Compare Donut alternatives

Catchup: Slack coffee chats with a fixed plan price

Best for: teams and communities that want recurring Slack introductions, customizable groups and clear monthly plan amounts.

Catchup lets you choose the channel and introduction schedule. All plans include groups of two to eight, custom intro messages, roles, statistics and automatic pausing of inactive members. Catchup features, feature details

Starter is free for one public channel with up to 30 users matched per channel. Builder costs $29/month with unlimited channels and up to 100 matched users per channel. Enterprise costs $99/month with unlimited matched users per channel. Plan details

Main limitation: calendar integration, private channels and Slack Connect require Builder or Enterprise. The free plan will not fit a program that needs those capabilities. Paid plans support Google Calendar and Outlook; external shared-channel setup is documented separately. Calendars, Slack Connect setup

For the detailed two-product comparison, read Catchup vs Donut.

Alfy: configurable coffee chats across channels

Best for: teams that want to adjust recurring introductions across selected Slack channels and prefer a per-employee pricing model.

Alfy supports groups of two to five, single- or multiple-channel programs, and weekly, two-week, three-week or four-week schedules. Admins can redraw or adjust upcoming connections during the 24 hours before the announcement. Google Calendar connections help suggest available meeting times. Program setup, connection controls, calendar setup

Alfy also has a Microsoft Teams app; verify the workflow and plan on the platform you use. Teams listing

Alfy is available individually within BuddiesHR. One app costs $1.25 per employee per month on monthly billing, or $1 per employee per month billed yearly. BuddiesHR offers all apps free for teams under 10 users and a 30-day trial for larger teams. This comparison assumes Alfy's group matching and Google and Outlook scheduling are included in that free offer; the reviewed sources do not provide an explicit Free feature matrix. Pricing, Free app features, Calendar access

Main limitation: billing uses active workspace users. Confirm how guests, bots and inactive accounts count before budgeting for a small coffee group. The free threshold is under 10. For more than 200 users, the vendor's calculator asks you to contact sales; this comparison estimates cost from the published unit rate. Billing terms

Coffee Chat: groups and Slack community programs

Best for: Slack communities and teams that want configurable small groups and calendar suggestions.

Coffee Chat by Simple Work Apps documents groups up to five, cross-team and mentor matching, and Google Calendar and Outlook suggestions. Every plan includes the full Coffee Chat feature set, including Free for up to 30 workspace users. Starter costs $19.99/month for up to 50 users; Growth costs $49.99/month for up to 100. Larger teams use higher bands or an Enterprise quote. Community workspaces can contact the vendor about an unlimited free plan. Product and pricing

Main limitation: billing is based on workspace size, and community eligibility is not automatic. Its Slack listing shows a different price ladder; use the current product page to estimate your plan. Slack listing

CoffeePals: several kinds of connection programs

Best for: People teams running random coffee chats alongside cross-group introductions or executive lotteries, in Slack or Microsoft Teams.

CoffeePals documents random, cross-group and lottery programs. Pro includes scheduling and reporting. Google Calendar integration is Slack-only; Outlook is also supported, and automatic scheduling is Teams-only. Program types, integrations, plan features

Starter is free for up to 24 active users. Pro starts at $59/month for 1–25 active users, or $49/month billed annually; larger user bands change the price. Pricing

Main limitation: Starter provides paired matching with limited reporting, and additional users beyond its initial 24 are excluded from matching. Billing can cover several active programs, not just completed coffee meetings; check which users are active under your billing account. Starter FAQ, current pricing FAQ

CoffeeSlack: currently free voluntary matching

Best for: teams starting an opt-in coffee program that want to avoid a current subscription charge.

CoffeeSlack supports channel-based opt-in pools, random pairs, a trio for odd totals, configurable rhythms and conversation prompts. Admins control eligibility but cannot choose individual pairings. FAQ

Main limitation: the current uncapped free offer should not be treated as a permanent pricing promise. The vendor lists prospective paid plans but says billing is not available yet. Its Google event links and Outlook downloads do not read calendar availability, and group size cannot be configured. Current and future pricing, Calendar and group limitations

Crewting: networking campaigns and calendar automation

Best for: teams using Slack or Microsoft Teams that want networking campaigns with calendar coordination and reporting.

Crewting supports groups of two to twelve, automated introductions, and Google and Outlook calendar sync. Its help center includes all features free for up to 15 active users per workspace. Premium costs €2.50 per active user per month, or €2.25 with annual billing. An active user belongs to at least one active campaign. Integrations, Group settings, Plans and active-user billing

Main limitation: the marketing calculator labels its population “employees” and covers 10–500, while pricing help defines active campaign members and the free allowance. This comparison uses the help center's billing definition; above 500 users, request a quote. Pricing calculator

CultureBot: introductions alongside culture programs

Best for: teams combining introductions with celebrations, recognition, surveys or onboarding.

CultureBot has Slack and Microsoft Teams apps. Its Employee Intros documentation describes pairs and small groups, multiple introduction programs, Google Calendar and Zoom. Product, introduction features

Slack Standard includes the Intros workflow. Its introduction feature page documents Google Calendar scheduling, which this comparison treats as part of that included workflow. At 400 or more users, Standard requires a custom quote. Outlook scheduling for coffee introductions remains unverified; Outlook support for separate games does not settle that requirement. Slack plan features

Main limitation: Slack Standard starts at $70/month for 1–24 users, or $50/month billed annually; the free Basic offering covers celebrations. Confirm introduction availability for a Teams purchase: its current Teams plan data and general introductions page do not clearly agree on that feature. Current pricing

Curated Connections: matching around interests and profiles

Best for: employee and community programs that want profile-based matching rules and Slack or email introductions.

Curated Connections can use member profiles, must-match and don't-match rules, and optional AI bio matching. Pro costs $49/month or $490/year for unlimited members and programs. Matching, Slack delivery, pricing

Main limitation: it explicitly does not schedule matched coffee meetings; members arrange the conversation. Its separate member-led events can send calendar invitations. Its current pricing page offers a 14-day trial, while some product pages still advertise a free first 25 members. Confirm eligibility rather than assuming that offer remains available. Event workflow

Doozy: introductions inside broader employee programs

Best for: People teams combining coffee chats with onboarding, mentoring or learning programs.

Doozy can target introductions using Slack channels, HRIS groups or selected people. It documents recurring chats, mentor assignments, calendar booking and meeting follow-up. Engagement features

Core costs US$199/month for a company with up to 350 total employees and includes three active Tracks, its multi-step programs. There is a 14-day trial. Pricing

Core and Enterprise include introductions. The documented introduction workflow lets participants connect Google Calendar or Outlook and book an available meeting time; this comparison treats that workflow as included on both plans. Plan scope, Introduction workflow, Calendar providers

Main limitation: total company headcount includes nonusers, even if only a small coffee group participates. The three-Track limit also matters when replacing several programs. Meeting links for Microsoft Teams do not establish a native Teams matching app.

LEAD.bot: separate schedules and matching controls

Best for: teams running introductions in several channels with different schedules or program rules.

LEAD.bot supports Slack and Microsoft Teams. Its Slack product documents configurable groups, cross-channel matching and manual buddy matching. The product page says groups of two to eight, while the paid pricing matrix says up to seven; confirm the maximum for your plan. Standard adds separate channel schedules and customizable messages. Platforms, Slack features, Slack FAQ, pricing matrix

Standard starts at $59/month for 1–24 active users, or $49/month billed annually. Its current Slack pricing page labels the Free offer as one year free, with up to 24 matched users per round and one schedule. Pricing

Standard counts introduction recipients once across matching channels on the billing account. Billing FAQ

Main limitation: do not treat that offer as permanently free; the pricing page and FAQ differ on duration. Paid capacity also matters: if more people are eligible than purchased seats allow, only the purchased number receive matches in each round. Confirm capacity for the whole intended program. Slack FAQ

RandomCoffee: rules-based programs across communication tools

Best for: teams that want profile-based matching and program delivery through Slack, Microsoft Teams or email.

RandomCoffee supports matching rules based on profile information and meeting history. Its booking page helps groups find a time and can use Google Calendar or Outlook availability. Matching, communication integrations, booking page

Free includes one program and calendar integrations. Pro starts at $23/month for 1–25 active members, or $19/month billed annually. Pricing

Free, Pro and Enterprise include coffee meetup programs and customizable templates. The Team Connect template starts with groups of three, and Slack programs let administrators adjust group size. Plan scope, Team Connect, Slack group settings

Main limitation: Free keeps the same 20 members across sessions, rather than rotating through a larger population. Paid billing uses the maximum number of active platform members during the billing period, including people who do not participate. Review that member list before estimating cost. Admin FAQ, billing help

Trivia VirtualCoffee: coffee chats and games in one app

Best for: teams that want recurring 1:1 introductions alongside Trivia's games and activities.

VirtualCoffee sends pairs a DM and conversation starters every two, four or twelve weeks. Slack Basic includes three pairs per cycle; Standard allows 25 pairs, and Pro includes unlimited pairs and calendar integration. The public plan descriptions do not identify which calendar providers are included. VirtualCoffee, Slack plans

Main limitation: Standard costs $29/month for 1–29 users, then $1/user/month from 30 users. Pro costs $49/month for 1–25 users, then $2/user/month from 26 users. The pricing page describes both active-user billing and counting everyone in enabled channels. Confirm which population will be charged before calculating a total. These are Slack plan terms; confirm Teams pricing separately. Slack pricing

Morgenruf

Slack matching in groups of two to eight, pause/skip controls and time voting; hosted or MIT-licensed self-hosted software

Hosted is currently free; self-hosting has infrastructure and maintenance costs. It does not read calendars: time voting and optional Zoom creation are different from calendar availability lookup. Teams is in progress. Coffee chats, setup

Coffee Pot

Slack rounds using reaction, button or whole-channel eligibility; manual or scheduled group matching

Its official listing advertises all features free for teams of any size, and its product page lists unlimited matches at $0. This supports the current free estimate with no published participant cap. Groups of two, three or more are configurable; calendar integrations and automatic repeating cadence remain unverified. Current free pricing does not promise future free access or tested technical capacity. Slack listing, Product and current offer

Tribe by Kaizynn

Coffee chats, kudos and celebrations across Slack, Teams and Google Chat

Free includes one coffee round per month, shared across the organization, at any team size. We assume that round includes group matching; the vendor does not explicitly confirm Free group sizes. Allowances reset on the first; no card is required. The limited launch offer is US$1 per active user per month on monthly billing, or $0.75 per month billed annually, through December 2026. Paid upgrades include a 14-day trial; the exact billable active-user definition remains unverified. Pricing and FAQ

Coffee matching supports groups and shared interests. Paid removes the monthly caps, allowing weekly/biweekly rounds. Channels and features can be turned off separately; individuals can opt out of coffee pairings. Teams of 500+ are supported, with selected channels recommended for larger rollouts. For more than 500 paid users, confirm checkout pricing with Kaizynn. Features and FAQ

The vendor describes an optional Google Calendar connection that creates an invite with a Meet link; plan availability and availability-based booking remain unverified. Slack Connect and a shared matching pool across the three chat platforms are unconfirmed. Tribe's coffee-chat description

Lunch Roulette by Hoppier

Recurring Slack lunch or coffee programs, multiple pools and private RSVPs

Publishes $29/month for 25–49 users. Published plans include the Roulette workflow, whose Slack listing documents configurable groups of three to eight. Its 1–24-user free/trial terms still conflict, so confirm the price for that population before rollout. Product, Slack listing

Ricotta

Voluntary randomized Slack group DMs alongside games and trivia

Monthly Slack plans start at $34 for up to 50 users. Growth costs $59/month for up to 200 users; Enterprise costs $99/month for up to 500. Larger teams need a quote. Matching inclusion is inferred from Ricotta listing Virtual Coffee under Icebreaker Games, a category included in every paid plan. Google Calendar, Outlook, configurable groups of three or more and external Slack Connect remain unconfirmed. Included game categories, Matching guide, pricing

Shuffl

Slack networking with bios, group introductions and program administration

Community is free for up to 50 matched people per round in one channel, with groups of three. Pro supports groups up to eight and published monthly bands through 1,000 users. Above 1,000, we treat Enterprise as inheriting Pro's group matching; the vendor does not explicitly confirm Enterprise group sizes. Its price needs confirmation because the published pricing and plan limits conflict. Calendar help describes a separate Google Calendar Slack-app workflow, so native calendar integration remains unverified. Plans, Enterprise offering, billing, calendar workflow

Cosy

Slack community introductions with onboarding, a directory and moderation

Free for up to 250 community members; Pro $49/month or $490/year for unlimited members. Members arrange meetings themselves: calendar booking and Teams support are explicitly absent. Product and pricing, coffee-chat scope

Donut

Donut offers more than introductions: its Slack suite also includes conversation prompts, celebrations, onboarding workflows and recognition. If your team uses those together, moving its coffee chats may replace only part of the program. Donut features

Donut's Slack Free plan introduces up to 24 people per round in one channel and includes Google Calendar and Outlook. Standard starts at $89/month for 1–24 active users, or $74/month billed annually. Its active-user definition spans multiple features, so check who counts before comparing costs. Free-plan FAQ, plans and pricing, billing rules

For a deeper breakdown, see Donut pricing and plan limits. Staying on Donut can make sense when its existing free limits or broader suite already meet your needs.