shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Teams?

Not disclosed - teams.microsoft.com

Depends. Buy it if your organization already runs Microsoft 365 — Teams is bundled, integrated, and enterprise-ready. Skip it if you're a small team that wants simple, fast chat; Slack or Discord fit better and cost less hassle.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 40+ public sources; many review snippets were truncated, so quotes and details reflect the verbatim fragments available.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo evidence in reviewed sources
  • Security posture

Pricing

$0/user

Teams Free

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
Microsoft 365 E5$60.00

Best for

  • Microsoft 365 organizations
  • Enterprises with IT admin staff
  • Chat + meetings + calling in one bundle
  • Frontline workforce communication

Not for

  • Small teams wanting dead-simple chat — use Slack or Discord
  • Non-Microsoft shops; the bundle value disappears
  • Security-sensitive orgs wanting minimal attack surface
  • Teams without IT staff to manage policies and patching

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

CVE-2026-33823 rated 9.6; patch immediately, don't delay updates.

high

Attackers pose as IT support in Teams to deploy ransomware; train staff.

medium

Teams Voice costs extra on top of Microsoft 365; community calls it expensive.

medium

Real value requires Microsoft 365; standalone use costs more than it's worth.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free tier at $0 per user
  • Chat and meeting functionality rated functional by reviewers
  • Extensible app platform with deep Microsoft 365 integration
  • Large active user community and documentation ecosystem

Cons

  • Users report frequent errors and instability
  • Trustpilot reviewers call it 'Awful. Just awful.'
  • CVE-2026-33823 rated 9.6, improper authentication
  • Ransomware groups actively abuse Teams for initial intrusion
  • Sentiment split; Reddit asks 'Do people actually enjoy using Teams?'

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/20/2026 - 10 sources - Several recent CVEs disclosed, including a 9.6-rated authentication flaw; ransomware crews actively abuse Teams.

official x2review x4security x3news x1
  • CVE-2026-33823 — improper authentication, rated 9.6, Improper authentication flaw flagged at 9.6 severity; organizations urged to patch.
  • CVE-2026-21535 — information disclosure, Information disclosure vulnerability tracked in the SentinelOne vulnerability database.
  • Zero-click RCE vulnerability reported, A zero-click remote code execution issue in Teams was reported and analyzed.
  • DragonForce ransomware abused Teams relay servers, Ransomware operators abused Teams relay servers for attack infrastructure.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 4/5

    Rating

  • $0/user

    Starting price

  • 10

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 4/5. Free tier; bundled with Microsoft 365 plans
  • Ease of use: 2/5. Users report frequent errors and clunkiness
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Chat, meetings, calling, apps, frontline features
  • Support quality. No evidence in reviewed sources
  • Security posture: 2/5. 9.6-rated CVE; ransomware abuse reported
  • 5,813 Gartner reviews in-depth reviews on Gartner
  • $0/user Starting price Teams Free plan
  • Yes Free tier Teams Free
  • 9.6 Max CVE severity CVE-2026-33823, improper authentication

Pricing

Teams Free

$0/user

  • Chat, meetings, collaboration
  • Basic features per pricing guides

Microsoft 365 E5

$60.00

  • Full enterprise suite including Teams
  • Enterprise compliance and security tooling

Security

Several recent CVEs disclosed, including a 9.6-rated authentication flaw; ransomware crews actively abuse Teams.

  • CVE-2026-33823 — improper authentication, rated 9.6Improper authentication flaw flagged at 9.6 severity; organizations urged to patch.⁷
  • CVE-2026-21535 — information disclosureInformation disclosure vulnerability tracked in the SentinelOne vulnerability database.
  • Zero-click RCE vulnerability reportedA zero-click remote code execution issue in Teams was reported and analyzed.
  • DragonForce ransomware abused Teams relay serversRansomware operators abused Teams relay servers for attack infrastructure.⁹

What users say

Sentiment is split: users praise bundled chat and meetings but frequently complain about bugs, errors, and clunky usability.

“Awful. Just awful.”
Trustpilot reviewer
“I frequently have errors”
Reddit, r/software
“Overall, chat functional”
Pumble review

Alternatives

Compare Teams with each alternative.

  • Slack

    Simpler, cleaner chat; the default Teams alternative.

    Teams vs Slack
  • Zoom

    Best-in-class video meetings if chat isn't central.

    Teams vs Zoom
  • Wire

    EU-sovereign, security-first collaboration alternative.

Companies that use it

  • Johns Hopkins University
Full analysis

Based on 40+ public sources; many review snippets were truncated, so quotes and details reflect the verbatim fragments available.

Enterprise chat bundled with Microsoft 365: great value for M365 shops, heavy and buggy for everyone else.

Methodology

Based on 40+ public sources; many review snippets were truncated, so quotes and details reflect the verbatim fragments available.

Sources

  1. official
  2. official
  3. review
  4. review
  5. review
  6. review
  7. security
  8. security
  9. security
  10. news

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