Line launches Slack rival

Line, the struggling messaging app that’s losing users, today launched its newest spin-off service – a rival to Slack.

With Line Works, the Japan-based company has a workplace chat app to take on a multi-billion-dollar and growing segment, with Workplace by Facebook and Microsoft Teams joining the battle towards the end of last year.

Line Works, as with Line itself, features large and cutesy stickers to enliven your Dilbert-esque office ramblings alongside more conventional features like cloud storage, calendars, and address books. The app hits the ground running thanks to it being based on Works Mobile, a service run by Line Corp parent company Naver that already has 68 million users in Japan.

Photo credit: Line Works.

While Line itself is losing users, dropping from 220 million to 217 million at the end of last year, the social network pocketed a number-of-the-beast profit of US$66.6 million in 2016, replacing the similarly sized loss it made in 2015.

Line Works, a paid service after a free 30-day trial, could help boost the firm’s finances – and perhaps Line’s user base as well. Subscriptions range from US$2.70 to US$8.90 per user per month. (Update: Added in pricing.)

Converted from Japanese yen. Rate: US$1 = JPY 112.6.