10 indie Slack apps to power up your workspace
Small businesses don’t struggle because they lack tools. They struggle because their tools are scattered like confetti. Files in one app, tasks in another, customer messages in a third, analytics in a dashboard nobody’s opened since last year.
Meanwhile, Slack quietly becomes the place where decisions are made, work actually happens, and questions get answered right now. At some point, most small teams make an unspoken decision: Slack is the central hub. Not “just chat,” it turns into the operational heartbeat of the company. If something matters, it should show up in Slack. If it doesn’t, it risks being forgotten, delayed, or rediscovered in a panic later.
The mistake is thinking this means adopting heavy, all-in-one platforms. Such tools are built for companies with departments, processes, and meetings about meetings. Small teams need the opposite: focused, indie Slack apps that do one job well, integrate deeply, and get out of the way. No enterprise pricing. No ceremony. This is exactly the philosophy behind our own app, Tiny Finch.
The 10 apps below are built for that reality. Each one pulls a critical workflow into Slack: files, finance, tasks, knowledge, customer messages, so your team can stay in one place and actually get work done.
1. Files management: Dokkio
Dokkio turns Slack into a genuinely usable file search engine. It indexes documents from tools like Google Drive, Notion, and Dropbox. So instead of digging through tabs or asking teammates where something lives, you can surface the right file directly inside Slack while the conversation is happening.
It’s built by a small team obsessed with workplace search, and it shows. Dokkio doesn’t try to be a document manager, a wiki, or a collaboration suite. It just makes scattered files retrievable, fast. Type a command, search by keyword, and your files show up.
Find Dokkio on the Slack Marketplace.
2. Finance: Expenses
Expenses lets you handle reimbursements where they already happen directly in Slack. Employees submit expenses by snapping a receipt, managers approve them with a click, and finance gets a clean record without chasing people down.
It’s designed for small teams that don’t want enterprise finance software pretending they’re a multinational company. Expenses is simple, transparent, and refreshingly low-friction, exactly what expense tracking should be.
Find Expenses on the Slack Marketplace.
3. Video calls: Jitsi Meet
Jitsi Meet makes starting a video call in Slack super easy. Drop a command in a channel or DM and you’re instantly in a meeting. No accounts, no downloads, no “can you see my screen?” rituals.
It’s open-source, privacy-first, and has been around long enough to earn trust. Jitsi is for teams who want calls to just work without being wrapped in layers of polish they didn’t ask for.
Find Jitsi Meet on the Slack Marketplace.
4. Internal knowledge base: Outline
Outline connects your team’s documentation directly to Slack, making internal knowledge searchable and shareable right where questions are asked. Instead of repeating answers, you drop a doc link and move on.
As an open-source project with wide adoption, Outline is built for teams that take documentation seriously, but don’t want it trapped in a silo. It’s a long-term knowledge base, not a dumping ground.
Find Outline on the Slack Marketplace.
5. Task & issue tracking: Plane
Plane brings tasks and issues into Slack so work doesn’t vanish into yet another project management tool. Updates, assignments, and status changes show up where the team already communicates.
It’s an open-source alternative to heavyweight task trackers, built for teams who want visibility without bureaucracy. You stay informed in Slack without turning Slack into a to-do list nightmare.
Find Plane on the Slack Marketplace.
6. Forms & data collection: Tally Forms
Tally Forms lets you create clean, no-friction forms and send responses straight into Slack channels. Requests, feedback, and submissions arrive instantly. No inboxes to monitor, no dashboards to babysit.
Known for its generous free tier and usability-first design, Tally Forms is an indie favorite for a reason. It’s fast, flexible, and doesn’t get in the way of actual work.
Find Tally Forms on the Slack Marketplace.
7. Website analytics: Dailytics
Dailytics delivers daily website analytics summaries directly to Slack. Traffic, trends, and key metrics arrive automatically. No logging into analytics tools just to “check something quickly.”
Built for founders and small teams, Dailytics strips analytics down to signal over noise. You get insight, not charts for the sake of charts.
Find Dailytics on the Slack Marketplace.
8. Async video messaging: Tella
Tella makes async video communication feel natural inside Slack. Record short videos like walkthroughs, explanations, updates, and drop them into channels or DMs instead of scheduling yet another meeting.
Built by a product-focused indie team, Tella leans hard into clarity and async-first workflows. It’s ideal for teams spread across time zones or anyone tired of calendar overload.
Find Tella on the Slack Marketplace.
9. Team recognition: HeyTaco
HeyTaco adds a lightweight recognition system to Slack by letting teammates give each other “tacos” as public appreciation. It’s playful, visible, and surprisingly effective at boosting morale.
It’s been around for years and proves a simple point: recognition doesn’t need complex systems or HR jargon. It just needs to be frequent and public.
Find HeyTaco on the Slack Marketplace.
10. Customer messages: Tiny Finch
Finally, our own app: Tiny Finch! We’ve included it here because it follows the same indie, Slack-first philosophy as the other tools on this list.
Tiny Finch brings customer messages from your website straight into Slack, so you can respond without logging into another inbox or dashboard. Messages land in a channel, replies go out immediately.
Built by a solo founder with a “simple and cheap” philosophy, Tiny Finch focuses on doing one thing well: making customer communication fit naturally into Slack. No bloat, no friction. Just messages where your team already works.
Find Tiny Finch on the Slack Marketplace.
Small teams don’t need more software. They need fewer decisions. Indie Slack apps work because they meet teams where work already happens and solve real problems without ceremony. If Slack is your operating system, these tools are the plugins that keep it fast, focused, and human. Start with one, see what friction disappears, and build from there.
