The 8 best Zoom alternatives in 2025

Video meetings via Zoom used to be the norm—at least, they were for me. Then I started teaching virtually at my local college and learned that wasn’t the case for everyone. Turns out, Zoom doesn’t check every box for every team. 

Depending on what you need from your video conferencing software—for example, robust chat capabilities, AI-powered features, or high-quality video—there are plenty of Zoom alternatives on the market.

We’ve spent a lot of time testing video call apps at Zapier, and based on that experience—and making sure we have something for everyone—here are the best Zoom alternatives to host your next video call. 

The 8 best Zoom alternatives

Why do you need a Zoom alternative?

Zoom makes it easy to connect with anyone from anywhere, so why the need for an alternative? 

For one, depending on the primary apps you use or the community you want to connect with, Zoom may not be the best option to host video calls. For example, Discord is a better platform for gamers who want to hang out with other gaming enthusiasts. 

For another, Zoom’s had its fair share of security concerns. And while it’s come a long way since the early days of Zoombombing and data sharing snafus, it’s still worth exploring alternatives to Zoom…just in case. 

What makes the best Zoom alternative?

There are plenty of consumer-facing video chat apps on the market—for example, Apple’s FaceTime or WhatsApp’s video calls—but they don’t come close to rivaling Zoom for everyday business needs. 

Instead, the best Zoom competitors: 

• Deliver high-definition video and audio consistently. If a web conferencing platform has one job, this is it. 

• Make it easy to initiate, plan, and participate in meetings. Ideally, meetings can be quickly scheduled and added to your calendar, complete with one-click links to join the call.  

• Simplify the process of adding people outside your team. Participants should be able to click a link to join your meeting with little added fuss. But there should also be security features to prevent uninvited guests from attending.  

• Provide video recording capabilities. Recording a meeting should be as straightforward as clicking a button in your video conferencing app. 

• Incorporate collaboration tools. At this point, screen sharing and chat functions are a given. The best Zoom alternatives offer advanced features like whiteboarding and collaboration tools. 

To understand how these capabilities in Zoom alternatives stacked up, I relied on my own experiences, along with the experiences of the Zapier team as they tested them for other articles (or, you know, for fun).

The best Zoom alternatives at a glance

Zoom alternative for excellent video quality

Webex Meetings (iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Web)

Webex Meetings pros:

• Delivers consistently reliable, high-quality video and audio

• Advanced collaboration tools, including a whiteboard and document markup

Webex Meetings cons:

• Free plan has limited access to practical features like closed captions, post-meeting transcripts, and phone dial-in

• Some users have reported stability issues

If you tried Webex Meetings a couple of years ago, it’s worth another go. It’s been completely overhauled, and it’s now easily one of the best Zoom alternatives out there. 

Immediately after you join a meeting, the video quality is obvious: everyone looks and sounds better on this platform—both in terms of image and sound quality, and in terms of stability. 

Webex’s revamp also includes some noteworthy collaborative tools. There’s a whiteboard, complete with sticky notes, text and drawing tools, and a “magic pen” that automatically tidies up roughly-drawn shapes. You can even share a document and annotate the file in place—all without sharing your screen. All these tools make Webex a clear solution for teams that use video chats to brainstorm remotely. 

On any paid plan, Webex also offers an AI assistant that can generate real-time translations in over 100 languages (same as Zoom), turn your camera off when you walk away, and summarize what you missed when you return. 

You can also use Zapier to connect Webex to your other apps, so you can automatically do things like add meetings to your calendar and get reminders in your team chat app when a meeting’s about to start. Here are some premade workflows to get started.

Webex pricing: Free plan includes 40-minute meetings with up to 100 people and basic features like screen sharing and local video recordings; from $12/license/month (billed annually) for Webex Starter, which includes longer meetings with more attendees and AI features.

Zoom alternative for Google Workspace users

Google Meet (iOS, Android, Web)

Google Meet pros:

• Deep integration with Google Workspace apps

• Closed captioning, recording, and live transcription are available and easily accessible

Google Meet cons:

Google Meet is a popular free Zoom alternative, especially for smaller groups and individuals who need a user-friendly conferencing solution. And if your company is already paying for Google Workspace, it’s essentially free. 

Meet seamlessly integrates with other Google apps, making it easy to do things like schedule meetings with a Google Meet link in Google Calendar and share files stored in Google Drive directly from a Meet call. You can start a call directly from your Gmail inbox. There’s also the Chrome integration, which includes a tab-sharing feature that’s great for media sharing (it’s not compatible with other browsers, though).

Google Meet also does live captions better than Zoom. The captions work fairly well in English, though it can’t detect when other languages are spoken on a call. It’s worth mentioning that this feature will be available exclusively to Gemini for Workspace users.

Another catch: in our experience, Meet isn’t as good as Zoom at downgrading calls when the internet connection slows. But you can work around this by switching participants to view-only mode. 

When you use Zapier to connect Google Meet to your most commonly used apps, you can automatically schedule calls and share meeting recordings. Learn more about how to automate Google Meet, or get started with one of these premade workflows.  

Google Meet pricing: Free for 1-hour meetings with up to 100 participants; from $6/month/user (billed annually) as part of Google Workspace Business Starter. Gemini for Workspace add-on starts at $24/user/month.

Zoom alternative for Microsoft 365 users

Microsoft Teams (iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux, Web)

Microsoft Teams pros:

Microsoft Teams cons:

If your organization is already paying for a Microsoft 365 Business account, Teams comes as part of the package, making it an easy Zoom alternative to go for. 

Teams offers the same video conferencing features you’d expect in Zoom alternatives, including whiteboards and a basic doodle-fixer, which makes it easy to take notes and diagram things on the fly. 

There are plenty of other collaboration features on deck, too. The chat from the meeting, for example, is saved in your team chat app for future reference. There’s a built-in feature for meeting notes, which are also shared with the team after the meeting. And if you opt for the Copilot add-on, you can use the AI meeting assistant to transcribe meetings, summarize what’s been said, and get AI-generated insights.

Inviting people outside of your organization to a Teams meeting? It’s easy to do, though not as seamless as Zoom. But expect a few hiccups if someone doesn’t already have the app installed. 

You can do even more with Teams by connecting it to Zapier. For example, you can get notifications in Teams whenever your team has a new lead, a new event registration, or a new deal. Learn more about how to automate Teams, or get started with one of these pre-built workflows.

Microsoft Teams pricing: Starts at $4/user/month (billed annually) for just Teams; from $6/user/month for Microsoft 365 Business Basic, which includes Teams. Copilot Pro starts at an additional $20/user/month. 

Zoom alternative for impromptu meetings within team chat 

Slack 

Slack pros:

Slack cons:

Slack is a good Zoom alternative if your meetings are smaller and more casual. Slack huddles—which originally worked only for audio—offer video chat capabilities, along with multi-user screen sharing and chat threads for each huddle. In one click, you can go from a chat to a quick audio or video call—no fuss.

The integrated chat threads are especially useful: threads are automatically published to the channel where the huddle takes place, making it easier for those who didn’t attend the meeting to see what was discussed.

You can start a huddle, ping your colleagues to jump in whenever they’re ready, and continue going about your workday; while you’re waiting, you’ll be treated to smooth jazz hold music. 

Huddles isn’t a full-on competitor to Zoom, but if you want to host an informal video or audio-only call, it does the trick. And when you do need a more traditional video meeting, you can integrate Zoom with Slack, giving you the best of both worlds. 

You can do more with Slack by connecting it with your favorite apps through Zapier. You can create automated workflows that let you know when a calendar event is about to start, add saved Slack messages to your to-do list automatically, and more. Learn more about how to automate Slack, or try one of these pre-built workflows.

Slack pricing: Free plan includes 1-on-1 huddles within your team; paid plans from $7.25/user/month (billed annually) include team huddles, and screen sharing and recording. 

Zoom alternative for screen sharing 

CoScreen (Mac, Windows)

CoScreen pros:

CoScreen cons:

Perhaps all you really need from your video conferencing app is the ability to share your screen so you and your teammates can collaborate remotely. CoScreen was built exactly for this purpose, which is also why it made Zapier’s list of the best screen sharing apps.

Available only as a desktop app, CoScreen is super lightweight and simple. When you start or join a session, you can choose to turn on voice calls, video conferencing, both, or neither. You can opt to share your entire screen or choose from multiple displays. Hover over any window or app on your screen, and a yellow Share button appears—click it once, and you’re in business. 

Unlike Zoom, multiple users can screen share at the same time, and the whole team can co-control shared apps and windows, making it the perfect app to collaborate in, especially for things like debugging, coding training, and app development. 

CoScreen pricing: Free to sign up and use with up to 10 participants at a time; from $20/user/month for Enterprise, which includes team accounts, single sign-on, and early access to new features.

A lightweight Zoom alternative

Jitsi (Web, iOS, Android)

Jitsi pros:

• Free and open source

• Good video quality

Jitsi cons:

If you want to create a frictionless, no-frills meeting experience for attendees, Jitsi will do the trick. Create an account, generate a link, and share the link with everyone you want on the call. You can also schedule a meeting in advance. 

The video quality is good, not great, and you can’t expect advanced features like transcriptions or AI integrations. There are a few nice touches, though: a GIF search feature not only adds the GIF to the chat but also briefly replaces your video feed with the GIF, which makes for some chaotic fun. There’s also screen sharing and polling built in, so you have the basics of any good video conferencing app covered. 

Jitsi is open source, which means you can install the code on your own server—a big deal for security- and privacy-conscious companies. It also means that there are lots of integrations available, and you can do things like embed Jitsi on your own website or any app you’re building. Most people won’t care about that, granted, but it’s nice to know. 

Jitsi pricing: Free

Zoom alternative for inexpensive cloud storage

GoTo Meeting (iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Web)

GoTo Meeting pros:

GoTo Meeting cons:

GoTo Meeting offers a lot of the same video conferencing features as Zoom, like chat, Q&A, an AI meeting assistant, and security controls. But when you compare apples to apples, Zoom outperforms GoTo Meeting in every category. Because of that, it wouldn’t have made this list except for one key feature: cloud storage. 

Users on at least a Business plan get access to unlimited cloud storage (though the limits of common sense apply since the team monitors cloud storage use). Compared to Zoom, GoTo Meeting gives you the best bang for your buck on this front. It’s worth mentioning that recordings are available for only 365 days, so be sure to download the most important ones before they disappear.

GoTo Meeting offers a good range of native integrations. For example, you can start a meeting right from Slack. But you can’t actually interact with any of these apps directly during the call. 

When you connect GoTo Meeting with Zapier, you can automate those repetitive pre- and post-meeting workflows. Here are a few ideas to get you started. 

GoTo Meeting pricing: Free plan includes 40-minute meetings with up to 3 participants; from $16/month/user (billed annually) for the Business plan, which includes up to 250 participants, unlimited cloud recording, and Smart Meeting Assistant. 

Zoom alternative to build a community

Discord (iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux, Web)

Discord pros:

Discord cons:

Originally designed as an audio chat app for gamers, Discord has evolved to also host video calls and screen sharing, making it a solid Zoom alternative—particularly for team-building activities like co-working or brainstorming sessions. We’ve found that it generally has better audio and video quality than Slack, which is why it made this list.

Keep in mind that direct messages in the app aren’t server-specific, which means that employees who leave will still have access to DMs with their team members. Another downside: you can’t upload videos or large photos—anything over 10 MB if you’re on the free plan—directly to the platform. Instead, you have to link to these files on other services. And then there’s Discord’s tendency to go down more often than other chat apps. This is anecdotal, for sure, but it’s still something to keep in mind.

If you do choose to use Discord, you can connect it with Zapier, so you can automate things like getting alerts when a meeting is about to start or when a new task has been added to your project management tool. Learn more about how to automate your Discord server, or get started with one of these workflows. 

Discord pricing: Free to use; $3-10/month (billed monthly) for the Nitro plan, which includes higher-quality screen sharing, larger file uploads, and more emoji.

Other Zoom alternatives

There are plenty of Zoom alternatives on the market—more than we could possibly list here. But that doesn’t mean they don’t all have unique features to bring to the table. If none of the apps listed above quite satisfy your must-haves, here are some other options you can explore.

Find the right Zoom alternative for you

Communication is at the core of every business, but you can’t communicate effectively without the right tools—or if meeting participants keep dropping off. 

And what’s “right” will vary depending on things like the size of your team and what kind of content you need to share. Zoom is slowly becoming more than just a video conferencing app. With the release of features like Docs, Email, and Team Chat, it’s evolving into more of an all-in-one workspace app. So what constitutes a Zoom alternative will likely continue to shift.

Your best bet to finding the right Zoom alternative is to test a few from this list—most offer free plans—and pick the one that meets your needs. 

Related reading:

This article was originally published in August 2023. The most recent update was in January 2025.