One chat, for your whole team
Channels, threads, files, and video calls — all woven into your projects.
Send a message. It lands at once, and you can see the answer being typed.
Every conversation has a home
Project channels, group chats, and direct messages — organized by context, not scattered across apps.
Project channels
Every project gets a dedicated chat channel automatically. Discuss work where it happens — no switching apps.
Group chats
Create named group conversations with any combination of workspace members. Perfect for cross-project coordination.
Direct messages
Private 1:1 conversations between any two members. Fully encrypted and only visible to participants — not even workspace owners can read them.
Chat search
Find any message across all your conversations. Search by keyword, sender, or date range.
More than just text
Reactions, mentions, file sharing, pins, and scheduled messages — everything you need for productive conversations.
Emoji reactions
React to any message with emoji. Quick acknowledgements without cluttering the thread — toggle reactions on and off.
@mentions
Tag teammates to get their attention. Mentions are validated against chat participants — you can only mention people who are actually in the conversation.
File sharing
Drag and drop images, PDFs, videos, and documents directly into chat. Files are stored in Azure Blob Storage and accessible from the Files tab too.
Image previews
Images render inline with lightbox preview. No more downloading attachments just to see what someone shared.
Video & audio messages
Share video recordings and audio clips directly in chat. Playback happens inline — no external player needed.
Pinned messages
Pin important messages to the top of any chat. Meeting links, decisions, reference docs — always one click away.
Scheduled messages
Compose a message now and schedule it to send later. Perfect for async teams across time zones.
Message editing
Edit sent messages to fix typos or update information. Edited messages show an indicator so the context stays clear.
Instant, everywhere
Messages appear in milliseconds across web, desktop, and mobile. Typing indicators, read receipts, and presence — all powered by WebSockets.
Instant delivery
Messages arrive in real time via Pusher WebSockets. No polling, no refresh — conversations feel live.
Typing indicators
See who's typing before they hit send. Powered by the WorkspaceTypingContext with debounced start/stop events.
Cross-device sync
Read a message on your phone and it's marked as read on desktop and web. Notifications clear across all your devices simultaneously.
Online presence
See who's online right now with live presence indicators. Powered by Pusher presence channels with the WorkspacePresenceContext.
planning next week's priorities…
Smart notifications
Get notified on the right device at the right time. If you're active on desktop, mobile push is delayed — no double-buzzing.
Jump on a call without leaving chat
Start a video call from any conversation. Screen sharing, participant grid, and picture-in-picture — built in, not bolted on.
Built-in video calls
Start a video call from any project channel or group chat. Powered by LiveKit for reliable, low-latency conferencing.
Screen sharing
Share your entire screen or a specific window during calls. Present designs, walk through code, or demo features live.
demo scheduled for Thursday with the whole team.
Picture-in-picture
Minimize the call to a floating window and keep working. The call stays visible while you navigate tasks, files, or docs.
Audio controls
Mute and unmute audio and video with one click. Simple, intuitive controls that stay out of your way.
Private by default
DMs are truly private, channels are scoped to projects, and every message goes through authenticated broadcast channels.
DM privacy
Direct messages are only visible to the two participants. Not even workspace owners or admins can read them — enforced at the API and broadcast channel level.
Channel authentication
Every real-time channel is authenticated via Pusher private channels. You can only subscribe to conversations you're a participant in.
Mention validation
The backend validates @mentions against actual chat participants before saving. You can't mention someone who isn't in the conversation.
planning next week's priorities…
Notification scoping
Chat notifications are scoped to your current workspace. You'll never get alerts from a workspace you're not actively using.
What you won't need anymore
Workel Chat replaces standalone messaging tools. Here's what your team can drop — and what you'll save.
Slack
$8.75/user/mo
Microsoft Teams
$4/user/mo
Discord
Free (but not built for work)
Paying for a task app too? Compare Slack + Asana or Slack + Trello: what you'd pay for both, next to Workel.
Chat connects to everything in Workel
Because chat is built into the same workspace as your projects, tasks, files, and docs — everything is linked. No copy-pasting URLs between tools.
Project channels auto-created
Every project gets its own chat channel. The team assigned to the project is already there.
Shared files, one source of truth
Files shared in chat appear in the project's Files tab. No duplicates, no broken links.
Mention-driven notifications
@mention someone in chat and they get a notification across all their devices — web, desktop, and mobile.
Searchable from Cmd+K
Chat messages surface in the global search popup alongside tasks, projects, and files.
Questions about Chat Straight answers, before you start.
Only the people in it. Owners and admins don't see group chats or direct messages they're not part of.
Only people in your workspace can chat, and there's no separate guest account yet. You can invite a client as a member: they see only the projects you add them to, can message anyone in the workspace, and count as a person on your plan.
Not today. Workel imports projects and tasks from Trello, Asana, ClickUp, monday.com and Notion (and tasks from Todoist), but not messages from Slack, Teams or Discord.
Only on Free. Paid plans keep and show your whole message history. Free shows the last 30 days: older messages are hidden, not deleted, and come back when you upgrade.
Up to 25 MB a file, and up to 10 files in one message. Bigger files, up to 100 MB, can go in Files.
Phone apps for iPhone and Android are coming soon. Until then, Workel works in your phone's browser, and the Mac and Windows apps are ready now.
Something else on your mind?
Ready to ditch the extra chat app?
Start a free workspace and see how Workel Chat fits into your workflow. No credit card, no commitment.