15 Best Icebreaker Apps & Bots for Slack for 2023
With the rise in the “work from anywhere” ideology that companies are adopting, it’s important for remote teams to still feel connected to their coworkers.
There are a lot of benefits of remote work like flexible hours, working literally anywhere, and technical advances. But one thing that can sometimes be lost during the shift is the deep, personal relationships you can build with your coworkers in person. The lack of physical presence can make it harder to get to know your coworkers, because there is now this screen separating you from them.
Not having that “closeness” with your coworkers can affect how the team advances. Morale can decrease. The team can feel disjointed. You may start seeing your coworkers as just mere “coworkers” and not actual people.
Though not a substitution for building relationships in person, there are many different icebreaker apps and bots you can use with Slack. These apps and bots can help build company culture in a way that feels natural and fun, so you and your coworkers can have better connections.
Here are the 15 best icebreaker apps and bots for Slack!
1. Friday
Friday is an asynchronous remote operating system that can help you stay connected to your team. If you’re looking for a way to stay on track of your own work, the work of your team, and have everything in one place, you should check out this software. With many routine templates to choose from, you and your team can update one another on your tasks, projects, and goals. It's the missing complement to Slack because it holds your most important things at work outside of Slack.
It also has an amazing Icebreaker feature that you can use within Friday or in Slack.
Another great addition to Friday, is the Icebreaker feature. Any time you answer your routine you also have the chance to answer an icebreaker. These are open ended questions that let your team know a little bit more about you that is unrelated to work.
Friday can be connected to Slack, so you’ll be able to get all your Friday updates in their respective channels. By having everything in one place, you’ll be able to keep your tasks, routines and icebreakers organized for your team.
Best Features:
- Kudos and Icebreakers to connect with your team
- Multiple personal and team routine templates
- Team profiles for personalization and getting to know your team
- Goal tracking software to see how your goal progresses from start to finish
- Able to integrate with other software like Asana, Trello, Zoom, Google Meeting, and GitHub
- Daily planner to keep track of your work day.
Pricing:
Teams: $6 per user/per month
- Unlimited response history
- Reporting
- Goals
- Team profiles & routines
2. Donut
Icebreaker / Culture
Donut is an icebreaker app where you can recreate water-cooler conversations through different chat channel topics. There are different programs you can choose from, where you get paired off with a random coworker in order to introduce yourself to them. You can partake in asynchronous conversations in the different Slack channels. Donut will come up with different prompts or you can even come up with your own. You can stay connected with your team and learn more about them.
Best Features:
- Pairs you up 1 on 1 with another random user
- Different prompts to start up conversations with your team
- Integrates with Google Calendar and Zoom
Pricing:
Plans available are Free, Standard and Premium depending on your organizational needs.
3. HeyTaco
Team Kudos
With HeyTaco, you will not have to worry about your team feeling disconnected even though they may be apart. You can boost morale with kind Slack messages that you can tag different members of your team. This makes people more likely to engage in conversations and also can boost productivity.
Best Features:
- Taco emoji can be added to messages to show you recognize your team members
- Taco leaderboards to see who gave and received the most tacos
- Virtual gifts that you can unlock
Pricing:
Plans start at $3.00 per person per month.
4. Polly
Poll / Team Culture
Even when far apart, get instant feedback from your team with Polly. You can pose questions to your team, and they can respond all in one place, which helps with organization. You can quickly gauge how your entire team is doing, so you won’t have to worry about wasting time that can be applied elsewhere.
Best Features:
- Send out polls and receive instant engagement
- Templates you can use depending on the feedback you want
- Get visual results of your polls as reports you can download
- Also integrates with Microsoft Teams
Pricing:
Plans include a Free plan for small needs, with Standard, Pro, and Enterprise plans accommodating large users.
5. Bonusly
Kudos
If you want a way to address the hard work your team does, Bonusly can help. You can send out words of encouragement or words of praise to your team members to help build a stronger bond. When receiving encouragement, your team can be motivated to work even harder to get things done.
Best Features:
- Engagement increases
- Integrates with other apps like Microsoft Teams, Zapier, and Yammer
Pricing:
Plans vary from the Core to Pro or Custom options, depending on need.
6. Trivia
Team Culture/ Games
Trivia has engaging and quick games, quizzes you can create yourself, and water-cooler topics that can help you and your remote team connect. Being an asynchronous tool, you and your team can indulge in these activities whenever you are available.
Best Features:
- Games including Pictionary that can engage the team
- Virtual water-cooler to allow natural communication
- Also integrates with Microsoft Teams, and Google Chat
Pricing
Plans include Basic, Standard, Pro, and Enterprise depending on need.
7. Disco
Team Culture/ Kudos
With Disco, remote teams can still come together and show appreciation and recognition for one another. Give and receive kudos for the different achievements met in the company.
Best Features:
- Send kudos to team members to showcase achievements in the company
- Automated raffle system for people who give kudos for incentive
- Track employee engagement through surveys
- Able to integrate with Microsoft Teams as well
Pricing:
Plans are either Business or Enterprise depending on need.
8. Nectar
Kudos
Nectar gives you the chance to show your appreciation to different coworkers. Send a personal message, utilize core values, and use a point system. There will be a heightened sense of connection between coworkers since they are being valued in a public way.
Best Features:
- Include your company core values through social engagement
- Create incentives for the company through an award system
- Challenges that can inspire you team
- Integrate with Microsoft Teams, Chrome Extension, and more
Pricing:
Plans include Free, Standard, and Plus.
9. Assembly
Team Culture
Bring in a positive team culture with Assembly. You can give employee recognition to boost morale and productivity in the company. You can also give rewards as an incentive to increase positivity.
Best Features:
- Built in reports of cultural insights of the company
- Send messages of appreciation to your team members
- Incentivize your team members with rewards
- Integrates with Microsoft Teams, Google, Microsoft Office 365, and more
Pricing:
Costs differ from free to team, business, and enterprise plans, depending on need.
10. Simple Poll
Polls
If you need to gain feedback quickly from your coworkers, Simple Poll has many different polls you can use. By using the poll command in Slack, you can create polls right in the channel to be answered by your team.
Best Features:
- Create a poll and get your team’s feedback quickly
- Anonymous polls for privacy and increased honesty
- Limit the people who you want to answer the polls
- Set up polls so they come automatically depending on when you prefer
Pricing:
Costs range from the Hobby, Manager, Director, and Analyst plans
11. Giphy
Culture
Lighten the workplace mood with the use of Giphy’s gifs. Search for a wide variety of gifs depending on the mood you’re trying to convey. If you don’t see what you’re looking for then create your own.
Best Features:
- An array of gifs that you can choose from
- Create your own gifs
- Send gifs in your direct messages to your team enjoyment
Pricing:
This app is free for all users on the platform.
12. QuickQuiz
Team Culture
With QuickQuiz you can create quizzes for your team to participate in. Come up with your own questions and receive great insight on your team. Keep your team members engaged while also staying informed. You can even add due dates and pass-fail settings, to incentivize your coworkers to answer effectively.
Best Features:
- Create quizzes quickly
- Able to indicate who and answer the quiz
- Receive private results after taking a quiz
Pricing:
Plans include Basic, Premium, and Pro, depending on your business needs.
13. Bored
Team Culture/ Games
Come together, relax, and play some games that can build team culture with Board. Take a break with work with fun trivia question games and icebreakers. You’ll surely learn more about your team, while also having fun.
Best Features:
- Trivia games you and your team can do to build bonds
- Icebreaker questions to get to know the team
- Many different games you can do as a team
Pricing:
This app is free for all users on the platform.
14. Evergreen
Kudos
If you want to feel like you can give back to not only your team but your environment, try out Evergreen. Show your appreciation for the accomplishments that your team members do, which can help build company culture. Each kudo that you send to your coworkers will plant at least 1 tree, which will combat the issue of deforestation.
Best Features:
- When sending recognition to your team, you plant real trees that benefit the environment.
- You can track your carbon offset for every tree that you plant.
Pricing:
Costs are $2.99 per user per month.
15. Birthday Bot
Team Culture
Never forget the special days of your team members with Birthday Bot. You can bring people together to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and more. You get notified beforehand when special occasions are going to occur, so you never miss them.
Best Features:
- Keep track of all your team members’ birthdays so when it’s the day you can celebrate
- Can also add special occasions so you won't forget
Pricing:
Plans include Standard, Pro, and Custom depending on your needs.
Conclusion: Why Use Slack Apps?
These icebreaker Slack bots and apps are beneficial for trying to enforce stronger connections for remote teams through these team-building activities. These Slack apps can help you build up natural water-cooler conversations that would typically be difficult to partake in when not in the office. Even if you are all working from different locations you can still have ways to come together, whether it’s through games or shared hobbies. Another benefit of these apps is that you can keep track of your team and improve your organization. Being able to collaborate and communicate all in one place helps you save time so you can focus on the things that truly matter.
