Cybersecurity Marketing Society
How CMS cut their Slack bill by 85% and kept growing
Featuring
Gianna Whitver
Cofounder & CEO
“We were spending $20,000 a month just to keep our Slack community running. That is not a typo.”
How to stop paying $20K a month for Slack
When your Slack bill hits $20,000 a month for 1,000 active users, you start asking hard questions. Gianna and the Cybersecurity Marketing Society team had built something incredible: 4,500 cybersecurity marketers in one community, with 1,000 of them showing up every single month. But Slack's per-seat pricing was eating them alive. Moving to Tightknit dropped their costs by 85%, from $20K to roughly $3K a month. That is over $200K back in the budget every year. And it was not just about saving money. They got mobile-friendly access for members on the go, 50 channel feeds, and event support for their annual conference. The community kept growing. The bill did not.
Impact
Cut monthly community platform costs from $20,000 (Slack direct) to roughly $3,000 with Tightknit, saving over $200K annually
Scaled to 4,500 total members with 1,000 monthly active cybersecurity marketers without the per-seat pricing anxiety
Added mobile-first community access and dedicated event support for their annual conference with 50 feeds across channels
“We were spending $20,000 a month just to keep our Slack community running. That is not a typo.”
Gianna Whitver
