10 Best Alternatives to Zoom Meetings

   Zoom has quickly become a popular option for conferencing — but it has never been the first choice or even the best choice for everyone. During the 2020-2022 COVID era, a lot of people were introduced to various online communication tools and services. Among those, many people had the chance to use Zoom via their job interviews, remote meetings, and even virtual classrooms. However, it was quickly learned by users that Zoom was not the service that fit their personal or organization use, in terms of balancing its features to its value.

Luckily for us, online audio and video communication solutions have existed decades before Zoom, uncovering strong competitors that may better fit your needs in terms of quality, features, and price. So if you’ve been looking for Zoom alternatives, you’ve come to the right place. This article offers 10 of the best alternatives to Zoom in 2023 to help you find a better meeting solution.

Here are 10 best alternatives to Zoom Meetings:

1. FreeConferenceCall.com
2. Huddle.Team
3. Cisco WebEx
4. Microsoft Teams
5. Google Meet
6. Discord
7. Skype
8. GoToMeeting
9. BlueJeans
10. TeamViewer

1. FreeConferenceCall.com, the smart alternative to Zoom 

FreeConferenceCall is considered one of the best alternatives to Zoom Meetings, having connected 2% of the world’s population at one point in time. It offers cutting-edge conferencing software that’s comparable to top brands, all at a price that its community can appreciate: it’s both free and affordable.

For starters, FreeConferenceCall allows hosts to hold conferences with up to 1,000 participants, which is 900 more people you can connect with than Zoom’s most basic package, which starts at $15.99 per month.

FreeConferenceCall has everything users would need when looking for a conferencing platform: high-definition audio and video, screen sharing, virtual backgrounds, messaging, file-sharing, and a mission its community can stand behind. It has a 4.5 out of 5 rating on iOS devices and a 4.1 out of 5 rating on Google Play. The starting price? Free.

The organization operates off the good will of its community, whose voluntary subscriptions help to support the communication needs of charities, schools, and nonprofits. FreeConferenceCall.com has recently implemented FCC Pro, which adds on customization features and access code usability for only a $8 monthly rate.

As an added benefit for FreeConferenceCall users, each account comes with a free virtual phone at no cost, allowing users to make and take calls over a Wi-Fi connection.

Pros:

• Robust conferencing with up to 1,000 participants
• Best-in-class audio and video calling software
• Available across mobile and desktop devices, including the web browser

Cons:

• No team management control

2. Huddle.team, best for small to mid-size teams

Huddle.Team is FreeConferenceCall’s communication solution for medium to enterprise-size businesses. Huddle makes it easy to instantly host conversations with colleagues, share data, and stay in communication using an all-in-one device.

Built on the same conferencing service as FreeConferenceCall, the major difference Huddle boasts over FreeConferenceCall is its ability to manage teams easily. Those with a Huddle.Team account can control their entire team’s communication under one administrator, making it easy to manage and monitor even a complex organization.

Do you need to give your sales team virtual phones but want to restrict your development team to online web conferencing? You can easily configure and allow permissions from a central hub with Huddle.

Pros:

• Business-focused conferencing service
• Powerful team communication and management tools
• Easy-to-use modern design
• Virtual phone included
• Customizable access settings based on permissions

Cons:

• Best suited for medium-to-large enterprises

3. Cisco WebEx

Cisco WebEx has been around for ages, making it one of the original producers of online conferences.

While it’s amazing software, its prices are very high. Cisco WebEx’s pricing makes it hard for small-to-medium sized businesses and entrepreneurs to choose this option over other solutions.

Since its dominance in the early 2000s, many competitors have shaken up the conferencing with much more affordable high-quality video and audio calling services. WebEx is still a great choice for conferencing, but it can be pricey when compared with other options.

Pros:

• Been around for a long time
• Great for enterprises and large businesses with over 1,000 employees

Cons:

• Expensive
• No longer the most robust conferencing option on the market

4. Microsoft Teams

Another popular option: Microsoft Teams is among the most widely used conferencing and calling services.

Microsoft Teams offers a free option for light-weight users looking for a quick solution to conferencing. For more calling power, users can pay $4 a month for unlimited group meetings for up to 30 hours of conferencing time and expand their participant limit from 100 to 300.

Their business standard account, starting at $12.50, adds the suite of Microsoft Office tools to the conferencing package — including Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Microsoft Teams is a great choice for organizations or individuals that want to keep all their tools under one digital roof.

Pros:

• Very popular option among businesses
• Offers online office tools in addition to communication tools

Cons:

• Not as robust as other conferencing services
• Pricing focused on promoting other Microsoft services

5. Google Meet

Google Meet is a great option for people already using the Google Suite toolkit. If you’re a fan of an all-in-one service that offers everything from word processing to web browsing and search, the Google Meet option for video calls and online communication is a good choice.

Google Meet makes it extremely easy to instantly host a call over the web. The platform also offers mobile apps that make taking your conferences on the go easy. One drawback to Google Meet is its finicky service and not-too-easy user interface. 

Pros:

• Great option for instant conferences over the web
• Supports video and calling options
• Tools like screen sharing and file sharing available

Cons:

• One-hour meeting limit
• Clunky
• The user interface needs a bit of getting used to

6. Discord

While not a mainstream choice for most businesses, Discord is used all around the world for hosting group forums and centralizing community conversations. The people who use Discord include gaming groups, book clubs, investing groups, private organizations, and much more.

Discord comes with some of the most beautifully designed communication software around. The user interface is easy and fun to use and offers several communication features like screen sharing, live streaming, and shared activities.

In addition to these functions, individual Discord participants have a large amount of flexibility in controlling notification frequency and sound for both themselves and individual speakers.

Some would argue that what makes Discord better than Zoom is its ability to host text-based conversations alongside video calls. One downside to this platform is the need to download the mobile or desktop app. The web browser experience leaves much to be desired, so if you’re OK with downloading an app, Discord can be a good communication companion.

Pros:

• Free
• Fun and easy to use
• Great for hobbyists
• Leading innovator in gaming and hobby communication

Cons:

• Not professional enough for business meetings

7. Skype

Skype is a widely popular communication platform that lets users make voice and video calls, share screens and files, and send messages to people all over the world. It’s available on a number of platforms (Windows, Mac, iOS, etc.) and can be integrated with other Microsoft products like Microsoft Teams and Outlook.

The best part is that most of Skype’s features are free.

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• Cost-effective
• Seamless Microsoft products integration

Cons:

• Sometimes choppy video and audio streams

8. GoToMeeting

GoToMeeting is an excellent web-based platform for meetings, screen sharing, webinars, and more. It can be integrated with other tools like Slack, Salesforce, and Microsoft teams and is available on iOS and Android devices.

This Zoom alternative provides a number of subscription options. For example, the software’s business plan of $16 per month allows for meeting sizes of up to 150 attendees.

Pros:

• Screen sharing
• Collaborative tools
• Annotating shared content in real-time

Cons:

• Limited customization

9. BlueJeans

BlueJeans is a webcasting and video conferencing platform that helps businesses to effectively hold meetings, webinars, and presentations. It comes with a mobile app for iOS and Android devices and can be integrated with other collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams, Slack, and more.

Pros:

• Live streaming
• Screen sharing
• Affordable option (Plans start at $10 per month)

Cons:

• Technical issues like glitches and freezes

10. TeamViewer

TeamViewer allows participants to hold cross-platform teleconferences and video conference calls. Up to 100 people can join a video or teleconference depending on your subscription.

TeamViewer is available on several platforms, including Mac, Windows, Android, Linux, and iOS.

Pros:

• Remote access capabilities
• High-quality screen sharing

Cons:

• Software can be slow and laggy
• Updated UI can be confusing

FAQs About Alternatives to Zoom

What is the best alternative to Zoom?

The best alternative to Zoom is FreeConferenceCall.com. This free audio and video calling platform can hold conferences for up to 1,000 people, which is 900 more attendees/meeting than Zoom’s starting paid package of $15/month and 700 more attendees/meeting than Zoom’s Business Plus package of $25/month.

Is there a free alternative to Zoom?

Yes, there are free alternatives to Zoom. For example, FreeConferenceCall is a great option for those looking for high-quality screen sharing, audio and video calling, virtual backgrounds, and more. Learn more about the software above.

Why wait? Create your FreeConferenceCall account today!