Activity collects mentions without setup, but does not send later reminders for unanswered ones. Personal reminders need to be set on selected messages. With Mention Reminder, an admin installs the bot and chooses people; their lists are maintained automatically.
Mention ReminderComparison
Ways to keep track of mentions in Slack
Slack gives you several ways to come back to a message, and a few apps go further. They solve different problems: some remind you about what you chose to save, some help the person who asked to chase, some run a support queue. Here is what each one does about the @mention you have not answered yet.
⚖️ The short answer
Use reminders and To-dos for selected messages. Follow Up Bot lets senders decide whether to follow up; ClearFeed helps with support requests. Mention Reminder automatically maintains a private list and reminds the person mentioned.
Free · no card · no extra app
What it is
How we compared them
We looked at one situation: a colleague @mentions you, you are in a meeting or heads-down, and by the time you look the message has scrolled away. Which tool makes sure you still answer it, and who has to do something for that to happen?
Slack itself is changing here. From October 2026 Slack is replacing the Later section with a personal To-dos tab: a message or file can become a to-do, and adding a reminder gives it a due time that shows up in Activity. Saved items without a reminder move to Saved. Slackbot was rebuilt as an AI agent in 2026 and can answer questions such as which mentions need a follow-up.
Facts about each product were checked against its own documentation on the date below. Every tool here is good at something; the table shows where each one stops.
The options
Slack reminders and To-dos
Built in. "Remind me about this" on any message, the new To-dos tab that replaces Later, and /remind for channel reminders.
Best for: Coming back to messages you have already read and decided to handle later.
Slack Activity
The built-in feed of your mentions, reactions and thread replies.
Best for: Catching up on mentions when you have a moment to go through the whole feed.
Slackbot
Slack's AI agent. Ask it what needs your attention, or set a recurring task for it to run.
Best for: Getting an on-demand summary of what you missed, if your plan includes it.
Follow Up Bot
Notices when a question that @mentions someone goes unanswered and asks the sender whether to send a reminder.
Best for: Teams where whoever asks is expected to chase, and Slack Connect customer channels on its top plan.
ClearFeed
A helpdesk built on Slack that turns requests into tickets with SLAs and syncs them to Jira, Zendesk and others.
Best for: Support, IT and ops teams answering customer or employee requests in Slack.
Side by side
Compare the features
| Feature | Mention Reminder | Slack reminders and To-dos | Slack Activity | Slackbot | Follow Up Bot | ClearFeed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reminders created automatically from @mentions | YesNo need to save messages. Applies to people an admin enables; obvious thanks and similar non-actionable mentions are skipped. | NoYou set each reminder from the message menu. | YesEvery mention lands there by itself. | PartlyWhen you ask, or when a recurring task you set up runs. | PartlyQuestions that @mention someone, in channels where the bot was added. | PartlyAI detects requests in monitored channels and creates tickets. |
| Recognises a reply to the mention | YesYour thread reply or reaction clears it. On Team, AI can also match your reply posted separately in the channel. | NoIt fires at the time you set, replied or not. | PartlyCan show a Replied label, but does not maintain an automatic reminder list for each mention. | PartlyIt can judge this when you ask; it does not keep a running list. | YesA post, a thread reply or a reaction counts as an answer. | YesResponse and resolution are tracked against SLA targets. |
| Clears the reminder after a reply or reaction | YesThe item leaves your list after your reply or reaction. Deleting the source message also clears the reminder. | NoYou complete the to-do yourself. | NoReading does not remove a notification. Clearing is manual. | NoThere is no list to clear: each answer is a one-off. | YesAn answered question is dropped without a prompt. | PartlyRequests move through states as the team works them. |
| Reminds the person who was mentioned | YesThe person mentioned in the message. | PartlyPersonal reminders are for whoever sets them; /remind posts to a channel. | PartlyIt is your own feed, but it never brings a mention back to you later. | PartlyIt answers whoever asks it. | PartlyIt asks the sender first and reminds the colleague only if they agree. | PartlyAlerts go to agents and the support team. |
| Private, nothing extra posted in the channel | YesThe list and reminders are private. The bot adds a 🔔 reaction to the source message. | PartlyPersonal reminders are private. /remind channel reminders are posted for everyone. | YesOnly you see your Activity. | YesYour conversation with Slackbot is private. | PartlyThe prompt to the sender is private; the approved reminder goes to the colleague. | PartlyTickets are shared with the support team. |
| Personal reminder hours and timezone | YesOne daily reminder time on Starter; several chosen hours on Team. Weekdays only is optional. | PartlyA time per reminder. Channel reminders can repeat by day. | NoNo reminders, only notifications as things happen. | PartlyThe limits documentation specifies three automatic task runs per day in total. | NoA timer after the question, not hours the reader picks. | PartlyBusiness hours for SLA timers, not personal reminder hours. |
| Reminders about anything, not only mentions | NoMentions only. For your own notes, keep the built-in reminders. | YesAny message, file or to-do of your own. | NoNot a reminder tool. | YesIt can send reminders and help with almost anything. | NoOnly unanswered questions. | NoBuilt for requests, not for reminders. |
| Price | Starter is free for up to 5 people. Team starts at $2.50 per person per month, billed annually. | Included in Slack. | Included in Slack. | Business+: 15 messages weekly. Enterprise+: no weekly cap. Free and Pro: trial access or Flex Credits. | From $118 a year per workspace. No free plan. | Helpdesk from $24 per agent per month. |
When it is enough
When the built-in tools are enough
- You read mentions as they arrive and only need to come back to a few, which "Remind me about this" and To-dos cover.
- You go through Activity once or twice a day and rarely miss anything.
- Your workspace has Slackbot and you are happy to ask it what you missed.
When to add Mention Reminder
When to pick Mention Reminder
- Mentions get lost before anyone decides to save them, and you want each one covered without a click.
- You want a list that only holds what is still unanswered, emptied by your replies and reactions.
- The reminder should reach the person mentioned, privately and at hours they chose, not the sender.
- Your team also uses Microsoft Teams or Discord, or several Slack workspaces.
🤝 Using both
Mixing them
Most teams end up with more than one. A sensible mix is Slack's own reminders and To-dos for personal follow-ups on any message, Mention Reminder for the @mentions waiting on each person, and a helpdesk such as ClearFeed only if you run customer or support channels with response targets. Mention Reminder lives in the App Home tab and a DM, so it does not compete with Activity or To-dos for space.
From October 2026 Slack is rolling out To-dos in its place. Later items that had a reminder become to-dos; the rest move to Saved. Creating a to-do does not set a reminder by default, so you still add one yourself.
Reminders, To-dos and Activity are available on Slack Free. Slackbot on Free and Pro has trial access that does not reset like the Business+ allowance. Mention Reminder’s Starter plan is free for up to 5 people in one workspace, with one daily reminder time. Follow Up Bot and ClearFeed offer trials.
Yes, but apps watching the same channels can send several reminders about one question. In particular, check overlapping Follow Up Bot and Mention Reminder channels and separate helpdesk channels from other conversations.
More comparisons
- Slack /remindReminders you set in Slack compared with reminders created automatically from mentions.
- Slack Later (now To-dos)Saved messages and personal to-dos compared with mentions added to a list automatically.
- Slackbot AIAn AI assistant for questions and summaries compared with an automatic mention reminder list.
- Follow Up BotFollow-ups approved by the sender compared with automatic reminders for the person mentioned.
Sources
Information last checked on October 14, 2026.
- Slack Help Center: Introducing the new Activity view
- Slack Help Center: Accessibility changelog (Replied label)
- Slack Help Center: Slackbot limits and credit usage
- ClearFeed: Helpdesk pricing
- Slack Help Center: Set a reminder
- Slack Help Center: Later is now To-dos
- Slack Help Center: A reintroduction to Slackbot
- Follow Up Bot: pricing
Other products change. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it. Contact
Stop letting things vanish in the scroll
Add Mention Reminder to Slack, Teams or Discord - two minutes, once. After that it runs in the background and nobody on the team has to do anything else. Starter is free, no card.
Free · no card · no extra app