Quick Verdict

Microsoft Teams is the dominant choice for organizations already invested in Microsoft 365 — the integration depth, bundled pricing, and enterprise security are hard to match. Digital Samba offers what Teams doesn't: completely free video conferencing with no participant limits and no session time limits, plus GDPR-native EU-only architecture that eliminates data sovereignty concerns. If you run Microsoft 365 and aren't bound by strict EU data residency requirements, Teams wins. If you want truly free unlimited meetings or if EU privacy comes first, Digital Samba delivers.

Head-to-Head Comparison

Privacy & Data Sovereignty

Digital Samba's entire infrastructure is EU-only by design — not a configuration option, but the architectural foundation. Zero-tracking business model, no data shared with third parties, no advertising revenue. GDPR compliance is built into the platform's DNA.

Microsoft Teams stores core data in-region through its EU Data Boundary commitment, and the compliance framework (HIPAA, SOC 2, FedRAMP) is comprehensive. However, some telemetry and diagnostic data may flow through US infrastructure, and Microsoft operates under US corporate jurisdiction. Teams provides strong compliance controls, but Digital Samba provides a purer data sovereignty guarantee for organizations that need it.

Collaboration & Ecosystem

Teams wins this category decisively (9.5 vs 8.5). Teams is a persistent workspace — channels, threaded conversations, shared files, and wiki pages all live alongside your meetings. The integration with Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Office apps creates a collaboration depth no standalone tool can match.

Digital Samba's collaboration features are surprisingly comprehensive — breakout rooms, whiteboard, polling with 30 options, quizzes, Q&A with upvoting, and shared notes — but they exist within the meeting, not as a persistent workspace. For organizations whose collaboration happens primarily in meetings with async work elsewhere, Digital Samba holds its own. For teams that need persistent channels and document co-editing surrounding their meetings, Teams is the stronger platform.

AI Features

Teams' Copilot offers meeting recaps, action items, sentiment analysis, and cross-application intelligence spanning Outlook, SharePoint, and Teams chat. The catch: Copilot costs $30/user/month on top of Teams licensing.

Digital Samba's AI (captions, transcription, summaries) launched in late 2025 and is included without extra licensing fees. The capabilities are less advanced than Copilot, but the price-to-AI-value ratio is competitive. And critically, all AI processing happens within EU infrastructure — a guarantee Teams doesn't provide for Copilot processing.

Pricing & Value

Teams Essentials starts at $4/user/month, but meaningful plans start at $6+/user/month as part of Microsoft 365. If you're already paying for M365, Teams video conferencing is effectively free.

DS Free is completely free with no participant limits and no session time limits — a genuinely unlimited free product. Teams' free tier caps group meetings at 60 minutes. For organizations not already in the Microsoft ecosystem, Digital Samba eliminates the need for paid plans entirely. The company monetizes through Digital Samba Embedded (its VPaaS product for developers), so the free product is a complete offering, not a restricted trial.

Who Should Choose Digital Samba?

• EU organizations with strict data residency requirements — all-EU infrastructure with zero-tracking is the strongest privacy guarantee available
• Anyone who wants truly free meetings — DS Free has no participant limits and no time limits, beating Teams' 60-minute cap without requiring M365
• Education and training providers — polling, quizzes, Q&A with upvoting, and shared notes are purpose-built for learning scenarios

Who Should Choose Microsoft Teams?

• Microsoft 365 organizations — Teams is bundled, deeply integrated, and adding another tool creates unnecessary cost and complexity
• Enterprises needing centralized security management — Azure AD, DLP, Conditional Access, and eDiscovery are unmatched
• Large organizations (500+) where persistent channels, threaded conversations, and company-wide communication matter

The Bottom Line

This comparison mirrors a broader industry tension: ecosystem lock-in versus privacy independence. Teams excels within the Microsoft universe and is the natural choice for M365 organizations. Digital Samba offers truly free, unlimited video conferencing with a feature set that rivals Teams' meeting capabilities — without the ecosystem dependency, time limits, or data sovereignty concerns. For M365 shops, Teams is the obvious pick. For everyone else, Digital Samba's free product and EU-native privacy make a compelling case.