LINE WORKS
LINE WORKS is a Tokyo-based cloud business communication and collaboration platform that serves as the enterprise version of Japan's LINE consumer messaging app. It provides integrated chat, mail, calendar, drive, and admin tools to 430,000+ companies, holding the No.1 paid business chat market share position in Japan.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersTokyo, Japan
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What LINE WORKS does
LINE WORKS Corp. is a Tokyo-based private software company founded in 2015 that operates a cloud-based business communication and collaboration platform positioned as the "business version of LINE," Japan's dominant consumer messaging application. The platform unifies business chat (Talk), Mail, Contacts, Board (notices), Calendar, Drive (file storage), Form (surveys), and centralized Admin management into a single suite, with enterprise-grade security backed by 24/7 monitoring and internationally certified systems. A distinguishing structural feature is native integration with the LINE consumer ecosystem, enabling organizations to communicate with external LINE and LINE WORKS users beyond company boundaries — a capability competitors without access to the LINE platform cannot replicate.
The company employs 11-50 staff and serves a broad customer base of 430K+ companies as of January 2023, with named enterprise adoption across financial services (Mizuho Bank, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance, MS&AD Insurance Group, Japan Post Bank), construction (Taisei Corporation), retail and consumer (Noevir Holdings, Zoff, Sapporo Breweries, Baroque Global, Mizuno, Sanjo), media (TV Asahi), sports (Urawa Reds), education (Daito Bunka University, Chiba University), and government (Shijyonawate City). LINE WORKS holds the NO.1 position in Japan's paid business chat market per Fuji Chimera Research Institute (2021 edition).
The business operates a freemium go-to-market model — "Start for free, upgrade anytime" — distributed via self-service signup through the website and mobile app stores (Google Play, Apple App Store), complemented by direct sales for enterprise accounts. Revenue is generated through recurring subscription fees on a monthly billing cadence, though specific pricing tiers and revenue figures are not publicly disclosed. The platform supports extensibility through Bots provided by service partners and APIs (developers.worksmobile.com). An ecosystem partnership with M-SOLUTIONS has produced LINE WORKS integration plugins reaching 2,000+ paid contracts by May 2026, and a GPT-powered AI plugin was launched in 2026.
LINE WORKS firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- LINE WORKS
- Legal name
- LINE WORKS Corp.
- Website
- https://line.worksmobile.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- LINE WORKS is a Tokyo-based cloud business communication and collaboration platform that serves as the enterprise version of Japan's LINE consumer messaging app. It provides integrated chat, mail, calendar, drive, and admin tools to 430,000+ companies, holding the No.1 paid business chat market share position in Japan.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
LINE WORKS industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Enterprise Messaging and Collaboration Software
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (51821)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Business Messaging & Team Collaboration (HDAIAHAE)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Email, Calendar & Scheduling (BPAMAMAC)
Keywords
Where LINE WORKS is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Tokyo
- HQ country
- Japan
- HQ region
- Asia
Markets served
LINE WORKS business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Subscription Licensing: LINE WORKS operates as a paid business chat service with subscription-based pricing. The platform offers a free tier with upgrade options for enhanced features. Revenue is generated through recurring subscription fees based on user seats or organizational plans.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free tier with paid upgrade options |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
LINE WORKS product offering
Product offeringCore offering
LINE WORKS is a cloud-based business communication and collaboration suite functioning as the business version of the LINE consumer messaging app. It sells a unified workspace combining business chat (Talk), mail, contacts, notice board, calendar, file drive, surveys, and admin management to organizational customers in Japan, with integrations enabled through partner-provided Bots. The service is offered as freemium software with subscription-based upgrades.
Product overview
LINE WORKS is a unified business communication platform operating as the business version of LINE, designed for enterprise teams in Japan. The platform is structured as a single integrated suite combining core communication features (Talk/Business Chat, Mail, Contacts) with collaboration tools (Board for notices, Calendar for scheduling, Drive for file storage, Form for surveys), plus centralized Admin management for security and permissions. The platform also supports extensible Bots provided by service partners. LINE WORKS holds the No.1 market share position in Japan's paid business chat market as of 2021, serving over 430,000 companies. The platform emphasizes LINE connectivity for external communication and enterprise-grade security with 24/7 monitoring.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- LINE WORKS Platform Unified cloud-based business communication and collaboration platform providing chat, mail, contacts, notice board, calendar, file storage, surveys, and admin management for organizational teams in Japan. Sold as a freemium SaaS workspace with subscription upgrades and optional direct sales for enterprise customers.
- Talk (Business Chat) Business chat functionality that mirrors the LINE consumer messaging experience, supporting team messaging with stamps and direct messaging, with the distinctive capability of connecting internal teams with external LINE and LINE WORKS users outside the company.
- Mail Integrated email functionality within the LINE WORKS platform enabling organizational email communication alongside chat.
- Contacts Centralized contact management within the LINE WORKS platform for managing business relationships and team member directories.
- Board Digital notice board feature within LINE WORKS for sharing announcements and information across teams organization-wide.
- Calendar Team scheduling and shared calendar functionality within LINE WORKS for tracking schedules and coordinating team activities.
- Drive Cloud file storage service within the LINE WORKS platform enabling teams to store and access files.
- Form Survey creation tool integrated into LINE WORKS for conducting polls and collecting data from team members.
- Admin Centralized administration console for LINE WORKS workspaces, enabling permission grants, usage monitoring, and device security controls to mitigate missing-device and information leakage risks.
Quantifiable outcome
- NO.1 market share in Japan's paid business chat market
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use LINE WORKS
Customer profileNamed customers16 records
Segments8 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
LINE WORKS technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability2 records
Feature5 records
LINE WORKS partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
LINE WORKS competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Slack (Salesforce): Slack, now owned by Salesforce, is the global incumbent in team messaging and channels-based collaboration. Although primarily Western-focused, it competes with LINE WORKS for large Japanese enterprise customers and offers overlapping chat/integration functionality.
- Zoom Team Chat: Zoom expanded from video conferencing into persistent team chat, calendar, and collaboration. It overlaps with LINE WORKS' chat and meeting capabilities, particularly for organizations where video-first collaboration is central.
- Workplace by Meta: Workplace by Meta is an enterprise social and messaging platform built on Facebook-style UX. It overlaps LINE WORKS' consumer-messaging familiarity angle, leveraging Meta's social UI for business communication.
- Microsoft Teams: Microsoft Teams is bundled with Microsoft 365 and is the dominant enterprise collaboration suite globally, including in Japan. It competes directly with LINE WORKS on chat, meetings, and file collaboration, with deep Office integration as a structural advantage.
- Google Workspace (Chat & Meet): Google Workspace bundles Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Chat, and Meet into a unified productivity suite. It overlaps LINE WORKS' Mail/Calendar/Drive/Form stack and competes for Japan-based enterprises and educational institutions migrating off on-premises tools.
Others
- Notion: Notion is a collaborative workspace spanning docs, wikis, databases, and lightweight project management. It is an adjacent productivity tool competing for workspace budgets alongside LINE WORKS rather than messaging itself.
- LINE (LY Corporation consumer app): LINE is the consumer messaging app providing the foundational user base and brand that LINE WORKS extends into the workplace. It is not a direct competitor but the strategic ecosystem on which LINE WORKS' distribution advantage is built.
Direct peers
- Chatwork: Chatwork is Japan's leading domestic business chat platform. It competes head-to-head with LINE WORKS for Japanese SMB and enterprise customers, sharing a similar freemium/PLG model and feature parity across chat, task management, and file collaboration.
Emerging players
- DingTalk (Alibaba): DingTalk is Alibaba's enterprise messaging and OA platform, dominant in China and expanding across Asia. It competes with LINE WORKS in the APAC business chat market with comparable messaging-plus-workflow features.
- Lark (ByteDance): Lark is ByteDance's collaboration suite offering chat, docs, calendar, and video. It is expanding into Japan and APAC with an integrated productivity bundle comparable to LINE WORKS' all-in-one positioning.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
LINE WORKS social profiles
Digital presenceLINE WORKS financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
LINE WORKS leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
LINE WORKS funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
LINE WORKS M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about LINE WORKS
What does LINE WORKS do?
LINE WORKS is a cloud-based business communication and collaboration suite functioning as the business version of the LINE consumer messaging app. It sells a unified workspace combining business chat (Talk), mail, contacts, notice board, calendar, file drive, surveys, and admin management to organizational customers in Japan, with integrations enabled through partner-provided Bots. The service is offered as freemium software with subscription-based upgrades.
Is LINE WORKS a public or private company?
LINE WORKS is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was LINE WORKS founded?
LINE WORKS was founded in 2015. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is LINE WORKS based?
LINE WORKS is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, in the Asia region.
How does LINE WORKS make money?
One revenue line is on record: subscription Licensing.
Who are LINE WORKS's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Slack (Salesforce), Zoom Team Chat, Workplace by Meta, Microsoft Teams and Google Workspace (Chat & Meet). Others are Notion and LINE (LY Corporation consumer app). Chatwork is listed as a direct peer. Emerging players are DingTalk (Alibaba) and Lark (ByteDance).
Does LINE WORKS have an API?
Yes. LINE WORKS exposes a public API. Developer documentation is at developers.worksmobile.com/jp/?lang=en.
What industry is LINE WORKS in?
LINE WORKS's product category is Enterprise Messaging and Collaboration Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAIAHAE, Business Messaging & Team Collaboration, with a secondary code of BPAMAMAC, Email, Calendar & Scheduling. Its NAICS code is 51821 and its SIC code is 7370.