How to Connect Google Chat with Slack in 2025

The Google Workspace vs. Slack Divide

Many enterprises run a dual-stack setup: Google Workspace for email, docs, and calendar, but Slack for engineering and product collaboration. As a result, non-technical teams naturally default to Google Chat, creating a massive communication silo.

When a marketing manager in Google Chat needs to approve a change request from an engineer in Slack, the flow breaks. Asking everyone to check two apps is a recipe for missed messages.

Bridging the Gap: Your Options

If you need to connect Google Chat and Slack, you have three primary architectural choices.

1. Webhook Chatbots (The DIY Route)

You can build custom Google Chat bots and Slack apps that forward messages via incoming webhooks.

• Pros: Free (excluding engineering time), highly customizable.
• Cons: One-way only unless you build complex state management. No native thread support, file syncing, or user identity mapping. It looks like a bot speaking, not the actual user.

2. General-Purpose iPaaS (Zapier / Make)

You can set up Zapier zaps: "When a new message is posted in Slack channel X, post it to Google Chat Space Y."

• Pros: Easy to set up, no coding required.
• Cons: Expensive at scale due to per-task pricing. Thread synchronization is incredibly difficult to map. File attachments often break.

3. Native Interoperability (SyncRivo)

SyncRivo is built specifically for messaging federation.

• Pros: True bi-directional sync. Threads, emoji reactions, edits, deletions, and file attachments sync in real time. Messages show the original sender's name (Slack still shows an APP label).
• Cons: Requires a platform subscription.

Step-by-Step Setup with SyncRivo

Your first Google Chat ↔ Slack bridge is typically live during onboarding, once your Slack and Google Workspace admins approve the apps.

1. Authorize the Apps: In the SyncRivo dashboard, authorize the SyncRivo Slack App and the Google Workspace Service Account.
2. Define the Spaces/Channels: Select which Google Chat Spaces should map to which Slack Channels. You can map 1-to-1 or 1-to-many.
3. Configure Identity Mapping: SyncRivo matches email addresses between Google Workspace and Slack so that "Jane Doe" in Slack appears as "Jane Doe" in Google Chat.
4. Activate the Bridge: Hit sync. Messages now route bidirectionally in real time — typically within seconds.

Best Practices for Cross-Platform Channels

• Don't bridge everything: Only map cross-functional spaces (e.g., #product-announcements, #ask-engineering).
• Establish naming conventions: Ensure bridged channels have a prefix (e.g., #ext-sales-support) so users know the audience extends outside their native app.
• Respect privacy: Use SyncRivo's per-connection admin switches (for example, turning off attachment relay) if files uploaded in Slack should not reach Google Chat.

Explore the Google Chat to Slack Integration Hub for a live demo.