- Sharing of documents: google drive or zoho
- Collaborative editing/notes/knowledge base: Hackpad (free for public pads, 2$/user/m for private workspaces with +5 users)
- Issue tracker: Github
- Tasks Management:
The hardest part in remote teams is comunication and building company culture. Quick business chats can be done anywhere, hangouts or whatsapp, however, persistent channels that allow sharing of cat pictures are preferred to develop camaraderie and an environment people will be happy to work in. Some suggestions (preferred first):
- Kato has also a slew of integrations, but also in-app offerings (video chat and the like). It's free unless you want unified management of multiple organizations or communication analytics (...so...Free). It has vim key bindings. A rest API to integrate anything that isn't already. Clean, forgettable interface.
- Slack: Similar to IRC, but allows sharing of anything (files get uploaded, links to videos get embedded...), is fully indexed and searchable, is xmpp and IRC ready, integrates with pretty much everything under the sun. However, to get more than 5 integrations and/or search more than the last 10k messages, you have to pay a minimum of 7$/user/m (can go up to 12$). Arguably, the free version can be used for very long, but the pricing is still something to consider
- HipChat is a similar service. It has less integrations than slack, but it makes up for it with in-app features (video calls, screen sharing). Those features are on the paid plan, 2$/user/m. It can also be self-hosted, if privacy is a concern, 10$/year for 10 users, and 1800$/year for 25 (up to 72k$/year for 5k users). Has a linux client.
- Glip is mainly similar to Slack, but integrates calendar, tasks, links, etc. The free version has the same limitations as Slack, but prices are 5$/user/month and 10$/user/month. The interface is also slightly more cluttered.
- Twoodo also integrates calendars, tasks, etc, but works completely with mentions (@someone) and hashtags (#todo, #vote). As a result, it is more focused on productivity and less on informal communication. It's still a tool I really like, and the CEO is very responsive; had long chats with him about the UX of his platform. To get calendar, tasks, and files, you have to rack 5$/user/m
- Gitter looks good, integrates markdown and code highlighting. 5$/user/m for unlimited private rooms of more than 25 people (less than 25 people is still free). However, it's really a tool for coders: It has integration with task management apps (huboard, sprintly, etc), but has no integrations for files sharing and the like. Has a linux client.
- Flock is a completely, forever free version of Slack; however, I haven't used it myself and cannot speak for its quality.
- Finally, the cheapest and most flexible is to host your own solution. Building a chat server might be daunting, but there are few alternatives. An open-source project that looks promising is Kandan