Microsoft Teams could add a free tier soon, according to a new report.

Microsoft launched its Slack competitor over a year ago as a paid service. It wasn't free, and it didn't have a freemium tier for businesses to upgrade. However, according to Petri, the latest preview version of Microsoft Teams includes several references that suggest it might soon go free, or at least offer a free tier. One spotted line stated: “Storage exceeded… Admin action to upgrade to paid version”.

What does that mean? Microsoft might soon offer a free iteration, but in order to unlock all the functionality of Teams, you will need Office 365. Microsoft Teams is compatible with Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and web platforms - just like other Office 365 apps. The digital workplace offers threaded chats, the ability to have private discussions, Skype voice and video conferences, and GIFs and custom memes.

These sort of fun elements in Slack, too, and a big part of why it has become the go-to service for teams and workplaces. Also, Slack has a free tier, making it much more accessible for smaller teams that don't have huge budgets. It appears that Microsoft might want to go that route with its own workplace collaboration app, as it is currently testing this functionality before, presumably, rolling it out publicly.

It'll be interesting to see if free Microsoft Teams works similar to free Slack. In that case, it'll be limited to a certain number of people.