tool – start meetings in one click
Host meetings with up to 50 participants
No apps, downloads or installs required
Simple, beautiful design
Encrypted and secure video calls
Personalized meeting room with custom backgrounds and your company logo
Breakout Groups to run classes, virtual events , and workshops more easily

Cons

45-minute time limit for meetings with more than 2 participants on the Free plans
Not as widely known as other video conferencing tools

 
13. Nextiva

Nextiva brings all the features of traditional business phone systems to companies that work remotely or across multiple locations and time zones. Using just one robust online platform (and one service provider), you can deliver and manage reliable phone service to employees in multiple locations.
Remote and flexible companies traditionally struggle with reliable communications. In fact, LucidChart points to a Zogby Analytics study that isolated information gaps and delays as a top obstacle facing remote workers.
Nextiva helps companies overcome the remote communication barrier. Manage call traffic over the internet, establish a cloud-based call center, and so much more.
Pros

Top rated customer service and free trial period
Reliable cloud-based enterprise Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) with zero outages last year
Streamlined control panel and single platform for easy management of phone, email, chat, and SMS
Collects customer insights to supplement business decisions
Security monitoring and protection
Tons of bells and whistles, including automations and integrations
Physical phones available on request

Get a full view of all Nextiva’s products and features.
Cons 

Employees may have to change existing phone numbers
May require a light communication and training plan if you’re replacing an existing system

 
14. Slack

Slack is a smart collaboration tool that is available in both desktop and mobile versions. It allows teams to send direct messages to each other as individuals as well as groups. 
You can also organize conversations into various channels for specific initiatives or projects, and integrates with the best Slack apps like Google Docs, Box and Dropbox for a more unified experience.  
Pros 

Hosted in the cloud so no need for costly installations
Messages are fully searchable
Supports private group communication
Allows for external sharing 

Cons 

Has a message visibility limit
Pretty expensive on a per user basis
Is slower to load than other apps such as Flock or Brief
It can be cumbersome to sign into each workspace to communicate with different teams

 
15. Flock

If you are looking for more comprehensive communication features, then Flock is a great alternative for Slack (above). It is a team communication tool that allows teams to have different channels, as well as individual and group conversations.
Unlike Slack, Flock is much faster with short load times and allows users to search through all messages, URL and files with ease. The tool is optimized to find virtually any search query regardless of its source in the channels. Further, it supports screen sharing, audio and video calls. Flock users can conduct polls, set reminders, share notes, and assign tasks for maximum productivity. 
Pros

Has short load times 
Messages are fully searchable 
Has unlimited message visibility 

Cons 

Has fewer app integrations than Slack
Does not support automated bots

 
16. Facebook Workplace

The world’s biggest social media network, Facebook, has a team collaboration service – Facebook Workplace – that can serve as a corporate intranet portal. 
The platform has a very user-friendly interface where teams can collaborate through their own portals, as well as through the Facebook Pages, Notes and Docs. On Facebook Workplace, team members can collaborate on tasks via voice/video call and instant messaging. The platform also has machine learning bots built-in to automate certain tasks. 
Pros 

Supports polls to measure employee opinions
Integrates with other systems
Unlimited photo and video uploads 

Cons 

All data is stored on Facebook servers in the cloud, which may be prone to privacy issues. 

 
17. Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a unified communications platform that merges workplace chat with video meetings, file storage, attachments and app integration. Your teams can host web conferences on this platform, and communicate through audio, video and chat – with both people from within and outside the organization.
Pros 

Full integration across Office 365 apps
Ample cloud storage per user
Provides access to Microsoft Office tools in one place to improve team collaboration
Easy to use and connect with your coworkers on a safe platform

Cons 

The interface is fairly complicated 
Challenging to start

 
18. GoToMeeting

GoToMeeting is a robust online meeting and video conferencing tool designed to enable businesses to collaborate with their teams, clients, customers, and other businesses in real time via the Internet. 
It is particularly great for international teams and can greatly reduce the learning curve as it also supports screen sharing.
The other handy features of the platform include messaging, group chat, recording, integration with other tools, and a one-click meeting feature that instantly schedules meetings in Google Calendar or Outlook.
Pros 

Intuitive user interface 
Can host large meetings 
Allows users to record meetings so you don’t have to attend in real time 

Cons 

Subscription is fairly expensive 
Requires a stable internet connection

 
19. Skype for Business

Most of us are familiar with Skype. Simply put, it’s an online collaboration tool that allows users to communicate with any other Skype user for free via instant messaging, voice, video and screen sharing. 
More importantly, Skype supports conference calls for up to 25 people, which means it can be a very convenient way to bring all your team together for a quick update of project status. 
For more premium features, opt instead for Skype for Business . 
Pros 

The tool is free
You can call anyone in the world who has a Skype account 
Supports screen sharing 
The app is easy to install 

Cons 

Offers no language translation services 
Skype picks up background noises easily 
Sound quality is dependent on bandwidth 

 
20. FreeConferenceCall.com

Like Skype, FreeConferenceCall.com is a popular online collaboration tool that allows teams to share files, share screens, video call and discuss tasks. The platform has stable and secure features including team rooms and is easy to use. 
Pros 

Easy to use and maneuver 

Cons 

Only Admins can set up chat groups
Few bugs if any at all 

 
21. InVideo

InVideo gives you the scope to easily design videos and share them online while you’re in a webinar or video conference. The easy accessibility and editing features on InVideo help you get creative with your data and its portrayal using corporate templates for your video presentation.
InVideo is an online collaboration tool that can be accessed from all the commonly used browsers. Its user-friendly interface helps you figure out what’s best for a corporate video and how to share it online on your organization’s social media handles and other websites.
Pros 

4000+ handcrafted templates. From numerous meme templates to educational tutorial templates, InVideo covers all possible video creation purposes.
8M+ iStock Media Library and 1M+ Premium Media Library from Shutterstock and Storyblock
A feature to convert the article to video easily
An easy way to cut, trim, crop, create a composite, apply brand presets, etc.
Auto text-to-speech + ability to add your own voice-overs
24/7 live chat support + community of more than 20K creators and marketers

Cons 

Users are allowed to work on one project at a time
Can be accessed only through a browser

 
22. Karbon

Karon is a work management platform for accounting firms and professional service businesses. It provides a truly collaborative platform to manage workflows , communicate with teams and deliver exceptional client work.
Karbon combines email, internal discussions, tasks and powerful workflows, which gives teams a single place to communicate and collaborate. It is proven to increase visibility and efficiency. In fact, according to a recent survey, the average Karbon user saves more than 10 hours each week.
Pros

Integrated email
Automatically compiled activity timelines
Lots of task automation
Extremely robust and feature-rich

Cons

Designed for accounting firms, so many features aren’t relevant to other businesses
No free version (although there is a 14-day free trial)

 
23. Go Brief

Brief is a team collaboration software tool that boosts productivity by enabling team members to prioritize and focus on important tasks while minimizing distractions. In 2018 and 2019, Brief was featured by Apple among the Apps We Love.
It has an elegant dashboard that combines chat, video, team hubs, to-do lists and file sharing.
Pros

Turn any message into a task with one click
Create hubs that let you organize your teams, chats, tasks and files
Available on the web, desktop, iOS and Android
Has a user-friendly interface
File sharing of any size
Offers exceptional quality video and audio calls through integration with Zoom
Has an elegant dashboard
This tool is free at the moment

Cons

Has few integrations so far

 
Online Documentation Tools 
 
24. Google Docs

This is likely nothing new to you. It is perhaps the most famous documentation tool out there. Google Docs allows multiple people to edit the same file at same time, leave comments, and see changes made by every participant (revision history). 
All you have to do is invite team members to work on a file in Google docs . With that, all participants have a central place to store and share information, take notes, and just seamlessly collaborate and have access to the information they need to get work done.  
Pros 

Cloud based, no installations required 
All changes made on documents are automatically saved to Google Drive so you won’t lose them
Multiple collaborators on a document can see changes in real time 

Cons 

Limited features compared to Microsoft Word

 
25. Bit . ai

This is a smart document collaboration platform