Open Source Slack Ai
An open source alternative to some of Slack AI's premium features. Summarize channels and threads any time you want.
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What is Open Source Slack Ai?
Open Source Slack Ai is a fully open-source application that brings Generative AI capabilities to your Slack workspace using cutting-edge Large-Language Models. It serves as an open-source alternative to Slack AI's premium features, allowing teams to summarize channels and threads on demand without paying per-user per-month pricing. The tool is powered by OpenAI (with support for alternative LLMs) and requires users to bring their own API keys.
Key features include comprehensive thread summaries that generate detailed summaries of any Slack thread, channel overviews that help you understand what a channel is about instantly, and channel summaries since a specific date so you can catch up on everything that happened while you were on a call or on PTO. The app uses GPT-3.5-Turbo for thread summarization and is highly customizable through prompt adjustments.
This tool is designed for small teams, startups, communities, and businesses who find Slack AI's per-user per-month pricing inaccessible. It's ideal for organizations willing to self-host and manage their own infrastructure in exchange for significant cost savings, as well as those who want more control over which AI model they use and the ability to balance cost versus quality based on their specific needs.
Open Source Slack Ai pricing
Pricing model: Freemium
Free & Open-Source tier: $0 USD/month for 100% open-source self-hosted option. Includes bringing your own LLM API keys, highly customizable features, channel overviews, comprehensive thread summaries, and channel summaries since a specific date. You only pay for hosting (minimal) and your API usage. Fully Hosted tier: $200 USD/month (discounted from $600). Includes fully hosted service with no infrastructure to manage, bring your own LLM API keys, highly customizable features, channel overviews, comprehensive thread summaries, channel summaries since a specific date, free & instant updates, and 24/7 email support. Pay a small fixed cost, not per user per month.
Open Source Slack Ai pros
- 100% open-source and self-hosted option available
- Bring your own LLM API keys for cost control
- Save thousands compared to per-user per-month pricing
- No hefty subscription costs for Slack AI
- Highly customizable prompts and features
- Comprehensive thread summaries on demand
- Channel overviews to understand channel purpose instantly
- Channel summaries since a specific date
- Control which AI model the app uses
- Balance cost and quality based on your needs
- Free forever when self-hosted
- Welcome contributions and community ideas
- Fixed monthly cost for hosted version, not per user
- Up and running in 5 minutes with hosted version
- 24/7 email support on hosted plan
Open Source Slack Ai cons
- Requires bringing your own LLM API keys
- Must track and forecast your own API costs
- Self-hosting requires managing your own infrastructure
- Hosted version at $200/month may be expensive for small teams
- Less seamlessly integrated with Slack UI than official Slack AI
- Not ideal for those wanting completely predictable pricing
- Requires technical knowledge to self-host (Python, Poetry, ngrok)
- Open source version lacks dedicated support
Frequently asked questions about Open Source Slack Ai
What is Open-Source Slack AI?
The Open-Source Slack AI app gives you everything you need to host your own AI features for Slack. Just plug in your OpenAI API keys and run your server. The hosted version is a paid service that runs the server for you, so you can focus on your core business but without the high per-user per-month costs of the official Slack AI service. The hosted version also uses your own OpenAI API keys, so you can only ever pay for what you use.
How is it different from official Slack AI?
The official Slack AI option will be a great fit for many companies with completely predictable pricing and the most seamlessly integrated experience with the Slack UI. Open-Source Slack AI is for those whose business doesn't make sense with per-user per-month pricing. You bring your own API keys and have more control, but must track your own costs rather than relying on a SaaS to handle everything.
Who should use Open-Source Slack AI instead of official Slack AI?
While the official Slack AI is a great option, it's not a good fit for everyone. If you're a community, small team or a startup, you're going to pay a lot for the per-user per-month pricing model. And if you're not sure how heavily you'll use Slack AI, you might end up paying a lot for unused capabilities. If you want the most cost-effective option, Open-Source Slack AI is a better fit.
Do I need my own API keys?
Yes, you must bring your own LLM API keys (OpenAI or other providers). This is a tradeoff that allows you to save a huge amount compared to an all-inclusive solution. The hosted version also uses your own OpenAI API keys, so you can only ever pay for what you use.
Can I self-host Open-Source Slack AI?
Yes, our premise is that everyone should have the option of hosting their own solution, so at the core, our whole product is open-source and freely available. You only have to pay for hosting (minimal) and your API usage when hosting yourself. The free tier is perfect if you can manage your own infrastructure.
What features are included?
Features include channel overviews, comprehensive thread summaries, and channel summaries since a specific date. You can summarize threads to save time and focus on what matters without losing context, get oriented in a new channel and know what it's for in no time flat, and generate a recap of everything that happened in a channel in a couple of clicks.
Can I customize the AI prompts?
Yes, Open-Source Slack AI is highly customizable. You can customize the ChatGPT prompt for channel summary in topic_analysis.py and modify the ChatGPT prompt for thread summary in summarizer.py. As an open-source project, you have full control over the prompts and features.
What models does it support?
The app currently uses OpenAI (GPT-3.5-Turbo for thread summaries), but you can control which model the app uses and balance the tradeoffs between cost and quality based on your specific needs. Support for alternative and open source LLMs will be added if there's demand.
Is there a hosted option available?
Yes, for those who don't have the resources or want to spend them elsewhere, there is a fully hosted solution that takes care of the operational hassles for you. For a fixed monthly fee of $200/month, you can get up and running today. Just register, add your API keys, and connect your Slack workspace in 5 minutes.
Can I contribute features to the project?
Yes, as an open-source project, we welcome contributions and ideas from everyone. If there's a feature you want but doesn't exist, it can be built. And if you can't build it yourself, sharing the idea can help motivate and inspire others to build it too. Plus, the team is continually expanding the feature set for their own use cases.