This is the how-it-works page for team chat in Pebb — not a “best employee messaging app” trophy and not a competitor money page. If you are escaping WhatsApp for work, start with replace WhatsApp for work teams. If you want the Spaces model that sits beside chat, read What are Pebb Spaces?. Here we walk the product: org-wide 1:1 and groups, starting chats from Spaces / teams / branches, files and GIFs, mute and group settings, voice and video calls on Premium, and the limits we will not paper over.

Pebb is an all-in-one employee app (Connecteam-class ops + communications + collaboration). Team chat sits next to shift scheduling and GPS clock-in — same login, same seat meter — while unlimited Spaces hold the roster, punch, forms, and feed tools. Basic is $2.50 per user per month; Premium is $4. There is no free plan. Trial is the full product, no credit card. Org-wide chat (1:1 + groups) is on Basic. Voice and video calls are on Premium. GPS on clock-in is a stamp ± optional near-branch — not live breadcrumbs. No payroll, LMS, or ATS.

Start full trial — no card · Pebb pricing

Product walkthrough: Watch the Pebb product review on YouTube (embed this video in Framer near this spot).

Product UI walkthrough (screenshots match help): Team Chat in Pebb — complete guide.

UI: pebb-chat-messages.png — Team Chat main screen — chat list, 1:1 thread, search, GIF/attach/emoji composer, voice and video call icons

Chat is org-wide (outside Spaces on purpose)

Unlike Shifts, Clock In, Forms, Tasks, Files, Wiki, Events, and News Feed, Team Chat sits outside the Spaces view as its own organization-wide category. You message people across the company without buying a Messaging+ hub or locking talk inside one store’s room.

That split is deliberate. Spaces are rooms with a member list and the tools that room needs — a New York store roster should not drown Boston. Chat stays company-wide so a closer can still ping a manager on another site, a relief can find coverage, and a field lead can reach the office without inventing a second WhatsApp group. You can still start a chat from a Space, team, or branch when the member list is already the right audience — the conversation is just not trapped there forever.

Spaces themselves stay unlimited on Basic and Premium — rooms, not billed hubs. Full model: What are Pebb Spaces?. The roster that plans the week: how shift scheduling works in Pebb. The punch next to that roster: how clock-in works in Pebb.

How it works: 1:1 messages

Open Team Chat from the main navigation. The left rail lists recent conversations. Search finds people and threads. The blue + opens a new chat.

For a direct message, choose the 1-to-1 path, pick the person, and create the chat. The thread shows history, reply, reactions, and the composer with GIF, attachment, and emoji. Use 1:1 for private check-ins, late relief, HR-adjacent questions that should not live in a 20-person group, and manager-to-employee follow-ups that do not belong on the News Feed.

UI: pebb-chat-start-1to1.png — Start 1-to-1 chat — pick a member, create direct message

Frontline and office use the same surface. Mobile carries the thread in the pocket; web is where longer coordination and desktop file drops usually happen. Same login as shifts and clock-in — you are not teaching a second “work WhatsApp” that never sees the roster.

How it works: group chats

Groups are how teams replace the sprawl of personal-number group chats.

Two common paths:

From an existing Space, team, or branch — search the Space / team / branch list and create a chat that starts with that membership. Useful when “NY Team,” “Managers,” or a job-site Space already maps the people who need the thread.

New custom group — name the group, add the people you need, and create. Useful for a temporary dinner-shift pod, a project crew, or a cross-site incident channel that is not a permanent Space tool set.

UI: pebb-chat-create-group.png — Create group chat — name the group, add members, start the conversation

Inside a group you can open group settings (info) to add people, edit group details, mute notifications, leave, or clean up when the temporary channel is done. Mute is how night crews stop drowning in daytime noise without leaving the company app.

Share files and images when a photo of the broken cooler beats three paragraphs. GIFs and emoji exist because humans coordinate faster when the tone is readable — just do not store policy in a GIF thread. Long-lived SOPs belong in Knowledge Library / Files inside the right Space; chat is for speed.

Voice and video calls (Premium)

Typing is not always enough. From a chat header you can start a voice call or video call when the plan includes calls.

Calls are on Premium ($4). Org-wide 1:1 and group chat are on Basic ($2.50). That is the honest split: Basic already kills the “we need Slack/WhatsApp just to talk about the roster” tax. Premium adds live voice/video in the same threads — plus news feed, Time Off, tasks, forms, wiki, analytics, and SSO — still one seat price, still unlimited Spaces.

Use voice when hands are full on a job site. Use video when someone needs to show a broken fixture, a shelf set, or a document on screen. Keep the call inside Pebb so the history and the people list stay in the employee app, not on personal phone numbers.

Chat next to shifts, clock-in, and Spaces

Team chat is not a bolt-on SKU and not a separate messaging hub invoice.

On Basic you already get org-wide chat, shifts, clock-in, timesheets, directory, and unlimited Spaces. On Premium you add calls, news feed, Time Off, tasks, forms, wiki, analytics, and SSO. Week pattern that actually sticks: publish the roster → punch with GPS stamp ± near-branch → coverage talk in org-wide chat → leave and forms on Premium when you need them — one login.

Do not buy a third app so Saturday coverage can talk to Monday’s schedule. Money pages when you are comparing stacks: Connecteam alternative · Homebase alternative · Deputy alternative · Connecteam pricing hubs.

Mobile + web

Employees live on mobile: messages, notifications, files from the floor, voice/video when Premium is on. Managers often live on web for longer threads, desktop attachments, and jumping between chat and the Space tools (shifts, clock-in, forms).

Search, mute, and group settings matter more than fancy channels. The product bet is simple: WhatsApp-style speed without personal numbers, inside the same employee app as the roster and the punch.

Honest limits

Read these before you migrate:

• No free plan. Budget Basic ($2.50) or Premium ($4) seats. Evaluate with the full trial, no card.

• Calls need Premium. Chat 1:1 and groups are on Basic; voice/video calls are on Premium ($4).

• No payroll, LMS, or ATS. Export timesheets toward payroll; keep hiring and training systems of record elsewhere.

• GPS is a stamp ± near-branch on clock-in, not live breadcrumbs or a tracking map.

• Chat is not your policy archive. Put handbooks and SOPs in Knowledge Library / Files; use chat for fast coordination.

• Not a consumer WhatsApp clone with status stories and personal contacts. Work directory, work history, work login.

Pebb is Connecteam-class all-in-one on purpose — not a pivot into a standalone chat suite or a WFM-only desk. If that match is wrong for your team, the trial will show it in a week.

Product walkthrough: Watch the Pebb product review on YouTube (embed this video in Framer near this spot).

FAQ

Is team chat locked inside a Space?

No. Team Chat is org-wide and sits outside the Spaces view. You can still start chats from a Space, team, or branch. What are Pebb Spaces?

Are 1:1 and group chat on Basic?

Yes. Org-wide chat is on Basic ($2.50). Voice and video calls are on Premium ($4).

Can we share files in chat?

Yes. Attachments, images, GIFs, replies, and reactions are part of Team Chat. Keep long-term docs in Files / Wiki inside the right Space.

Do we need a separate messaging hub SKU?

No. Chat is included on Basic — not a Messaging+ add-on. Compare hub math on Connecteam pricing hubs and Connecteam alternative.

Is there a free plan?

No. Full trial, no credit card. Then pricing.

Where is the step-by-step UI guide?

Team Chat in Pebb — complete guide in the help center.

Talk next to the roster people already open

Team chat in Pebb is org-wide 1:1 + groups on Basic, with voice/video calls on Premium — in the same app as shifts, clock-in, and unlimited Spaces, billed per person. No free plan. Full trial, no card. Basic $2.50 / Premium $4.

Start full trial — no card · See Pebb pricing

Sibling reads: replace WhatsApp for work teams · What are Pebb Spaces? · how shift scheduling works in Pebb · how clock-in works in Pebb · Connecteam alternative · Help: Team Chat in Pebb