Chat first instead of meetings first: channels, DMs and drop-in voice for your team, from a Dutch company, with your data in the EU and no Microsoft 365 needed.
mssgs is a European alternative to Microsoft Teams for teams that mostly chat: small companies, agencies, associations, clubs and project groups. It has channels, direct messages, drop-in voice channels with camera and screen sharing, webhooks and bots, and works on its own, without a Microsoft account or licence. The difference: mssgs is made by a Dutch company with no American parent, stores all data in the EU with a Dutch hosting provider and end-to-end encrypts one-to-one chats. Organisations that live in Office documents, large meetings and webinars are better served by Teams.
Comparison checked on 27 September 2026.
Two different ideas of team software. Green marks the side that is ahead on that row, and we say so when that is Teams.
| Feature | Microsoft Teams | mssgs |
|---|---|---|
| Company and data | ||
| Made by | Microsoft, United States | RUAL, the Netherlands |
| Where your data is stored | In the EU for EU customers (EU Data Boundary) | In the EU, with a Dutch hosting provider |
| Subject to US law such as the CLOUD Act | Yes, as an American company | No American parent company, no American cloud |
| End-to-end encrypted chats | No, only calls, and only when switched on | Yes, one-to-one chats (Signal protocol) |
| Needs a Microsoft account or licence | Yes | No, an email address is enough |
| Chat and calls | ||
| Channels, DMs, mentions and reactions | Yes | Yes |
| Drop-in voice channels | Scheduled meetings and calls | Voice channels anyone can join, with camera and screen sharing |
| Large meetings and webinars | Up to 1,000 interactive participants, webinars and town halls | No |
| Phone numbers | Teams Phone | No |
| Files, automation and AI | ||
| Documents | Co-edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint, SharePoint and OneDrive | Share files in the chat, paste OneDrive or SharePoint links |
| Automations | Power Automate and Teams apps | Webhooks, /command triggers without code, bot messages and workflow automations |
| AI assistant | Copilot, a paid add-on that works across chats and meetings | Connect your own assistant over MCP, only to the channels you pick |
| Administration and price | ||
| Single sign-on and compliance tools | Entra ID, eDiscovery, retention and legal hold | No |
| Join only with a company email | Yes | Yes |
| Price | Per user per month, alone or with Microsoft 365 | Channels, DMs and calls free for everyone, Premium optional per person |
| Apps | Windows, macOS, Linux (web), iOS, Android, web | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, web |
Checked on 27 September 2026 against Microsoft's own product pages and announcements. Apps change; if something here is out of date, tell us at support@mss.gs and we fix it.
The reasons we hear most, and what mssgs does instead.
Microsoft keeps EU customers' data in the EU, but in June 2025 its French legal director told the French Senate he could not guarantee that data would never be handed to US authorities.
mssgs is a Dutch company with no American parent. Your data stays in the EU with a Dutch hosting provider, no American cloud. See security.
Teams works best with Microsoft accounts, licences and Entra ID, which makes it hard to use next to other tools or with people outside your organisation.
mssgs works on its own. Anyone with an email address can join, and it sits happily next to whatever office suite you use.
Teams is built around meetings, calendars and Office files. For a team that mostly chats, that is a lot of app.
mssgs is chat first: channels, DMs and voice channels you drop into without scheduling a meeting.
Teams can end-to-end encrypt calls when an admin switches it on, but chat messages are not end-to-end encrypted.
One-to-one chats are end-to-end encrypted with the Signal protocol. Everything else is stored encrypted (AES-256) and never used to train AI.
Microsoft builds Copilot into chats and meetings and sells it as a paid add-on per user.
No assistant reads along unless you connect one. With MCP you choose the assistant and the channels it may see.
Teams is paid per user per month, on its own or as part of a Microsoft 365 plan.
Channels, direct messages and calls are free for everyone. Premium is optional, per person, and never renews by itself.
Teams is a whole office platform, mssgs is a chat app. These are the things Teams does that mssgs does not.
mssgs does not replace your office suite, so you can start with chat and keep your documents where they are.
Download mssgs or open it in your browser, and pick a work account when you sign up. No credit card needed.
Create channels per team or project, set up roles, and connect GitHub, webhooks or your own bots if you need them.
Share an invite link or QR code, and limit joining to your company email domain if you like.
Need help planning the move? Get in touch. More questions? See the FAQ or the help desk.
For teams that mostly chat and call, mssgs is a good alternative: channels, direct messages, drop-in voice channels with screen sharing, webhooks and bots, without a Microsoft 365 licence. For organisations that depend on Office co-editing, large meetings and compliance tools, Teams itself remains the better fit.
Yes. mssgs is built by RUAL, a Dutch software company founded in 2009, falls under Dutch law and stores all data in the EU with a Dutch hosting provider. There is no American parent company and no American cloud provider involved.
Yes. mssgs works on its own: you need an email address, not a Microsoft account, Office licence or Entra ID. You can still share OneDrive and SharePoint links in the chat.
Microsoft stores EU customers' data in the EU under its EU Data Boundary. But Microsoft is an American company, and in June 2025 its French legal director told the French Senate he could not guarantee that data would never be passed to US authorities. mssgs has no American parent company and stores everything with a Dutch hosting provider.
For team calls, yes: voice channels support camera and screen sharing with sound, and anyone in the channel can drop in. mssgs has no webinars, town halls, meeting registration or phone numbers, so for large meetings Teams is the better tool.
Teams is paid per user per month. In mssgs, channels, direct messages and calls are free for everyone, and Premium is an optional upgrade per person that never renews by itself.
No. You sign in with a code sent to your email, optionally with a password and two-factor authentication through a passkey, an authenticator app, a hardware key or SMS. You can limit who joins your community to your company email domain.
mssgs is a Dutch company, stores all data in the EU and does not use American cloud providers. Business customers can get a data processing agreement via privacy@mss.gs. See security for the details.
Free to start, no credit card, no Microsoft account. Your team, your channels, your data in the EU.
Download mssgs