8seats

8seats is a work messaging platform designed for frontline and deskless teams as an alternative to WhatsApp. It organizes communication into Rooms for team-wide broadcasts, Tables for focused group conversations, and private one-to-one Direct Messages. Employees can join with a phone number rather than a company email, and an admin dashboard manages users and communication across locations. Teams can also connect with external guests and partners, while organizations can customize the app’s appearance to match their branding. The service is available on Android, iOS, macOS, web, and Windows. The maker says messages are encrypted in transit with TLS 1.3 and at rest with AES-256. Role-based permissions limit access to conversations, and administrators can remove access instantly. The free Starter plan supports up to 10 employees, unlimited guests, 365 days of message history, and 1 GB of storage. Business is listed at $2.99 per month, billed user/mo, with monthly and yearly options; it adds unlimited employees, expanded storage, tasks and checklists, multi-location management, announcement broadcasts, and advanced controls.

8seats combines several conversation formats with location-level administration and guest access. The free plan has clear user and storage limits; Business is listed at $2.99 per month, billed user/mo.

8seats is intended for deskless and frontline workforces, including teams in retail, hospitality, facilities management, transport, logistics, and construction. It can suit organizations that want phone-number onboarding and communication managed across locations.

8seats is a work messaging platform built for frontline and deskless teams that need to coordinate people across locations. It is best suited to employers whose staff may not have company email and who want communication, access, and guest participation managed together.

Overview

Rather than requiring a single company-wide chat stream, 8seats separates team broadcasts, focused group conversations, and private one-to-one messages. That structure suits businesses with varied communication needs across shifts or locations, while the phone-number sign-up lowers a practical barrier for employees who do not use work email.

8seats is made by Australian-owned 8seats Group Pty Ltd. It supports file sharing and audit logs, and its Help Centre offers tutorials, FAQs, troubleshooting, support requests, and bug reports. Third-party integrations are not named, so organizations that depend on connecting messaging to specific external tools may need another product.

Key features

Communication and access

Rooms are for team-wide broadcasts, Tables for focused group discussions, and Direct Messages for private one-to-one chats. The distinct formats give managers a way to separate broad updates from smaller conversations; teams with a different preferred chat structure may find that organization less useful.

An admin dashboard manages communication and user access across locations. Role-based permissions can restrict who views or manages conversations, and administrators can remove access immediately. Guest access brings outside partners into team communication, while branding options let organizations adjust the app’s look and feel. Together, these controls make 8seats more relevant to businesses managing distributed staff and external collaborators than to informal groups seeking only basic chat.

Security and reliability

The maker says messages are encrypted in transit with TLS 1.3 and at rest with AES-256. It also says the service is hosted on AWS and built for 99.99% uptime. These claims address important security and availability concerns, but teams should assess them against their own requirements rather than treating them as a substitute for a specific integration or control they need.

Pricing

Starter is a practical way for a small team to begin without a subscription, and unlimited guests are useful when outside collaborators need access. The 10-employee cap and 1 GB storage ceiling make it a limited long-term fit for growing teams or those sharing many files, though its 365-day message history gives teams a full year of messages to refer back to.

Business removes the employee cap and adds tools for coordinating work and managing multiple locations, making it the more suitable choice as an operation grows. The entry price is $2.99 a month, billed user/mo; the pricing page offers Monthly and Yearly options and says Save 16%. That per-user billing matters for employers budgeting across a large workforce.

Platforms

8seats is available on Android, iOS, macOS, web, and Windows. Mobile apps make it a candidate for teams that rely on phones, while desktop and browser availability covers employees who work at a computer.

Who it's for

8seats is aimed at frontline and deskless workforces in retail, hospitality, facilities management, transport, logistics, and construction. Phone-number onboarding is particularly relevant where staff may not have company email; location-level administration and broadcasts matter for businesses coordinating teams at multiple sites. A small employer can start with Starter, while a larger workforce will need Business to avoid the 10-employee ceiling.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Phone-number onboarding avoids requiring company email, which suits deskless staff.
• Rooms, Tables, and Direct Messages provide separate formats for broad updates, group discussion, and private chats.
• Unlimited guests on Starter allow partner access without using employee slots.
• Business includes unlimited employees and multi-location management for growing or distributed organizations.

Cons

• Starter is capped at 10 employees and 1 GB of storage, limiting its usefulness as a team expands or shares more files.
• Business is billed per user, so costs rise with workforce size.
• No named third-party integrations are available, which may be a drawback for teams that need messaging tied to particular tools.

Alternatives

Secure Team Chat Software is a useful place to compare other options. Consider Celo if a free plan for up to 10 users with HIPAA-compliant messaging, read receipts, and delivery status better fits your needs. Crypho may suit personal use when encrypted calls and video calls matter, though its free plan is limited to one group and files up to 3mb. Choose Rocket.Chat if self-hosted availability or a free Starter plan for 50 users is a priority.

Wire is an alternative for readers who prioritize software whose source code is fully open source and available on GitHub for verification. Eleven for Business may fit a small team that can work within three spaces and 1 GB of files per space on its free plan. Troop Messenger is another option, with a free plan that offers a seven-day Enterprise experience for 1–50 users and 50 GB storage.

BlackBerry AtHoc is another option for readers to consider. eXpress may suit organizations seeking server-hosted or secure-cloud deployment under individual conditions.

Verdict

Choose 8seats if you manage frontline staff across locations and want phone-based onboarding, distinct conversation formats, and centralized access controls in one work messaging platform. Its clearest advantage is fitting the realities of deskless teams; look elsewhere if you need named third-party integrations, or if Starter’s employee and storage caps are too restrictive and per-user Business pricing does not fit your budget.