The 9 Best Zoom Alternatives for Meetings & Conferences (Free & Paid)

Are you looking for the best Zoom alternatives for video and conference calls?

You’ve come to the right place to find your answer.

Even before the outbreak of the pandemic, video calls and online meeting rooms were already on the upsurge demand. Then the pandemic hit, and more and more people were restricted and bound to their homes.

In those times, technology like video conferencing cameras made it possible to locate your meetings, presentations, and meet-ups in virtual space.

During that time, Zoom — one of the most popular virtual conference platforms — experienced a 225% increase in its connections.

Zoom has a lot of easy-to-use and accommodating features for certain types of users. It’s a very reliable app that’s a great option in many cases for making online group video calls, hosting virtual meetings, doing remote employee onboardings, and so on.

But not everyone wants to use Zoom. And there are some drawbacks to the video conferencing app.

For one, Zoom doesn’t do a great job catering to the needs of large scale virtual events and really big group video calls.

It also has privacy and security concerns which can make its user think about switching to a good Zoom alternative. And some people might find it difficult to record Zoom meetings.

There are also some complaints about short time limits and Zoombombing( where an uninvited guest enters into your meeting) as common problems Zoom users face.

The good news is there are tons of great Zoom alternatives out there, including both free and paid apps with different additional features, and packages.

We have compiled a list of 2023’s best Zoom alternatives and have analyzed them in detail so you can pick the right video conferencing tool based on your needs and preferences.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost for you, we might get a commission if you click the link and purchase.

 

What are the Best Zoom Alternatives in 2023?

Here are the best Zoom alternatives tailored for different purposes, including for small businesses, academics, P2P users, online learning, enterprise, and as well as for organizational uses.

 

1. Crewdle

There are tons of Zoom alternatives, but after some use, most of them have one system failure or another. However, Crewdle is one of the most competitive products out there in comparison to Zoom.

It has a unique, simple, and clean interface, responsive support system, eco-friendly structure, the roadmap of the app is creative and inspiring, and its audio is also clearer and better compared to Zoom.

Some of its advanced features include:

• Google Calendar, Outlook, Slack integration.
• Able to have ad-hoc rooms and a persistent room.
• Ability to record meetings and online events.
• Required a browser reboot (not a big deal).
• Can’t have separate audio/mic selection (being resolved in two weeks).
• Hassle-free setup for meeting guests.

Crewdle is 100% encrypted technology, enhancing the idea of an eco-friendly approach toward video conferencing and online meetups. A server-less platform service, which removes all servers that can be interrupted to the services.

You don’t even have to download an external application as it is available online. Its conferences and video calls are private and secure so you don’t have to worry about your conversation not being end-to-end encrypted.

Simply put, Crewdle is the best Zoom alternative out there right now.

Click here to try Crewdle for free.

 

2.  Zoho Meeting

Zoho Meeting is an open-source video meeting service, which allows hosting the meeting, and is end-to-end encrypted for up to 100 video call participants.

The browser-based app, so now you don’t have to worry about downloading. Just connect it on the web and you are good to go. Downloading can be space-consuming and it can be security-threatening for your computer.

In Zoho Meetings, participants don’t need to log in to join, so it is the most user-friendly meeting and conference platform, which does not have any hassle or problems with it.

Zoho has a bunch of meeting functions and tools, such as recording, moderation, pulling in documents of different types such as spreadsheets, and presentations, as these services are connected with the office suite provided by Zoho.

However, there are different premium and basic pricing plans which you can use depending on your use.

All in all, Zoho is a great alternative to Zoom.

Click here to try Zoho Meeting today.

 

3. GoTo Meeting

This video meeting app offers solutions that are expandable and scalable, however, this app is more suitable for those who have a high number of participants.

GoToMeeting has plans that accommodate anywhere from 150 to 3,000 participants, and there is no time limit for meetings. 

GoTo Meeting is easy-to-use & highly collaborative, and it allows for co-hosting of meetings. Its cheapest package offers dial-in features, and the other two moderate packages provide users an unlimited cloud recording and as well as transcription, tools, and smart assistant services.

Moreover, there are useful tools that are included in these packages are pdf notes, slides to PDF services for better presentation and communication among participants. GoTo Meeting has a PIN-based feature, raising the hand, whiteboard, and polling for votes.

This Zoom competitor is compatible with MAC, PC, Android, & iOS, and plugins are also available for Google calendar and Microsoft 365. It’s usable on Mac, PC, Android, and iOS devices, and there are plug-ins for Microsoft 365 and Google Calendar.

Click here to learn more.

 

4. RingCentral

RingCentral provides services that allow hosting meetings of up to 500 participants. Meeting with RingCentral can be joined with the browser and there is no need to download the app for video calling.

Audio and video calls can be switched and you can also swap devices without any problem or disruption on this alternative to Zoom.

Features include:

• Screen share
• Files editing
• Create up to 50 breakout rooms
• Whiteboards and annotations services
• Send content and text while in the meeting
• Share documents within the text box
• Provide in meeting chat
• Join call from the text message box
• Record meetings and save them on the cloud

Integrate your Outlook or Google Calendar and schedule your meetings in one click. Invites can be sent by sharing your calendar with participants or by text or email.

For business purposes, integrate it with your customer resource management platform and amplify the efficiency of your business management. Get analytics and gauge your system performance, and track the performance of your business departments.

It has a unique feature of built-in webinars, and that can be utilized for large-scale global conferences and meetings. Up to 10,000 participants can attend the meeting and moderators can be assigned to a meeting of more than 500 persons.

Ring Central offers the following payment plans for video calling:

• Essentials plan (basic): $19.99/user per month-only for messaging and calls.
• Standard plan (moderate): $27.99/user per month-including video conferencing
• Premium plan (for premium users): $34.99/user per month-including video conferencing
• Ultimate (for large scale users): $49.99/user per month including video conferencing

Click here to learn more.

 

5. Google Meet

Google Meet is another easy-to-use alternative to Zoom, suitable for video conferencing and webinars.

Invite participants from Google Calendar or email.

All commonly used features are available such as screen sharing, call/ video conferencing, dial-in call/video meeting, live captioning, and compatibility of it with more than one device.

Meetings can be recorded and saved in Google Drive and marked as an event in the calendar as well. This tool is handy as you can schedule your recorded conferences and their streaming with the help of this.

• Mute, pin, and remove participants
• Video/audio preview of screen
• Adjustable/changeable layouts and graphics /screen features
• Share documents, resources, & links with participants
• Integration with Google apps and Microsoft 365 apps
• The Enterprise plan: live stream for 100,000 attendees, provides access to noise-control feature, G-Suite, and as well as additional security protection of Google

In short, it has good packages for small-scale enterprises, and especially its free package is better than Zoom in terms of a time limit and calendar integration.

Google Meet provides plans ranging from free to $18 a month for its video conferencing tool, depending on your needs.

Click here to try it free for 14 days.

 

6. Cisco Webex

Webex’s free plan is most facilitating as compared to Zoom, Google Meet, and other free plans as it allows up to 100 attendees for up to 50 minutes meeting limit.

Its cheapest plan extends to a 24 hours meeting limit, and it allows a 200 participants limit. Its premium plan can be used for meeting participant limits of up to 100,000, with unlimited hosts. This is much larger than what many other video conferencing platforms allow.

• Good for collaborative conference purposes and big group video calls
• Free tier allows screen sharing, whiteboard, & instant messaging.
• For recording, dial-in/ international, and national & storage features, you will have to upgrade for the next tier.

Paid plans provide transcriptions, chat, polling, raise the hand, live customer services, and file-sharing/transfer as well.

Cisco Webex doesn’t offer firewall, additional security, firewall compatibility, and scheduling options. Hence, those users who are not concerned about security issues can enjoy a better user interface, more time limit, and compatibility with a large number of participants.

It offers a minimalist design, so the minimalist user might like its user interface. However, its minimalistic interface can make user control tricky and not very handy for users. Users have experienced a slow down of screen-share mode as well.

Click here to learn more.

 

7. Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a cloud-based conferencing platform that allows 10,000 participants in its most advanced plan. This highly functional software includes multiple collaboration features such as screen-sharing, email, whiteboard, meeting charts, sharing of files, and more.

You can host video meetings, audio calls, share files, and online chat. It has AI assistance services and provides high-quality video, audio, and screen-sharing features. You can change control settings, like assigning and allotting presenters & participants; removing participants, co-moderating and co-authoring, and more.

Microsoft Teams also enables you to change the background from its list of backgrounds or upload your custom background.

The “Raise your Hand” feature helps you notify participants when you have something to say. You can also download the participant list for future reference and access recordings and notes from previous meetings.

Microsoft Teams can be collaborated and integrated with Microsoft office, and also from your mobile app as well, for better access to your scheduling and management.

Microsoft Teams provides a number of different plans, ranging from free up to $9.99 a month, depending on your needs.

Click here to learn more.

 

8. BlueJeans

Blue Jeans, cloud-based software from Verizon, is designed for small business owners who operate on a hybrid level and manage their team on an online platform for cost reduction and database management.

It has great communication features such as Dolby voice, its unique system ensures a very clear voice audio communication, cutting out distraction and inefficiency from your conferences. Unlike Zoom and other popular platforms, this feature can be eye-catching for most small-scale users.

It has a safe driving mode, like many other software for mobile apps. Its lowest tier plan allows 50 participants with no time limit for meetings. Its 2nd and 3rd tier allows 75 and 100 participants in its respective plans.

Small businesses may not like the fact there is no free version, however, a free trial can be used by signing up for a plan of your choice.  Its lowest tier has all the standard functions along with no time constraints.

Those features are screen sharing, recording, bandwidth management, annotation, and as well as security features.

Its premium and 2nd tier plans have a variety of add-ons apart from increased participation size. BlueJeans is compatible with Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and with some versions of Linux. The premium tier provides integration features with Teams, Splunk, Gong, and Zoho.

However, BlueJeans is not for touchscreen Windows devices, so those users should go for some other software we have mentioned in the article.

Click here to learn more.

 

9. Jitsi Meet

Jitsi Meet, a completely free Zoom alternative without the need for account creation to make a video call. It’s an appealing option for small business owners, individuals, and startup owners.

Meetings have a time limit of 50 participants, and they cannot be upgraded with premium or paid tier, hence it has only one-tier.

Jitsi Meet is best known for its free yet highly secure service including control access to which devices can have access and which devices cannot. This is the best alternative to Zoom for those who find Zoom security lagging and want a more secure video call option.

Jitsi Meet has all the basic features of screen sharing, live streaming, presentation, chat box, for both group chat and individual chat, file editing features, and handy function of ‘pass presenter’ in its free-to-use software.

Jitsi Meet is best known for its security, with a range of privacy features including control over which devices it can access. The software offers basics like screen sharing and presentation live streaming, as well as an integrated chat app for groups and individuals within video meetings.

Past meetings, calendars, schedules, and integration schedules can all be accessed for free with Jitsi Meet. It’s open-source software, hence users have the freedom to customize it to their specifications and can even add additional features.

It is entirely compatible with Android and iPhone mobile apps. Google Chrome extension, web RTC, and Microsoft 365 integration features are also provided by Jitsi Meet’s free video conferencing solution.

Click here to learn more.

 

What to Look for in Zoom Alternatives

To conclude, this is a brief explanation of what features you should keep in mind for Zoom alternatives for video calling.

1. Interface

Interface/UI/UX is something that matters a lot when it comes to virtual meetings and video conference software apps. Simply put, you want to make sure you’re comfortable using the video conferencing software and that it’s not too clunky or difficult to navigate.

When looking for a Zoom alternative, you should always check the graphic quality and see if it is compatible with your device, and its video screen and screen share do not lag in between.

To make your learning experience a no-fuss and hassle-free one, the first thing you want to look for is whether the interface is a user-friendly and intuitive one or not. From the time you register to the taking of the courses, and also the overall system, it is very important for you to find the program’s interface convenient to use.

2. Audio/Video Quality

Audio/Video is a highly critical aspect of video conference and meeting apps, hence you should pick the one that offers clear sound and video services. Video conferencing software like Zoom can be problematic and incompatible with your device, so it is a good idea to consider its competitors who have better features to offer you.

3. Meeting restriction

Most of the apps have a meeting time restriction, usually around 40 to 60 minutes for free and their basic packages. Certain software has meeting minutes limits up to 24 hours and even unlimited as well, in their premium and enterprise tier packages. We have collected different packages for different sets of needs of individuals and businesses. Evaluate your needs and requirements and pick the one that best fits you.

4. Security and Integration Features

Security, sharing, meeting tools, integration, and other tools are an important part of the decision-making for virtual meeting software. Hence, a keen detailed focus should be there to determine your needs and preference and then the market product should be evaluated based on that along with your budget constraint to make the most informed and efficient decision.

 

A Final Word on Alternatives to Zoom

Zoom is a great video conferencing app, but if you don’t want to or can’t use it for one reason or another, there are plenty of other great apps available.

When trying to find the best Zoom alternatives for your needs, keep primary features and decider points in mind. It’s also a good idea to try a free trial of a bunch of these apps if you want to, so you can experience each alternative and see what suits you.

Have any questions about these Zoom alternatives and video conferencing services? Leave a comment and we’ll do our best to help you out.