The Best Zoom Alternative: Top 10 [Detailed Reviews]

Zoom first came into existence in 2011. By 2013, it had logged a million users. Zoom’s growth continued, and by 2019, it saw around ten million meeting participants every single day. That’s impressive enough on its own, but then came the pandemic boom.

In March 2020, Zoom went from ten million daily meeting participants to a whopping 200 million. And if that astronomical growth wasn’t enough, that number hit 350 million by December of the same year.

Unfortunately, despite Zoom’s popularity, it’s still not for everyone.

There are many reasons why people may not want to use Zoom. One reason you might not want to use this service could be as simple as not liking its user interface or features. Or, it could be something like security concerns or a bad user experience.

Luckily, no matter what your reason may be for not wanting to use this prevalent service, there are many alternatives that you can try instead.

In this article, we mention a few tips on choosing the right Zoom alternative for you. We also look at the ten best Zoom alternatives available in 2022. Let’s get right to it!

Note: Looking for the best webinar platform? We highly recommend checking out LiveWebinar, as it’s the most advanced webinar software on the market right now. 

Best Alternatives to Zoom in 2023

1. Google Meet – Most Popular Zoom Alternative
2. Microsoft Teams – Best Zoom Alternative for Office 365 Integration
3. Skype – A Microsoft Alternative for Casual Users
4. Zoho Meeting – Best Zoom Alternative for Webinars
5. GoTo Meeting – Best Zoom Alternative for Security
6. Cisco Webex – Best Zoom Alternative for Businesses
7. TeamViewer Meeting – Another Secure Alternative to Zoom Meeting App
8. BlueJeans Virtual Meetings by Verizon – Best for Inclusivity and Accessibility
9. Discord – Best Slack Alternative with Video Conferencing Tools
10. DialPad – Best AI-Enhanced Zoom Alternative

How to Choose the Best App Like Zoom

With so many apps like Zoom on the market, finding the one that best suits your needs can be incredibly challenging. But if you know what to look for and consider, this selection process can get a lot less complicated. To help you, we put together this quick guide on choosing the best Zoom alternative for you. As you shop around for Zoom meeting alternatives, consider the factors below:

Price

Price is one of the first things you should consider when selecting a Zoom alternative. Determine how much you want to spend and use this price range to eliminate some options that don’t fit. Doing this can narrow your selection pool effectively.

For example, if you don’t want to spend any money at all, you can immediately eliminate options that don’t offer a free tier.

Features

When looking for apps like Zoom, it’s always a good idea to consider features. Look into Zoom’s features and think about which ones you like and which ones you don’t. That way, you have a point of comparison.

For example, if there are certain Zoom features you want and do not want to be without, eliminate any alternatives that don’t offer these features. Some apps might even provide features you want that Zoom doesn’t have!

It’s also a great idea to consider use cases when selecting your meeting app. The best Zoom alternative for personal use can differ from the best option for small businesses. Similarly, the best choice for small companies can differ from the best enterprise-level solution.

Accessibility

Although tech companies are becoming more aware of the need for accessibility features, not all apps have such features baked in. You may want to look for apps that offer transcripts, closed captioning, and other accessibility features if you or any meeting participants have a need for them.

Support

There may come a time when you find yourself with an issue you can’t figure out. In such times, it’s vital to have access to excellent customer support. This support can come in the form of knowledge bases, troubleshooting guides, emails, or even live support chats.

However, not all platforms like Zoom will have great customer support. And while you won’t always need amazing support, it can be good to have — especially if it’s for a service you’re paying for.

Limitations

Every app has its strengths and weaknesses. As you look for websites like Zoom that offer similar services, consider each option’s limitations. For example, some services will only allow a limited number of meeting participants in the free tier. If you have a larger group, you’ll need to look for a service that can accommodate your needs, and so on.

Ease of Use

User-friendliness is one of the most important considerations when choosing a Zoom alternative. Unless you’re sure every meeting participant you’ll have is relatively tech-savvy, it’s a good idea to look for a more intuitive option. Also, consider an app’s user interface to ensure that it’s clear and easy to navigate so that users don’t waste time trying to figure things out along the way.

Cross-Platform Compatibility

Most Zoom alternatives do offer varying degrees of cross-platform compatibility. If you know that not everyone can join meetings on their computers, for example, you’ll want to find solutions that can accommodate mobile users. Also, look into options that support multiple operating systems, as not everyone uses the same OS.

Service Reliability

Another great thing to consider is a service’s reliability. There’s no reason to use an app if there’s a pretty big chance it may not be available or functioning when you need it the most. One of the best ways to determine if an app or service is reliable is to read user reviews.

Best Zoom Alternative: Top Contenders in 2022

1. Google Meet – Most Popular Zoom Alternative

Our Rating: 4.75/5

Platforms: Web, iOS, Android

Pricing:

• Free Tier
• Premium Tiers come with a Google Workspace subscription
  • Free trial for 14 days
  • Some subscriptions offer a promotion for new users, offering a cheaper monthly rate for the first twelve months. If you have subscribed in the past, you pay the regular rate.
  • Business Starter: $4.20 per user/month for new users; $6 per user/month regular rate
  • Business Standard: $9.60 per user/month for new users; $12 per user/month regular rate
  • Business Plus: $18 per user/month
  • Contact sales for Enterprise pricing

Key Features:

• The free tier allows users to run meetings of sixty minutes or less, with a maximum of 100 participants
• All premium tiers allow meetings up to 24 hours
• Relatively affordable plans
• User-friendly
• Offers many of Zoom’s best features, such as breakout rooms, background customization, screen sharing, and various integration options
• Allows you to record your meetings

Meet is perhaps the most popular option on this list. Back then, you could only access this Google Zoom alternative with a Google Suite (now Workspace) subscription. However, Google added its free tier near the end of 2021.

Google Meet offers many of the same features as Zoom, including background blurring or replacement, grid meeting views, and more. However, what makes this a better choice than Zoom is the native Google service integration. If you already use many of Google’s productivity solutions, then Meet might make the most sense for you.

Although you can use Google Meet for free, you are limited to 100 meeting participants and meetings of an hour at a time. You’ll need to subscribe to Google Workspace if you want access to more features. Luckily, a Google Workspace subscription gives you access to the entire Google productivity suite (plus additional features depending on your plan). You can see what comes with each subscription tier here.

Pros

• Free tier available
• Accessible
• Business plans are relatively affordable
• A subscription provides many additional benefits
• User-friendly

Cons

• Maximum of 500 meeting participants
• It doesn’t offer as many business tools and features as other services

2. Microsoft Teams – Best Zoom Alternative for Office 365 Integration

Our Rating: 4.6/5

Platforms: Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android

Pricing: Pricing varies depending on whether you choose Home or Business subscriptions (more information here)

• For Home
  • Microsoft Teams: Free Tier
  • Microsoft 365 Personal: $6.99 per month paid monthly or $69.99 per year
  • Microsoft 365 Family (up to six users): $9.99 per month paid monthly or $99.99 per year

• For Business
  • Microsoft Teams: Free Tier
  • Microsoft Teams Essentials: $4 per user/month paid annually
  • Microsoft 365 Business Basic: $6 per user/month paid annually
  • Microsoft 365 Business Standard: $12.50 per user/month paid annually

Key Features:

• The free tier allows up to 100 meeting participants; the maximum meeting length is 60 minutes
• Paid plans allow up to 300 meeting participants for a maximum meeting length of 30 hours
• All plans offer 1-on-1 meetings for 30 hours max
• Teams has many features similar to Zoom’s, including background customization and breakout rooms (at a higher subscription tier)
• Seamless Office 365 integration
• Various third-party integrations are available

Microsoft Teams is another one of the most popular alternatives to Zoom. It offers seamless integration to Microsoft’s Office 365 productivity suite, so if you or your team already use those tools, Teams might be the perfect video conferencing tool for you. Teams also integrates with many other third-party tools and services, which is great if you want to streamline your workflow.

Pros

• Cross-platform compatibility
• Office 365 and third-party integrations
• Free tier available
• Plans are relatively affordable

Cons

• Only 300 meeting participants at maximum
• Need to pay more for breakout rooms

3. Skype – A Microsoft Alternative for Casual Users

Our Rating: 4.4/5

Platforms: Web, Android, iOS, Amazon FireOS, ChromeOS, Windows, Mac, Linux, Xbox

Pricing: FREE, but you can pay for features like international phone calls

Key Features:

• Free messaging and video calls for up to 100 participants
• User-friendly and intuitive
• Available on just about any platform
• Many integrations available, even including Alexa

Skype used to be the king of the hill when it came to messaging and video calling, generally because there weren’t really many other options available at the time. Unfortunately, it began losing its foothold in the niche because of reliability, connection, and audio/video quality issues. It didn’t help that other apps offering better features started coming out around the same time.

These days, the issues that plagued Skype are a thing of the past. It’s still a fantastic messaging and video conferencing option. Nowadays, it’s much more accessible as it works on almost any device, including the web. It seamlessly integrates with Microsoft’s software and many other third-party apps and does it all for free. However, we’d say that Skype is best for smaller groups as the maximum size you can have on Skype is 100 users.

Pros

• Tons of integrations
• Entirely free unless you want to make international phone calls
• Accessible

Cons

• Best for smaller groups
• No business features

4. Zoho Meeting – Best Zoom Alternative for Webinars

Our Rating: 4.7/5

Platforms: Web, Android, iOS

Pricing: Zoho Meeting’s pricing varies depending on how many participants you sign up for. More information is available here.

• Free Forever Tier
• 14-Day Free Trial, then:
  • Meeting: from $3 to $18 per host/month paid monthly; from $3 to $15 per host/month paid annually
  • Webinar: from $19 to $360 per host/month paid monthly; from $16 to $300 per host/month paid annually

• Volume discounts are available

Key Features:

• The free tier supports 100 meeting or webinar participants for a maximum of 60 minutes
• The meeting tier starts at 10 participants going to a maximum of 250
• The webinar tier starts at 25 participants going to a maximum of 3000
• Paid plans allow meetings up to 24 hours
• Offers various integrations
• Virtual backgrounds only available in paid plans

Zoho Meeting is the best alternative for Zoom if you want to run webinars and huge meetings. This service is incredibly scalable, thanks to its pricing model, which allows you to select the number of participants you want to pay for. Zoho Meeting is available on the web, and there are no apps to download or install. You can also use this service on Android or iOS.

Pros

• Highly scalable; great for small businesses who don’t want to pay for features they don’t need
• Available on most platforms through the web
• Great for larger meetings and groups
• Integrations
• Free tier available

Cons

• Virtual backgrounds are not available on the free tier
• Some features may be useless for you (such as VoIP calling)

5. GoTo Meeting – Best Zoom Alternative for Security

Our Rating: 4.5/5

Platforms: Web, Android, iOS

Pricing:

• Free trial for 14 days
• Professional: $12 per organizer/month billed annually
• Business: $16 per organizer/month billed annually
• Contact sales for Enterprise pricing

Key Features:

• Every meeting is protected with enterprise-grade security features
• 99.99% uptime
• Commuter mode for joining meetings on the go
• Addons are available
• Many integrations

GoTo Meeting is a great solution for those looking for security. Among services like Zoom, this app also stands out for offering excellent experiences on mobile and providing plenty of integrations to help you streamline your work processes. However, this app does not offer a free plan.

Pros

• Plenty of integrations
• Great for mobile users
• Affordable
• Excellent security features

Cons

• No free tier
• Maximum of 250 participants

6. Cisco Webex – Best Zoom Alternative for Businesses

Our Rating: 4.7/5

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS

Pricing:

• Basic: Free tier
• Meet: $14.50 per user/month paid monthly; $12 per user/month paid annually
• Contact sales for Enterprise pricing

Key Features:

• Provides top-notch security to its users
• It offers many features for collaboration
• Integrates with many third-party apps and all other solutions in the Webex suite
• Available on most platforms

Webex by Cisco is a big name in the corporate videoconferencing space. Thanks to its top-tier security features and superb audio and video quality, it’s the tool of choice for many large companies. Although it only offers up to two hundred meeting participants in its non-enterprise plans, Webex is still one of the best meeting apps like Zoom.

Webex also offers a free plan, though it is limited to forty-minute meetings of up to one hundred participants.

Pros

• Free tier available
• Best-in-class security features
• Great audio and video quality
• Sleek UI

Cons

• Maximum of 200 users for the Meet tier (1000 for enterprise, but requires 100 licenses at minimum)
• The free tier only allows 40-minute meetings

7. TeamViewer Meeting – Another Secure Alternative to Zoom Meeting App

Our Rating: 4.5/5

Platforms: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android

Pricing:

• Free forever plan
• Meeting 50: $9.49 per host/month paid monthly; $7.99 per host/month paid annually
• Meeting 100: $12.99 per host/month paid monthly; $10.99 per host/month paid annually
• Company: $19.99 per host/month paid monthly; $16.99 per host/month paid annually

Key Features:

• The free tier is available for up to five meeting participants only, but there appears to be no limit to meeting length
• The remote desktop control feature is available from the Meeting 100 plan onwards
• Top-notch security
• Mobile apps are available

TeamViewer is primarily known as a remote desktop app that allows you to give another user control over your mouse and keyboard over the internet. However, the company has also released TeamViewer Meeting, which offers a safe and secure way to hold company meetings. It’s not the best Zoom alternative out there, but there is one thing that makes it stand out: the ability to hand remote desktop control to meeting participants, enabling collaboration in real time.

Pros

• Top-notch security features
• Unique remote desktop control feature (though it is only available on higher tiers)
• Customer support for all paid plans
• Mobile apps for convenience

Cons

• The free tier is very limited
• Maximum of 300 participants
• Missing some QoL (quality of life) features such as background customization and noise cancellation

8. BlueJeans Virtual Meetings by Verizon – Best for Inclusivity and Accessibility

Our Rating: 4.6/5

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android

Pricing:

• Free trial for 14 days, then
• BlueJeans Standard: $12.49 per host/month paid monthly; $9.99 per host/month paid annually
• BlueJeans Pro: $17.49 per host/month paid monthly; $13.99 per host/month paid annually
• BlueJeans Enterprise: $19.99 per host/month paid monthly; $16.66 per host/month paid annually
• BlueJeans Enterprise Plus: Contact sales for more information

Key Features:

• Unfortunately, BlueJeans has no free tier
• BlueJeans allows you to use customized branding with an Enterprise or Enterprise Plus plan
• Maximum of 200 meeting participants across all plans
• Plenty of integrations from the Pro plan onwards
• Fantastic accessibility options such as automatic closed captioning, screen readers, and the like (only on Enterprise and Enterprise Plus)

BlueJeans Virtual Meetings is a video conferencing and collaboration solution. Recently acquired by Verizon, this service offers four different premium plans (but no free tier). Each level provides more features than the last, with the Enterprise and Enterprise Plus tiers providing the most benefits, including customized branding and automatic captioning in real-time. BlueJeans also has many other accessibility options, making it a great choice for inclusivity.

As a result of the Verizon acquisition, BlueJeans has halted services in some parts of the world.

Pros

• Great accessibility features
• Relatively affordable for a business solution
• Secure, encrypted calls
• Call/meeting recording

Cons

• May not be available in some locations due to the Verizon acquisition
• Many features are paywalled in higher tiers
• Only 200 meeting participants maximum

9. Discord – Best Slack Alternative with Video Conferencing Tools

Our Rating: 4.5/5

Platforms: Web, Windows, Mac, Linux,  iOS, Android

Pricing:

• FREE or unlock more features with
• Nitro Classic: $4.99 per month paid monthly; $49.99 per year
• Nitro: $9.99 per month paid monthly; $99.99 per year

Key Features:

• Available entirely for free, with optional (affordable) upgrades
• Audio calls can handle up to 100 members
• Video calls can hold up to 25 members
• Discord puts no time limits on audio or video calls
• Servers are fully customizable, and you can assign roles and permissions to users
• Many third-party integrations can help you improve your server even further

Although Discord is most known for being a haven for gamers and similar communities, it can also be quite helpful for video conferencing and collaboration. Discord allows users to create servers, similar to a Slack workspace. Within these servers, you can create text and voice/video channels (and set privacy permissions) that allow you to host meetings, much like Zoom. It also allows you to customize your video backgrounds and has noise suppression technology to keep your audio as clear as it can be.

Discord isn’t the choice of larger workplaces or serious professionals most of the time, considering the lighthearted feel around the service that makes it better suited for communities. However, for a smaller business or team, it can be quite an effective tool.

Pros

• Free! Upgrades are also quite affordable (but entirely optional)
• Lighthearted feel, ideal for communities
• No time limit on audio/video calls, even on the free tier
• Plenty of tools to help improve your call experiences

Cons

• Not the best for larger businesses or serious settings
• Not many business features and tools

10. DialPad – Best AI-Enhanced Zoom Alternative

Our Rating: 4.6/5

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Chrome OS, Web (browser extensions), iOS, Android

Pricing:

• Free tier
• Business: $20 per user/month paid monthly; $15 per user/month paid annually

Key Features:

• Only has two plans – free and business
• The free tier only allows meetings at a 45-minute maximum, with ten participants
• Business tier allows up to 150 participants for meetings lasting five hours max
• It offers a multitude of AI-enhanced features that can improve collaboration, project management, accessibility, and more
• DialPad has features like customized layouts and background customization (virtual backgrounds)
• Enables teams to collaborate and stay on task thanks to agendas and tools like advanced time controls

At first glance, DialPad might look like just another Zoom alternative with little to offer. It may even seem rather boring and commonplace. However, this service has something up its sleeve: artificial intelligence.

DialPad uses AI to enhance many of its features and services. The company uses artificial intelligence to do things like creating real-time captioning or transcriptions to make meetings more accessible and inclusive. Additionally, AI also tracks keywords so it can provide alerts in real time. DialPad can even monitor and detect users’ moods.

This service also enables improved collaboration thanks to instant messaging, file sharing, advanced time controls, and agenda features.

Pros

• Free tier available
• AI-enhanced features are unique and exciting and can improve your meeting experience
• Real-time transcriptions created by AI
• Automatically provides AI-generated post-call summaries
• Integrations available for the largest apps and services

Cons

• The free tier is quite limited
• Only allows a maximum of 150 meeting participants

Bonus: Meet Now (via Skype)

Introduced in May 2020, Skype Meet Now is a feature that, as you may have guessed, is part of Microsoft’s Skype platform. Meet Now works in Windows 10 and 11, enabling users to set up voice or video calls without additional downloads or sign-ups. Like Skype, Meet Now is available entirely for free.

If you want to create a meeting using Meet Now, you can launch it automatically from Windows. If you have Skype installed, Meet Now will open Skype and proceed through the app. Meeting participants don’t need Skype or Meet Now either — joining a call will work in the Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers.

Meet Now isn’t the best Zoom alternative as it lacks some features, but you can hold 50-person meetings for up to 24 hours at no cost. You can also use instant messaging and record your sessions.

How We Tested the Best Zoom Competitors

While on the hunt for the best Zoom alternatives, we searched high and low for all the software options and solutions that are on par with Zoom itself. We did a lot of research into each option, considering various factors and past user reviews to confirm that every app or service on this list will offer an adequate experience. We also sought the recommendations of those who have used Zoom and at least some of its alternatives.

Beyond doing research, we also used our own experiences with many of the alternatives we’ve included on this list.

The factors we looked at when considering each option include pricing and reliability. We also made sure that each item is user-friendly (even for beginners) and offers plenty of features to compete with Zoom.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best alternative to Zoom?

There are many excellent alternatives for Zoom, but the right one for you will depend on your situation. For example, if you’re looking for remote work communication tools, you might want to consider options that best suit that use case. You can look at factors such as your budget, the size of your meetings, and more. Our buying guide above can guide you through your selection process.

What is a free alternative to Zoom?

There are many free alternatives to Zoom (which itself has a free tier), including two of the big ones: Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. You can also always try apps like Discord or even Facebook if you don’t need all the features Zoom offers.

What is the best platform for online meetings?

The best platform for online meetings will depend on your specific needs and budget. Other factors to consider include the number of people joining your meetings and how long your meetings tend to go. The best way to find out which platform works best for you is to check out our tips above.

Conclusion

Zoom offers an excellent service that can be hard to beat, especially considering what the service offers in its free tier. However, Zoom still isn’t for everyone! And if it’s not for you, we hope his article has helped you find the perfect Zoom alternative for your needs.

We did our best to include the most viable video platforms like Zoom. However, if you think we missed an app that should be on this list, please let us know in the comments below!

If you’re looking for the ultimate tool for scalable meetings, webinars, and conferences, we highly recommend checking out ClickMeeting. Get started for free and see the results for yourself!

Decided to use Zoom instead? Check out this guide on how to change your name on Zoom.