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. Microsoft Teams Pricing for Business — Microsoftmicrosoft.com
    official
  2. Microsoft Teams Pricing for Enterprise — Microsoftmicrosoft.com
    official
  3. Microsoft Teams — Gartner Reviewsgartner.com
    review
  4. Read Customer Service Reviews of teams.microsoft.com — Trustpilottrustpilot.com
    review
  5. What is your opinion about Microsoft Teams? — Reddit r/softwarereddit.com
    review
  6. Microsoft Teams: An Honest Review by a Competitor (2026) — Pumblepumble.com
    review
  7. NVD-CVE-2026-33823 — NISTnvd.nist.gov
    security
  8. Hackers abuse Microsoft Teams in ransomware campaign — Cybersecurity Divecybersecuritydive.com
    security
  9. Microsoft Teams relay servers abused in DragonForce ransomware attack — SecurityWeeksecurityweek.com
    security
  10. Microsoft Teams — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
    news

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