Zoom Alternatives Worth Your Consideration

Zoom has risen to the top as one of the most used video call apps as the coronavirus has spread around the globe. And for good reason.

Zoom is cross-platform, free, and easy to set up calls for businesses and well as individuals. However, it has some serious security and privacy flaws. These are being worked on, but with even the FBI involved, some people are understandably nervous about using it.

For those looking for some good Zoom alternatives here is a look at some of the best of them.

FaceTime

FaceTime offers a great experience and full , very secure end-to-end encryption but unfortunately, it’s limited to Apple devices.

So while FaceTime is a preferred option for small group calls between all Apple users, it can’t deliver as a viable solution for business calls or even larger calls between friends and family.

However, as a more intimate way to check in with team members individually if you are both iOS users this can be a great way for managers to stay in touch on a personal level, something that is important right now, for both productivity and employee motivation.

Skype & Microsoft Teams

If you’re looking for a solid alternative to for calls up to 50 people, Skype is a nice cross-platform option. It’s free, has a much better track record than Zoom for security and privacy, and is owned by Microsoft.

Skype also allows for screen sharing and other handy features like screen recording. You can find download links for pretty much any device here.

If you need a more business-focused solution that integrates more than just chat, Microsoft Teams is a viable option.

Here you’ll get chat, video calls, and integration of Microsoft’s other software products to collaborate. Naturally, this is most conducive for businesses who are already using other Microsoft software products like Office 365.

Microsoft Teams starts from $5/month per user. Check out more details on Microsoft’s website.

Google Hangouts Meet

If you’re a business that’s invested in Google’s software, Hangouts Meet is the alternative to Zoom or Microsoft Teams you’ll want to check out.

Notably, Google made a change due to the global pandemic that gives all G Suite users the premium version of Hangouts Meet for free:

Starting this week, we will begin rolling out free access to our advanced Hangouts Meet video-conferencing capabilities to all G Suite and G Suite for Education customers globally including:

  • Larger meetings, for up to 250 participants per call
  • Live streaming for up to 100,000 viewers within a domain
  • The ability to record meetings and save them to Google Drive

Outside the free temporary upgrade, Hangouts Meet for businesses and organization is including with G Suite plans which run from $6/month per user.

Cisco Webex, TeamViewer, GoToMeeting, open-sourced Jitsi, and More

These options would be more comparable to Zoom as they are independent of software suites from Google or Microsoft.

Cisco Webex and TeamViewer offer free personal accounts, while GoToMeeting just offers paid plans for businesses.

Notably, Cisco Webex just upgraded its free tier and is doing two more deals for paid plans:

  • Upgraded Free plan
  • First month free when you sign up for a paid monthly plan
  • Four months free when purchasing an annual plan

More options

Some other options from smaller developers that could be worth checking out include:

Have another good Zoom alternative that we didn’t mention? Let us know about it in the comments, we are also looking to learn!