For seven years, Zoom’s been a top pick for business talks.
This platform makes team collaboration and communication easier with messaging, video calls, and file sharing.
If Zoom isn’t the best fit for your organization, explore the best Zoom alternative platforms with similar or better features.
Check out this blog to discover free Zoom alternatives that are perfect for your team!
Table of Contents
How Does an Open Source Zoom Alternative Help You?
Why look for an alternative to Zoom? The best choice for you may not be Zoom. Zoom has had security issues, although it’s improved. Considering other options is a good idea. Also, Zoom has a time limit restriction in the free plan.
Is There a Free Alternative to Zoom?
Here is a list of the best free alternatives to Zoom.
Standout Feature | Available for | Pricing | |
Zoho Meetings | Live polls (share results with meeting folks) | Android, iOS, and Desktop | Free, Paid plan starts from $1/host/month |
Cisco Webex Meetings | AI can translate, caption, and transcribe languages | Android, iOS, and Desktop | Free, Paid plan starts from $14.50/month |
Bitrix24 | A phone feature that lets you call people anywhere in the world. | Android, iOS, and Desktop | Free, Paid plan starts from $49/month |
Microsoft Teams | The video is great, even in big calls. | Android, iOS, and Desktop | Free, Paid plan starts from $4/user/month |
Google Meet | Get 15 GB of free cloud storage per user. | Android, iOS, and Desktop | Free, Paid plan starts from $6/month |
Rocket.chat | You get both group and one-on-one video calls in a free plan. | Android, iOS, and Desktop | Free, Paid plan starts from $4/user/month |
Chanty | Teambook with conversations | Android, iOS, and Desktop | Free, Paid plan starts from $3/user/month |
GoTo | Lots of space in the cloud, and not much cost. | Android, iOS, and Desktop | Free, Paid plan starts from $1/user/month |
CoScreen | Several people can share their screens simultaneously. | Android, iOS, and Desktop | Free, Paid plan starts from $20/user/month |
Pumble | Video meetings in high-quality | Android, iOS, and Desktop | Free, Paid plan starts from $2.49/month |
Discord | Simple to start; totally free with all the needed features. | Android, iOS, and Desktop | Free, Paid plan starts from $2.99/month |
Time Limit of These 11 Platforms
- Zoho Meeting: 60 minutes
- Cisco Webex: Basic accounts, 40 minutes; others, 24 hours.
- Bitrix24: No limit
- Microsoft Teams: 24 hours
- Google Meet: 60 minutes
- Rocket.chat: No limit
- Chanty: no limit
- GoTo: 40 minutes (3 participants)
- CoScreen: No limit (10 participants)
- Pumble: No limit, depends on usage
- Discord: Voice channels unlimited, video calls capped at 5 hours.
Let’s discuss in depth such as their free and premium features, pros & cons, available devices, and pricing plans of these Zoom alternatives.
1. Zoho Meeting
Zoho Meeting is an excellent Zoom alternative for webinars and online meetings.
The interface looks clear and easy to use. On the sidebar of Zoho, you can see your past and upcoming meetings and webinars and also set up new ones easily.
Zoho Meeting lets you host unlimited meetings for up to 100 people, lasting 60 minutes, all for free!
The free version includes features like chat and notes with attachments, which stay accessible even after the meeting.
Paid plans add extras like recording, polls, longer meetings (up to 14 hours), and a meeting room.
With premium plans, host meetings for up to 250 participants, which is less than competitors like Microsoft Teams. Paid Webinars plans offer extras like 24-hour webinars, cloud storage for 25 recordings, and live streaming.
Pros and Cons
Pros | Cons |
Offers a free trial (14 days) | Limited third-party integration |
Simple sign-up process and user-friendly interface | Meeting participant capacity restricted (100 in free, 250 in paid versions) |
Standout Feature
- Live polls (share results with meeting folks)
Available for
- Desktop: Windows and Mac
- Mobile: Android and iOS
Pricing
- Free plan offered; Meeting plans start at $1/month per host, and Webinar plans start at $7.5/month per organizer.
2. Cisco Webex Meetings
Webex is another alternative to Zoom. It’s great for all kinds of organizations.
The free version has cool features like meeting recordings, breakout rooms, and video messaging. But, it doesn’t include cloud storage, which is a downside.
To get cloud storage (10 GB) for your recorded meetings, you need to upgrade the plan.
The Webex Suit, a paid meeting plan, offers:
- 24 hours long meeting
- 200 attendees
- Business phone number
- Unlimited long-distance calls
Pros and Cons
Pros | Cons |
High-quality audio and video | Complicated user interface |
10GB storage in the business plan | Pricey |
Allows meetings to last up to 24 hours |
Standout Feature
- AI can translate, caption, and transcribe languages
Available for
- Desktop: Windows and Mac
- Mobile: Android and iOS
Pricing
- You can use it for free, or pay $14.50/month/user for more features.
3. Bitrix24
Next, let’s talk about Bitrix24. It’s not just a CRM platform, but a whole system with tools for project management and communication.
Bitrix24 helps manage leads and boosts teamwork with features like chat, calls, website builder, workspace, calendar, and knowledge base.
You can host big meetings with 48 people for as long as you want.
However, getting started is easy, but the interface might confuse you at first. It took us a while to figure out how everything works, which might be because Bitrix24 offers a lot of features.
Pros and cons
Pros | Cons |
Extensive features | Pricey |
Free unlimited users | Complicated |
Standout Feature
- A phone feature that lets you call people anywhere in the world.
Available for
- Desktop: Windows and Mac
- Mobile: Android and iOS
Pricing
- Free option, paid ones from $49/month for everyone.
4. Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams has all the features you’d expect from video conferencing platforms, like chat, whiteboards, and doodle tools. Plus, it has fun extras like Together Mode. Microsoft is also working on Copilot.
Microsoft Teams is sold individually from Office now, but when you get both, Teams really stands out.
Like, it has this feature where it automatically shares meeting notes with everyone after the meeting. Plus, you can make meeting transcriptions and easily share them.
Inviting outsiders to a meeting? It’s doable, but not as smooth as Zoom. Just be ready for some bumps if they don’t have the application.
Pros and cons
Pros | Cons |
Office 365 integration | Bringing outsiders into your group isn’t as easy as with Zoom. |
Excellent video call | Complicated |
Standout Feature
- The video is great, even in big calls.
Available for
- Desktop: Windows and Mac
- Mobile: Android and iOS
Pricing
- Prices begin at $4 per user per month for Teams alone.
5. Google Meet
Since COVID-19 began, Google rolled out meeting options for everyone.
If we talk about Google Meet vs Zoom, Google Meet has a time limit similar to Zoom. This means you have free calls with up to 100 people for an hour. But if it’s just you and one other person, the call can go on for up to 24 hours.
You can hop into meetings via email invites, Gmail, or Google Calendar.
Plus, you can make meetings instantly or set them up for later in Google Calendar. The free plan lets you share screens, but only one at a time, which might slow down presenting all the key information.
After using Google Meet’s free version, we found the chat box handy for smooth meetings. You can chat without interrupting your presenter.
But remember, chats disappear after the meeting, so avoid sharing important stuff there.
However, if you don’t find these features valuable, you can consider Google Meet alternatives.
Pros and cons
Pros | Cons |
Visual effects | Lacks additional features |
User-friendly design | In-app whiteboard |
Excellent screen-sharing option | |
Data security is top-notch |
Standout Feature
- Get 15 GB of free cloud storage per user.
Available for
- Desktop: Windows and Mac
- Mobile: Android and iOS
Pricing
- There’s a free plan, and paid ones start at $6/user/month.
6. Rocket.chat
Rocket.chat is another Zoom alternative.
It’s a tool for team communication with features like private and public channels, video calls for groups or one-on-one, and the ability to message people who aren’t on Rocket.chat.
Rocket.chat tops in data protection, giving you full data control.
But, signing up is more complex and time-consuming than other Zoom alternative apps.
Pros and cons
Pros | Cons |
Visual effects | Lacks additional features |
User-friendly design | In-app whiteboard |
Excellent screen-sharing option | |
Data security is top-notch |
Standout Feature
- You get both group and one-on-one video calls in a free plan.
Available for
- Desktop: Windows and Mac
- Mobile: Android and iOS
Pricing
- Free, Paid plan starts from $4/user/month
7. Chanty
Chanty helps teams work together better by organizing tasks and projects in public and private channels. It’s easy to sign up with just your email and start using it on your web.
Trying out Chanty’s free version, we discovered the Teambook hub. It’s super handy, gathering shared links, files, and saved messages in one spot. Plus, it boosts search with a smarter search bar.
Pros and cons
Pros | Cons |
Unlimited chat history | Limited integrations |
Easy to use |
Standout Feature
- Teambook with conversations
Available for
- Desktop: Windows and Mac
- Mobile: Android and iOS
Pricing
- Free, Paid plan starts from $3/user/month
8. GoTo
While GoTo Meeting shares many video conferencing features such as Q&A, chat, and security controls, Zoom outshines it in every aspect when directly compared with this Zoom alternative.
The only reason it’s included on this list is its cloud storage feature.
Business plan users get unlimited storage, but there are some usage limits monitored by the team. GoTo Meeting offers better value than Zoom in this regard.
Pros and cons
Pros | Cons |
Offers simple recording with unlimited cloud storage at a reasonable price | App integrations are unavailable during calls |
Provides meeting transcription capability |
Standout Feature
- Lots of space in the cloud, and not much cost.
Available for
- Desktop: Windows and Mac
- Mobile: Android and iOS
Pricing
- The free, Paid plan starts from $1/user/month.
9. CoScreen
Maybe all you need in your video app is just screen-sharing for remote teamwork.
CoScreen is a lightweight desktop app. Join sessions, toggle voice calls and video, share your screen and collaborate effortlessly with a click.
This app lets many people share screens, control apps as a team, and work together on tasks like fixing bugs, teaching coding, and building apps.
Pros and cons
Pros | Cons |
Lightweight and easy to use | Hosts and participants must download their desktop app. |
Offers a generous plan |
Standout Feature
- Several people can share their screens simultaneously.
Available for
- Desktop: Windows and Mac
- Mobile: Android and iOS
Pricing
- Sign up for free, and join with 10 people max. For bigger teams, it’s $20 per user each month, with added perks like team accounts and early feature access.
10. Pumble
Pumble is a great Zoom alternative for teams to communicate and work together better.
It offers private and public channels, audio/video calls, direct messages, and voice/video messages to boost productivity.
If you are a remote employee using Pumble daily, then its interface is easy to use and organized. Unlike Zoom, Pumble has a file browser for quickly finding shared files.
You can quickly find everything you need, and you can get unlimited credentials to past files and messages for free!
Pros and cons
Pros | Cons |
The free version is generous | Limited integration |
Message history unlimited | |
No user limits | |
10 GB storage (free) | |
Simple start-up process |
Standout Feature
- Video meetings in high-quality
Available for
- Desktop: Windows and Mac
- Mobile: Android and iOS
Pricing
- Free, Paid plan starts from $2.49/month
11. Discord
Originally made for gamers to chat, and send Discord stickers, Discord now offers screen-sharing and video calls, serving as a Zoom alternative.
It’s great for team activities like brainstorming and co-working, with better video and audio quality than Slack.
Remember, in the software, direct messages aren’t tied to specific servers. So, when employees leave, they can still see their team chats.
You’ll have to link to them from other places. Also, Discord tends to have more downtime compared to different chat apps.
Pros and cons
Pros | Cons |
Simple setup | Occasional downtime |
Free access | File uploads restricted to 25 MB |
Standout Feature
- Simple to start; totally free with all the needed features.
Available for
- Desktop: Windows and Mac
- Mobile: Android and iOS
Pricing
- Discord is free, but Nitro Basic costs $2.99 per user per month, giving you larger file sharing (50 MB).
Other Free Zoom Alternative No Time Limit Platforms
There are other free alternatives to Zoom that do not have a time limit.
- Jitsi Meet: Free, open-source video calls for up to 100 people, no account needed.
- TrueConf Server Free: No-limit video calls for small groups, with screen-sharing and chat.
- FreeConference.com: Unlimited video calls, no time limits, for both one-on-one and groups.
- Koala Go: Free video calls with no limits, great for small teams.
- Messenger Rooms: Facebook’s no-limit video rooms are accessible via Facebook Messenger.
How to Pick the Best Zoom Alternative?
To pick the right Zoom alternative, figure out what matters most for the team. Think about:
- How you communicate,
- How big your team is, and
- How long your meetings usually are.
The Bottom Line
Good communication is essential for any business. But without suitable tools or if people keep dropping off meetings, it’s hard to communicate effectively.
To find the best Zoom alternative, try to consider this list, most have free plans. Choose the alternative that fits your team size and content-sharing needs best.
FAQs
What is the best alternative for Zoom?
Here are the 11 best Zoom alternatives:
Zoho Meetings
Cisco Webex Meetings
Bitrix24
Microsoft Teams
Google Meet
Rocket.chat
Chanty
GoTo
CoScreen
Pumble
Discord
Who is Zoom’s biggest competitor?
Google Meet is Zoom’s biggest competitor.
What is better than a Zoom meeting?
Google Meet is better than a Zoom meeting for its security, Google tools connection, easy use, big groups, captions, and recording. It has free and premium options for everyone’s needs.
Is Zoho better than Zoom?
Compare Zoho Meeting and Zoom Workplace based on real user reviews, focusing on features, user-friendliness, pricing, and customer service. Zoho Meeting has 820 reviews with a rating of 4.58/5, while Zoom Workplace has 13817 reviews with a rating of 4.64/5.