8seats vs Yay.com Business Instant Messaging

8seats is a work messaging platform for frontline and deskless teams. Rooms support team-wide broadcasts, Tables organize focused group conversations, and Direct Messages provide private one-to-one chats. Employees can join with a phone number rather than a company email address. An admin dashboard manages users and communications across locations, and teams can connect with external guests and partners. Organizations can customize the app's look and feel. The maker says messages are encrypted in transit with TLS 1.3 and at rest with AES-256; role-based permissions govern conversation access, and administrators can remove access instantly. The Starter plan is free for up to 10 employees, with unlimited guests, 365 days of message history and 1 GB of storage. Business costs $2.99 a month, billed user/mo, with monthly and yearly options. 8seats is available on Android, iOS, macOS, web and Windows. Its stated audiences include retail, hospitality, facilities management, transport, logistics and construction teams.

Yay.com Business Instant Messaging combines business chat with voice calling in an app for teams and their external contacts. Users can send files, organize discussions with threads and group chats, and search by keywords, people, shared links, files, or phone numbers. One-to-one chats can start a voice call, while group chats can connect to a conference bridge. Yay says users can invite clients and partners into business conversations. The product page describes messaging and file sharing as end-to-end encrypted and GDPR-compliant. Administrators can grant chat access per user and configure individual permissions. The service is integrated with Yay’s VoIP phone system; listed phone-system integrations include Pipedrive, HubSpot, Capsule CRM, Slack, Zoho CRM, Google Contacts, Office 365, Microsoft Teams, and Intercom. The app runs on Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web, and Windows. Its messaging features are included in a 14-day trial of the cloud phone system, which does not require a credit card. Paid plans are priced per user per month when billed yearly, and prices exclude tax: Core is $12 a month, Standard is $20 a month, and Premium is $32 a month. Yay was founded in 2014 and is based in Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom.