Microsoft vs Slack: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Microsoft reported $331.8B of revenue in FY2026 and $133.7B of net income. Slack reported $902.6M of revenue in FY2021 and — of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Microsoft
Microsoft's FY2026 revenue rose 17.8% to $331.8 billion, operating income rose 21% to $155.2 billion, and GAAP net income rose 31% to $133.7 billion. Fourth-quarter revenue was $90.0 billion (up 18%) with net income of $35.8 billion, helped by a $3.2 billion gain on its Anthropic investment. Microsoft Cloud revenue reached $59.3 billion in Q4, up 27%. The main pressure point is capital intensity: AI data center spending has pushed free cash flow growth well below earnings growth.
Slack
Slack's public filings show fast growth with operating losses. Revenue rose from $400.6 million in fiscal 2019 to $630.4 million in fiscal 2020 and $902.6 million in fiscal 2021. Fiscal 2021 GAAP gross margin was 86.5%, GAAP operating loss was $283.1 million, and free cash flow was $62.2 million. Net dollar retention was 123%, and 108 customers paid more than $1 million a year. Salesforce paid $27.7 billion in cash and stock for the company in 2021 and has not disclosed Slack revenue as a separate line since; Benioff's March 2026 comment that Slack revenue grew about 2.5 times in five years is the latest public indicator.
Revenue and profit by year
Microsoft
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $331.8B | $133.7B | 40.3% | +17.8% | Source |
| FY2025 | $281.7B | $101.8B | 36.1% | +14.9% | Source |
| FY2024 | $245.1B | $88.1B | 36.0% | +15.7% | Source |
| FY2023 | $211.9B | $72.4B | 34.1% | +6.9% | Source |
| FY2022 | $198.3B | $72.7B | 36.7% | +18.0% | Source |
| FY2021 | $168.1B | $61.3B | 36.5% | +17.5% | Source |
| FY2020 | $143B | $44.3B | 31.0% | +13.6% | Source |
| FY2019 | $125.8B | $39.2B | 31.2% | +14.0% | Source |
| FY2018 | $110.4B | $16.6B | 15.0% | +14.3% | Source |
| FY2017 | $96.6B | $25.5B | 26.4% | — | Source |
Slack
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | $902.6M | — | 0.0% | +43.2% | Source |
| FY2020 | $630.4M | — | 0.0% | +57.4% | Source |
| FY2019 | $400.6M | — | 0.0% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Microsoft
- Productivity And Business ProcessesMajor
Office, Microsoft 365, LinkedIn, Dynamics, and related cloud services.
- Intelligent CloudMajor
Azure, server products, enterprise services, and cloud infrastructure.
- More Personal ComputingMajor
Windows, devices, gaming, search, and advertising.
- AI Services And CopilotsGrowth
AI features and model-powered services embedded across Azure, Microsoft 365, GitHub, security, and developer tools.
Slack
- Paid plan subscriptions (Pro, Business+)
Not disclosed
Per-user monthly or annual subscriptions for small and mid-sized teams; Pro is listed at $8.75 per user per month billed monthly.
- Enterprise subscriptions
Not disclosed
Custom contracts for large organizations needing multi-workspace administration, compliance and security controls.
- Salesforce bundles and AI
Not disclosed
Slack sold with Salesforce clouds and Agentforce; AI features are included in paid plans after the separate Slack AI add-on was withdrawn in 2025.
Business model and strategy
Microsoft
How it makes money
Microsoft reports three segments. Intelligent Cloud covers Azure, SQL Server, Windows Server, GitHub, Nuance, and enterprise services; server products and cloud services alone brought in $129.4 billion in FY2026, and Azure passed $100 billion in annual revenue for the first time.
Growth strategy
Microsoft's growth plan centers on AI capacity and AI subscriptions. It is spending heavily on data centers and chips to meet Azure demand that management says remains capacity constrained, and it is selling Microsoft 365 Copilot as a paid add-on, which passed 30 million paid seats by the end of FY2026.
Competitive advantage
Microsoft's main advantage is distribution inside enterprises. Identity (Entra), email and documents (Microsoft 365), collaboration (Teams), developer tools (GitHub, Visual Studio), and cloud infrastructure (Azure) are often bought together, which raises switching costs and lets Microsoft attach new products such as Copilot to existing contracts.
Slack
How it makes money
Slack makes money from per-user subscriptions. Teams can start on a free plan with 90 days of message history, then upgrade to Pro (listed at $8.75 per user per month billed monthly, or $7.25 billed annually), Business+, or enterprise plans with central administration, compliance and data controls.
Growth strategy
Slack's growth strategy has three parts: sell Slack with Salesforce's CRM and Agentforce products to existing Salesforce customers; make Slackbot and enterprise search the default way employees find information across Slack and connected apps; and open Slack to outside AI agents through APIs and an MCP server announced in 2025, so other vendors build on Slack rather than around it.
Competitive advantage
Slack's advantage is depth of adoption. The App Directory lists more than 2,600 apps, and engineering, IT and sales teams often wire alerts, approvals and bots straight into channels, which makes switching costly. Slack Connect lets separate companies share channels, so many customers also depend on Slack to talk to vendors and partners. Salesforce adds CRM data and Agentforce agents that can work inside Slack.
Questions about Microsoft vs Slack
Which company has higher revenue — Microsoft Corporation or Slack Technologies, LLC?
Microsoft Corporation reported $331.8B (FY2026), while Slack Technologies, LLC reported $902.6M (FY2021). By last reported revenue, Microsoft Corporation is the larger business, with Slack Technologies, LLC reporting a smaller revenue base. Note: these are from different fiscal years and are not a direct like-for-like comparison.
What is the market cap of Microsoft Corporation vs Slack Technologies, LLC?
Microsoft Corporation has a market capitalisation of $3.83T. A public market cap figure for Slack Technologies, LLC was not available (it may be privately held).
Which is more financially efficient — Microsoft Corporation or Slack Technologies, LLC?
Microsoft Corporation generates $1.49M / employee in revenue per employee. A comparable figure for Slack Technologies, LLC requires matching employee and revenue data from the same reporting period.
How do Microsoft Corporation and Slack Technologies, LLC make money?
Microsoft Corporation and Slack Technologies, LLC generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Microsoft Corporation: Microsoft reports three segments. Slack Technologies, LLC: Slack makes money from per-user subscriptions.
Is Microsoft Corporation bigger than Slack Technologies, LLC?
By last reported revenue, Microsoft Corporation ($331.8B (FY2026)) is the larger company compared to Slack Technologies, LLC ($902.6M (FY2021)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Microsoft vs Slack overview