As mentioned in a blog post on its Help Center, Slack is changing its free accounts in one important way.

Starting August 26, 2024, Slack is erasing messages and files older than a year for users of its free app. However, free account users will retain most of their 90 days of history but must upgrade to a paid plan to access the remaining 275 days. If a free Slack account user erases files and texts after the deadline, they cannot recover them even if they upgrade to a paid plan.

According to Slack, the modification is being made to “maintain the quality of Slack for our customers.”

The charities participating in the Slack for Charities program can access discounted or free upgrades to Slack’s Pro, Business+, or Enterprise Grip subscriptions. The Pro plan normally costs $8.75 per month, Business+ costs $15 per month, and users must contact sales for pricing estimates for the Enterprise Grip plan.

Other June changes Slack announced include users personalizing the top of the Home tab for quick access to options such as Catch up, Threads, and more. With these paid plans, users can choose a retention period to view older messages. For example, you can choose to keep all messages but not track revisions, or you could opt to erase messages after 90 days.

These changes to free Slack accounts may significantly impact teams that depend on the app for long-term collaboration and communication. Time will tell what other changes users with a free account will face, and if the change will result in more people upgrading to a premium account.