13 best internal communication tools & software to boost collaboration

Missed messages, lack of transparency, and shrugged-off responsibilities all are the results of a lack of effective internal communication. 

The constant need to stay connected, share information, and foster teamwork can be overwhelming; especially in today’s fast-paced business environment. 

In one of the surveys published by Queens University, it was concluded that 3 in 4 employers rate collaboration as “very important”. Yet, it is highly ignored — 39% of the employees said that people in their companies “don’t collaborate well.”

Without a dedicated internal communication tool and software, it is hard to collaborate with teams effectively in a modern hybrid workplace. Internal communication software helps you bring your team communication, teamwork, and knowledge sharing. 

With keeping that in mind, let’s explore the top 13 internal communication tools in this blog post to help you make an informed decision while choosing the best option for your organization. Grab your seatbelt and let’s begin. 

What are internal communication tools?

Internal communication tools are the software that provides your team with a central and secure place to communicate and collaborate within the organization so that they can continue to work productively without any roadblocks.   

Good communication is the bridge between confusion and clarity. Effective team communication tools provide this bridge to businesses like yours which is imperative; especially when teams are scattered in different places. A good communication tool not only streamlines the way teams communicate with each other but also ensures there is a continuous flow of information between all the team members and that everyone is on the same page.

Best 13 internal communication tools and software for teams

There are numerous company internal communication tools available in the market to transform the way your teams work. Some focus on the entire team communication while others focus on parts of the team communication. This market dynamics is because of the varying needs of users.

Considering that, let’s look at the comprehensive list of different types of internal communication tools. I’ve taken the liberty of organizing them into four broad categories, each serving its purpose. It will certainly help you make an informed decision.

Best for project collaboration and team communication

If you are looking for a complete project collaboration and team communication tool, ProofHub, Trello, and Asana are your go-to options.    

1. ProofHub

ProofHub is all-in-one project management and team collaboration software that helps you streamline your team communication with various dedicated channels, eliminating the need for scattered emails, discussion threads, and multiple tools. 

Imagine being able to communicate with your teams in the blink of an eye. 

By using ProofHub, you’ll be able to keep everyone on the same page and ensure that no vital information slips through the cracks.

Don’t rely just on my word for it. According to a G2 reviewer, “ProofHub eliminated dependency on endless email threads.” ProofHub helps many organizations build their intranet to collaborate effectively. This completely alters the playing field!

And here’s something to impress you even more. ProofHub has been trusted by renowned organizations like NASA, Google, and Netflix. They have used its powerful features to transform their team communication and project collaboration.

Take a peek at ProofHub’s core features and get ready to revolutionize your internal communication and productivity.  

Key features

• Communicate with your teams in real-time: No need to waste time on emails, going desk to desk, or calling your remote team members. With ProofHub built-in chat, you can instantly send messages to teams and individuals to communicate instantly, without wasting time.             

• Avoid accountability issues: Without a central source of truth and a record of the communication, it is hard to maintain transparency. With ProofHub @mentions, you can tag team members and request updates. This makes communication transparent and resolves accountability issues. You can also share task-related information or updates in the task comments. 

• Keep everyone on the same page: Lack of alignment in teams means your team is not working on the same project goals. With ProofHub project discussions, you can discuss project ideas, get all the relevant details documented in one place, and involve stakeholders in project conversations. You can also use shareable notes to document key project requirements.

• Boost employee engagement: Internal communication is not limited to within teams only. Breakdown in interdepartmental communication is detrimental to employee engagement. With ProofHub announcements, you can boost engagement company-wide by sharing updates across teams, celebrating team success, and recognizing employees.

• Collaborate with teams effortlessly: Sharing files and documents is an integral part of project collaboration. With ProofHub, your team can share files from a computer or cloud-based apps such as GoogleDrive, DropBox, and OneBox by simply attaching them to tasks in multiple file formats, including JPEG, PNG, and PDF.         

• Review, approve, and share feedback: Choosing the path of back-and-forth emails to review, edit, and approve creative assets results in chaos. With ProofHub online proofing, your team can collaborate on creative assets effortlessly. You can add annotations to provide clear, actionable feedback instantly.    

• Bring transparency to your workflow: Without a central hub to access and record project information, you cannot bring transparency to your workplace collaboration. With ProofHub task management feature, you can create and delegate tasks effortlessly from your task dashboard and bring all the tasks to a central place. This helps everyone see who is working on what.  

Apart from these features, you get a wide range of project management features such as multiple project views, custom workflows, time tracking, project reporting, and multiple integrations.       

Pros 

• ProofHub replaces multiple apps. No need to invest in multiple internal communication apps
• Easy to use. Anyone in the team gets used to communication features easily    
• Advanced online proofing capabilities such as annotations and file versioning 
• Engage with a remote team with interactive announcements 
• Scalable in a true sense. You can add as many users as you want 

Cons

• The notification system is very basic
• Not that ideal for solopreneurs and freelancers  

Pricing

ProofHub has a flat pricing structure that makes it highly affordable for small and medium-sized teams. Unlimited users can use this tool. You do not have to worry about per user/per-month fee.

ProofHub offers two plans: Essential and Ultimate control.     

Essential plan costs you $45 per month (billed annually), with unlimited users, up to 40 projects. Ultimate Control plan costs $89 per month (billed annually); unlimited users, unlimited projects.

2. Asana

Asana is another popular internal communication and collaboration platform that is loved by teams across the globe for internal communication. It is popular because of its simplicity and easy-to-navigate user interface. You can share your work and bring employee communication under one roof with Asana. 

Asana provides team collaboration and document sharing through seamless outside integrations. It integrates with Slack, Gmail, One Drive, Google Drive, Salesforce, Zoom, and other internal communication apps to bring team collaboration to one place.              

Just like ProofHub, Asana helps you plan your tasks, prioritize them, and share details before assigning them to team members with a centralized task dashboard. But Asana falters when you have to assign a task to more than one team member. 

Key features

• Powerful integrations with other internal communication software such as Slack, Zoom, and Google Drive     
• Centralized task dashboard for teamwork management  
• Multiple project views for project planning 
• Share files with Google Drive, DropBox, and other platforms 

Pros 

• Easy-to-use interface 
• Integrate with over 200 apps 
• Helps you with project management

Cons   

• Relies heavily on integrations 
• Expensive than other tools in the same category
• It has some learning curve 

Pricing 

Asana’s free plan is for everyone but comes with limited features. To access all the features, you need to upgrade to Premium Plans which costs US$10.99 per user, per month billed annually.

3. Trello

Trello is a Kanban-based project collaboration and internal communication software that helps your team collaborate on projects effortlessly and transforms your team communication with outside integrations. It boasts of giving a more visual approach to project management and offers teams a more flexible and fun way to plan their work and manage their projects.

Trello transforms internal communication with outside integration with apps like Slack, Chanty, Google Drive, and DropBox. You can chat with your team in real time and share files.         

Key features

• Chat in real-time with Slack and other integrations
• Share files with Google Drive and other integrations      
• Use filters, labels, and a search to find important information 
• Simple to use Kanban Boards for project collaboration

Pros 

• User-friendly interface 
• Integrate with most other daily-use apps 
• Drag-and-drop system is intuitive

Cons 

• Limited integrations in free versions
• Difficult to attach files 
• Free version limits attachment size 

Pricing 

Trello Free plan is for everyone, but it comes with limited functions and integration. Paid plans start at $5 Per user/month if billed annually.

Best for messaging/chat

If you are looking for a chat-based tool for quick conversations, Slack, Chanty, and Troop Messenger are good tools. They provide you with enhanced real-time communication capabilities but limited project collaboration and management capabilities.           

4. Slack

Slack is one of the best internal communication platforms for businesses. It is popular because of its ease of usage. You can effortlessly bring all your team’s internal communications together; both in-office and remote.  

You can create channels for teams to keep work organized, and segregated. It has some great automation features to make your routine team internal communication easier. You can even share files in chat for easy and quick collaboration.

Slack integrates with popular apps like Google Drive, Office 365, and more to bring all your important applications together.

Key features 

• Chat with team members in real time by creating channels 
• Share files and media in the chat 
• Use voice and video calls for interactive communication
• Set reminders and get notifications
• Automate routine communication to save time 

Pros 

• Know team availability with Slack work status messages  
• Customize Slack themes, homepage, channels, sidebar
• User-friendly chat interface 
• Integrate with other software 

Cons

• Expensive than other tools in the same category 
• Does not provide you with online proofing 
• Audio and video call quality needs improvements
• Limited task management capabilities
• Limited project planning features  

Pricing

Slack free plan is for everyone but offers limited features and integrations. You need to upgrade to ProPlan which costs $7.25 per user per month when billed annually.    

5. Chanty

If you’ve ever wanted a team chat app that functions in a similar way to Slack but is faster, easier to use, and friendlier for your wallet — Chanty is the software for you.

At the heart of Chanty is its Teambook, which lets you find contacts, messages, attachments, and links with ease. For anyone struggling with Slack’s search, this will be a welcome change.

There are no limitations on how you can use the app — you can communicate through chat or send voice messages. You can make audio and video calls and share your screen, and the majority of these features are available in the free trial version of the app.

I find Chanty more useful than Slack due to its project management feature. It lets you turn messages into tasks and assign them to your team, which is great for those smaller teams working on a limited number of projects.

Key features

• Real-time chat with file sharing
• In-app audio and video calling
• Turn messages into tasks and assign them to your team
• Screen Sharing to easily collaborate remotely

Pros 

• Fast loading speed   
• Easy to use
• Attach files quickly   

Cons 

• Not great for video or voice calls 
• Cause trouble while whiteboarding or file sharing
• Inability to mute channels
• Lack of status messages  

Pricing

Chanty Free plan is limited to 10 members and offers limited features. To unlock all the features, you need to switch to the Business plan which starts at $3 per user, per month.      

6. Troop Messenger

Troop Messenger is another great group chat app that you can use for internal communication. With features like audio calling and audio messaging, Troop Messenger is a great option to keep your team’s communication flowing smoothly.

The group messaging feature lets you bring over your entire team to discuss and collaborate on topics. It offers several handy third-party integrations to make sure that you have everything in one place.

I really like Troop Messenger’s end-to-end encryption. It ensures that all your communications carried out on Troop Messenger are completely secure.

Key features 

• Instant messaging to quickly connect with your team members 
• Audio and video calling for interactive one-to-one interaction 
• Group chat to discuss ideas with the group 
• File sharing for collaboration  
• Remote screen sharing for meetings and presentations      

Pros 

• Easy-to-use interface 
• Chat features like responding later, editing the message, self-messaging, and more
• Integration with Zapier

Cons 

• Does not help you with task management
• No work status messages in the chat  
• Lack of customization capabilities

Pricing 

TroopMessenger does not offer a free plan. Paid plans start from $5 per user per month.   

7. Flowdock

Flowdock is the last message-based app on our list. With threaded conversations, it comes across as a great tool for company-wide internal communications.

You can carry out group messaging, and tag people in your conversations to notify them. Features like custom emojis, add a fun factor to team communication. It also offers file sharing in chat to boost team collaboration while working remotely.

Key features

• Communicate using threaded chat and team inbox.
• A single dashboard to integrate conversations, email messages, feeds, alerts, and notifications
• Share files from your desktop, Web, or mobile device 

Pros 

• Enhanced organization with dedicated channels  
• @notfications to get immediate attention  
• Integrations with other software for enhanced functionality

Cons 

• Does not offer instant messaging
• No real-time editing 
• Lack of integrations with other apps 

Pricing 

FlowDock plans start from $3/month per user.  

Best for video conferencing

If you are looking for a dedicated high-quality video conferencing tool, then Zoom, Skype, and GoToMeeting are great choices. They integrate with most of the project collaboration software to enhance communication capabilities.          

8. Zoom

I place Zoom at the top in this category because of its intuitive and user-friendly interface. Zoom is one of the most popular video conferencing apps in the market. It allows you to carry out your team meetings, both audio and video, effortlessly while working from anywhere.  

Zoom offers all the advanced features to effortlessly collaborate with your teams. You can add up to 1000 participants in your meeting. You can share screens and use whiteboarding. You can record your meetings and store them in the cloud for future use/reference. Teams can chat during the meeting making it the best tool for internal communications

Zoom allows you to integrate your Outlook, Gmail, or iCal calendar for effortless scheduling of meetings.

Key features

• Web-based video and audio calling 
• Screen Sharing, whiteboarding, and File sharing
• Zoom Chat to communicate instantly 
• Integrates most of the other daily-use software 

Pros 

• Add a large number of participants 
• HD video and audio calling 
• Excellent tech support 
• Easy to use

Cons

• Expensive paid plans 
• Designed only for communication. 
• You can track task and project progress        

Pricing

Zoom Basic plan is free for everyone. It comes with limited features. To access premium features, you need to switch to paid plans which start from $149.90/year/user.

9. Skype

Skype is another great video communication tool to transform internal communication. The best thing I like about Skype is that it lets you make free conference calls.

Skype offers advanced features like screen sharing, screen recording, and more, which are highly useful. You can even carry out video conferencing with people who are not on Skype using a unique, shareable link. The option of live subtitles during video calls makes it the best internal communication app for business.

Key features

• Secure web-based video and audio calling 
• Screen sharing and screen recording  
• Call and message to phone at affordable international rates  
• Smart messaging with reactions and @mentions    

Pros 

• Live subtitles during video calls
• Secure platform for businesses

Cons 

• Less user-friendly than other tools 
• Lack of integration with other apps
• No free plan  

Pricing 

Skype to Skype calling is free, but if you want to call on cell phones, Skype plans start from $2.54 per month.     

10. GoToMeeting

GoToMeeting is another powerful video conferencing tool that offers voice commands, cloud recording, and real-time collaboration features to transform your team’s internal communication.

You can add up to 250 participants, create personal meeting rooms, record your meetings, create meeting transcriptions, and a lot more to keep your team’s internal communication streamlined.

You can even carry out your business meetings from mobile using GoToMeeting mobile app.

I like the Webcam preview feature of this internal communications software. It allows you to test and preview your webcam before the start of the meeting.

Key features

• One-to-one and group audio and video conferencing
• Screen sharing and meeting drawing tools 
• Meeting transcription and cloud recording 
• Webcam preview 

Pros 

• Smart meeting assistant
• Customize your webcam background 
• Integrate with your favorite tools

Cons

• Free version is limited
• Quality of conferencing highly depends on the device 
• Expensive for one to access premium features  

Pricing 

GoToMeeting plans start at $12 per user per month, up to 150 participants. 

Best for cloud storage and file sharing

In this category, I listed the tool designed specifically for cloud storage and file sharing so that your teams can collaborate with ease.    

11. DropBox

The one thing that makes Dropbox everyone’s favorite cloud storage and file-sharing app is its clean design and power to sync everything seamlessly.

It has advanced features like folders, file versioning, link sharing, an account transfer tool, and smart sync that make it one of the most popular file storage and information-sharing apps available in the market.

DropBox provides exceptional live support in answering all the questions when you are stuck somewhere while using the app.

Key features 

• Store all your files in one place
• Automatically backup important files on your devices
• Share files of large size 
• e-Sign your files 
• Edit your docs online 

Pros 

• Easy-to-use interface 
• Store large files up to 2TB
• Transfer large files upto 100GB 

Cons

• Poor storage limit for free users
• Expensive than other tools

Pricing

DropBox does not offer a free plan. Paid plans start at $9.99 per user per month.

12. Box

Box is one of the most competent cloud storage and file-sharing platforms. It is really handy when you need a central place to store and share all your project files and documents.

With features like Unlimited storage, file upload/download up to 5 GB, user management, file sharing, custom search filters, and user statistics, Box is a lot more than just a file storage app.

You can review, edit and analyze documents with Box AI. Not just that you can add e-signatures with BoxSign.   

If you are looking for a file-sharing app that boosts your team collaboration efforts as well, Box is just the perfect option for you.

Key features 

• Store, share, and access all the files securely on the cloud 
• Edit, review, and summarize your content with Box AI 
• Integrated e-signatures with Box Sign 
• Whiteboarding to collaborate with teams

Pros

• Admit control for custom permissions    
• Integrate with over 1500 software app 
• Strict data privacy, data residency, and industry compliance.

Cons 

• Lags in sync sometimes  
• Box premium plans are expensive 
• Limited features in the free plan 

Pricing 

Box paid plans start from $15/month for 3 users. You do not have any free plan. 

13. OneDrive

With free storage of up to 5 GB, OneDrive is one of the most loved file-sharing and cloud storage apps out there in the market. You can store your files, create backups, and share them with anyone using cloud storage. Its integration with Microsoft 365 makes it even easier. 

The great thing about OneDrive is that its paid plans also offer you free Microsoft Office apps such as Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, OneNote, Publisher, Microsoft Teams, Sharepoint, and Yammer.

Key features

• Sync your data files to your OneDrive
• Backup and protect your files with OneDrive
• Share and Access files from anywhere 
• Autosave the files 
• Manage access and free up space   

Pros 

• Free storage 
• Two-stage file deletion
• Integration with Microsoft teams 

Cons 

• Problems with syncing with other devices 
• Complex user-interface 
• Limited backup functionality
• Limited integrations 

Pricing 

OneDrive Business Plans start from $5.00 per user per month. However, you can try it for free for one month with limited storage options. 

Features to look for in an internal communications tool

Choosing a workplace communication tool is a big responsibility. An incompetent tool leads to poor productivity, discourages the use of the tool in the organization, creates confusion, and does not serve the purpose. 

Based on my first-hand experience managing marketing teams, I have listed the seven key features that are a must in an internal communications tool. 

• Real-time communication: Look for a tool with a powerful real-time chat feature that allows you and your team to communicate with anyone in the organization instantly, without leaving the app.
   
• File sharing: Find a tool that allows your team to share files from a computer and a cloud-based app on a centralized platform. This brings all your project work to one place, which anyone with permission can access.
       
• Task management: Task comments, tags, or @mentions are used to tag colleagues on the tasks they are working on to get specific attention and timely updates. Look for a tool that helps you collaborate on tasks directly.
  
• Project documentation: A tool should allow you to document the project requirements so that anyone working on the project can refer to it when required. Find a tool that helps you with project discussion and documentation.

• Collaboration: A great internal communications tool gives voice to your employees and encourages them to engage. Find a tool that provides you with a virtual central space to collaborate, celebrate success, and engage with each other.

Why use an internal communication tool?

An internal communication tool is software that helps you improve your team communication by offering a range of capable features. It helps in making internal communication productive, quick, organized, efficient, and easy.              

Benefits of using an internal communication tool

• Boosts productivity: With the right internal communications software, employees have everything they need to work productively at their fingertips. They spend less time searching for things and more time doing things that matter. So, you can see a rise in employee productivity.
  
• Keep everyone on the same page: With the help of a communication tool, you can bring everyone on the same page and work towards achieving a common goal. Everyone knows what they are supposed to do, how they are supposed to do it, and what deadline they have.
  
• Quick and easy knowledge sharing: With a centralized system for everything, sharing ideas, tasks and everything related to work becomes effortlessly easy and free from any confusion. It ensures everyone continues to work smoothly without feeling blank at any point in time.
  
• Avoid accountability issues: The right communication tool brings transparency. It helps you avoid accountability conflicts. Everything is recorded at a central place and everyone is notified of their responsibilities.
  
• Boost employee engagement: Having the right tool helps you boost employee engagement by providing a central platform to connect. You can celebrate team success, share company news, and make announcements. It helps in keeping remote teams engaged.    

Transform your internal communication with ProofHub

A good internal communication tool helps you tick all the boxes to transform the internal communication of your organization — instant workforce communication, group participation, document sharing, and project collaboration. 

ProofHub helps you transform your internal communication with its complete suite of powerful team communication and project collaboration features, intuitive and user-friendly interface, and ease of use.

FAQs about internal communications tools