SPHub and the SharePoint app in Teams (formerly Viva Connections)
The SharePoint app in Teams and SPHub are not alternatives: the app is the front door inside Microsoft Teams, and SPHub is the set of lists, forms and web parts behind it. If you are weighing a SharePoint intranet against Viva Connections, or looking for a Viva Connections alternative, the two do different jobs and are designed to be run together.
What the SharePoint app in Teams is
Microsoft's current name for Viva Connections is "the SharePoint app in Teams", and most people still search for the old one.
-
A surface inside Teams
Microsoft Learn describes the SharePoint app in Teams as "built on the SharePoint home site technology", bringing "full SharePoint capabilities into Microsoft Teams". It is how employees reach the intranet without leaving Teams.
-
Four components
News, Dashboard, Resources and Announcements. The dashboard uses adaptive cards, Resources helps people find popular destinations, and the Announcements web part is available only in SharePoint home sites.
-
It runs on SharePoint
The SharePoint app in Teams runs on SharePoint: Microsoft states that because it is based on the platform, you can use SharePoint navigation, search, pages, web parts, lists and libraries. It is a curated entry point onto that content.
-
SPFx is the extension model
Microsoft Learn: "SPFx is the only extensibility and customization option for the SharePoint app in Teams." SPHub is built in the SharePoint Framework, which is the model this app supports.
Who does what
The SharePoint app in Teams ships no business-process modules, so the processes have to come from somewhere else.
The SharePoint app in Teams
the front door- Where people arriveA curated entry point inside Microsoft Teams
- What it showsNews, a Dashboard, Resources and Announcements
- What it is built onThe SharePoint home site and the SharePoint platform
- How it is extendedSPFx, which Microsoft documents as the only option
SPHub by Inthouse
the rooms behind it- CommunicateAnnouncements, events, FAQ, video gallery, company directory
- HR and peopleAnnual leave, expenses, recruitment, travel requests, onboarding
- Assets and operationsAssets, contracts, procurement, issues, vehicles, shuttle routes
- What it is built onSharePoint lists in your own tenant, shipped as one SPFx package
The full list is on the web parts page. Your existing SharePoint permissions apply unchanged; see where SPHub stores your data.
Use both
Run the SharePoint app in Teams as the entry point and SPHub as the content behind it.
-
They compose
An employee opens the SharePoint app in Teams, lands on your home site, and reaches pages built from SPHub web parts. Nothing about one replaces the other.
-
Each answers a different question
The SharePoint app in Teams answers "how do people get to the intranet from Teams". SPHub answers "where do leave requests, assets and contracts live".
-
When you need only one
If you want only the Teams entry point and already have your own processes, the app alone is enough. If you have no Teams rollout, SPHub runs on SharePoint Online modern pages without it.
-
SPHub in Teams without the app
Most SPHub web parts can also be added as a Teams tab, without the app; the web parts page says how they look there.
Licensing: check this before you plan
The number of experiences you want decides which Microsoft licence you need, and that is Microsoft's rule, not ours.
-
What Microsoft says
From Microsoft Learn: "Users with a Microsoft 365 subscription (E, F, or A license) are limited to creating and using one SharePoint app in Teams experience. If you want to create or use two or more experiences (up to 50), then every user in your tenant must have a Microsoft Viva Suite or Viva Communications and Communities license."
-
What it means for SPHub
Whether adding SPHub web parts to a SharePoint app in Teams page changes which Microsoft licence you need is not something we have verified. Check it with Microsoft before you plan around it.
Other comparisons
Plain SharePoint is the other common starting point, and it is covered on the comparisons page, or read SPHub and SharePoint out of the box.
See SPHub behind your Teams front door
Book a demo to see the modules that would sit behind your Teams entry point, or install SPHub on a development site first.