Visibility in this ranking can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within the
shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review. The largest vendors in video conferencing software
cannot hold places 1 to 3. Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category,
wherever the category has them; the established names follow from place 4 in their ranked order. How it works: placement disclosure ·
editorial process.
The 14 tools, reviewed
#1 Zoho Meeting
Low-cost meetings and webinars from the Zoho suite · India · zoho.com
Low cost Meetings and webinars Zoho ecosystem
Zoho Meeting covers both meetings and webinars at prices well below Zoom's, with browser joining for guests, recordings, dial-in numbers, registration pages for webinars and integration with Zoho CRM, Zoho Calendar and other Zoho tools.
- Pricing: Per host / month. Per-host monthly plans for meetings and for webinars, priced low, with a free plan allowing up to 100 participants for up to 60 minutes. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Budget-conscious SMBs, Zoho users
- Strengths: Browser joining; Webinar mode with registration; Recording.
Where it falls short
The interface is functional rather than polished, and call quality under poor bandwidth is a step behind Zoom's. Third-party integrations outside the Zoho world are fewer.
Wrong for
Companies that need maximum reliability for large client-facing events, or that run on Microsoft 365, will be better served by Zoom or Teams.
Visit Zoho Meeting →
#2 Whereby
Browser-based meeting rooms with permanent links · Norway · whereby.com
Browser-only No guest account European vendor
Whereby is the least intimidating product in this list for the person on the other end of the call. A host has a permanent room address, a guest clicks it and is in the call from a browser tab, with no download, no account and few prompts.
- Pricing: Per host / month. Per-host monthly plans for meetings with a limited free tier, and separate usage-based pricing for the Whereby Embedded API. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Client-facing small businesses
- Strengths: Permanent room links; Browser joining with no install; Screen sharing.
Where it falls short
Meeting sizes and features are modest compared with Zoom or Teams: no large webinar mode, lighter admin controls, and fewer integrations. AI features trail the majors.
Wrong for
Companies needing large webinars, room systems, phone dial-in or deep Microsoft integration should use Zoom or Teams.
Visit Whereby →
#3 Jitsi Meet
Open source video meetings you can self-host · United States · jitsi.org
Open source Self-hostable Free public service
Jitsi Meet is the most widely used open source video conferencing software, and its code is maintained by the team at 8x8.
- Pricing: Open source + paid hosting. Free and open source for self-hosting. Free plan: open source.
- Best for: Privacy-minded and technical teams
- Strengths: Browser joining; Self-hosted deployment; End-to-end encryption option.
Where it falls short
Self-hosting requires real technical skill, especially for recording, larger meetings and users behind strict firewalls. The public service has fewer admin controls and asks the person starting a meeting to sign in.
Wrong for
Companies without technical staff to run servers, or needing webinars, admin reporting and support contracts, should look at Whereby, Zoho Meeting or their suite's tool.
Visit Jitsi Meet →
#4 Zoom
Market-leading meetings platform grown into a work suite · United States · zoom.com
Market leader Reliable quality Add-on pricing
Zoom became the default for video meetings during 2020 and remains the product most outsiders expect when they receive an invitation. Call quality under poor network conditions is excellent, large meetings are dependable, and the webinar, events and room products are mature.
- Pricing: Per user / month. Per user per month on published tiers, with a free plan capped at 40 minutes per meeting. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: External-facing teams of any size
- Strengths: HD meetings; Webinars and events; Zoom Rooms.
Where it falls short
Costs grow through add-ons for webinars, large meetings, cloud storage and rooms. The desktop app is heavy and pushes guests toward installing it.
Wrong for
Companies deep in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, whose meetings are mainly internal, will usually find a second paid platform hard to justify.
Visit Zoom →
#5 Microsoft Teams
Meetings, chat and calling inside Microsoft 365 · United States · microsoft.com
Microsoft 365 native Chat and calls Enterprise controls
For a company on Microsoft 365, Teams is where meetings belong: calendar integration with Outlook, recordings saved to OneDrive and SharePoint, retention and compliance policies set centrally, and phone calling through Teams Phone. It combines meetings with persistent chat and file collaboration in a way no standalone product matches.
- Pricing: Per user / month. Included in many Microsoft 365 business plans or sold as Teams Essentials per user per month. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Microsoft 365 organizations
- Strengths: Meetings and webinars; Persistent team chat; SharePoint and OneDrive files.
Where it falls short
The client is resource-hungry and can be confusing for occasional users. External guests often struggle with sign-in prompts and browser limitations. Admin settings are spread across several consoles.
Wrong for
Companies not on Microsoft 365, or those meeting mainly with outside guests who find Teams awkward, should look at Zoom, Google Meet or Whereby.
Visit Microsoft Teams →
#6 Google Meet
Browser-based meetings built into Google Workspace · United States · workspace.google.com
Browser-native Workspace included Simple
Google Meet runs entirely in the browser, which makes joining straightforward for guests, and it integrates with Google Calendar and Gmail so smoothly that meetings require almost no thought. Recordings land in Google Drive, live captions are good, and Gemini can take notes on eligible Workspace plans.
- Pricing: Per user / month. Included in Google Workspace plans priced per user per month. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Google Workspace organizations
- Strengths: Browser joining; Calendar and Gmail integration; Recording to Drive.
Where it falls short
Features for large events, webinars and complex meetings are thinner than Zoom's or Teams'. Recording, larger meeting sizes and some features require higher Workspace tiers.
Wrong for
Companies running regular large webinars, or organizations standardized on Microsoft 365, should pick Zoom or Teams; Meet is at its best inside Workspace.
Visit Google Meet →
#7 Cisco Webex
Enterprise meetings, calling and room devices from Cisco · United States · webex.com
Enterprise security Room devices Calling integration
Webex is a long-established enterprise meeting platform with some of the best meeting-room hardware available, strong security and compliance credentials, including editions for government customers, and tight integration with Cisco's calling products. Audio processing, noise removal and the AI Assistant are strong.
- Pricing: Per user / month. A free plan with 40-minute meetings for up to 100 attendees is listed. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Enterprises and regulated sectors
- Strengths: Meetings and webinars; Webex Calling; Cisco room devices.
Where it falls short
For small businesses it offers little advantage over Zoom or the suite-bundled tools, and its interface and admin console carry enterprise complexity. Guest familiarity is lower than Zoom's.
Wrong for
Small and mid-sized companies without Cisco infrastructure will usually be better off with Zoom, Teams or Meet.
Visit Cisco Webex →
#8 GoTo Meeting
Veteran meetings product from GoTo · United States · goto.com
Veteran product GoTo ecosystem Stable
GoTo Meeting was one of the first widely used business meeting products and remains stable and straightforward, with good dial-in coverage, recordings and transcripts. For companies already using GoTo Connect for phones or GoTo Webinar for events, keeping meetings in the same account simplifies billing and administration.
- Pricing: Per organizer / month. Per organizer per month on published tiers, with a free trial; webinar and phone products are sold separately. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Existing GoTo customers
- Strengths: HD meetings; Browser joining; Dial-in numbers.
Where it falls short
Innovation has slowed compared with Zoom, Microsoft and Google, and it lacks the chat, file and AI depth of the suites. There is no free plan, only a trial.
Wrong for
New buyers without GoTo products have few reasons to choose it over Zoom or their productivity suite's tool; budget buyers should compare Zoho Meeting.
Visit GoTo Meeting →
#9 Pexip
Secure video platform and room interoperability service · Norway · pexip.com
Self-hostable Interoperability Security focus
Pexip fills two gaps the big platforms leave. Its Infinity platform runs on an organization's own servers or private cloud, including air-gapped networks, which is why defense, government and healthcare bodies use it for sensitive meetings.
- Pricing: Per room / month + quote. Pexip Connect Premium room interoperability is sold online at a published per-room price billed annually. Free plan: none.
- Best for: Government, defense, healthcare
- Strengths: Self-hosted Pexip Infinity; Teams Rooms interoperability; Google Meet interoperability.
Where it falls short
Apart from the per-room Connect licenses, it is not a self-serve product: the secure meeting platform is priced by quote, deployment needs technical expertise or a partner, and small companies will find it excessive.
Wrong for
Ordinary small businesses without strict security or room interoperability needs should use their suite's tool, Zoom, or Whereby instead.
Visit Pexip →
#10 Nextcloud Talk
Self-hosted chat and video inside Nextcloud · Germany · nextcloud.com
Open source Self-hosted European vendor
Nextcloud Talk adds chat, audio and video meetings to the Nextcloud collaboration suite, which many European public bodies, universities and firms run on their own servers to keep documents and communications under their control. Meetings, chat and file sharing live together, recordings stay on your infrastructure, and the software is open source.
- Pricing: Open source + paid support. Free open source software. Free plan: open source.
- Best for: Organizations requiring data sovereignty
- Strengths: Video and audio calls; Persistent chat; Screen sharing.
Where it falls short
Meetings beyond a handful of participants need the high-performance backend and good infrastructure, which usually means an enterprise subscription or a hosting partner. Call quality and polish trail the commercial leaders.
Wrong for
Companies without IT staff or an existing Nextcloud installation will find it demanding to run well.
Visit Nextcloud Talk →
#11 RingCentral Video
Video meetings bundled with RingCentral's cloud phone system · United States · ringcentral.com
Free long meetings Phone bundle UCaaS
RingCentral is a cloud phone company first, and its meetings are strongest as part of that bundle: one app for the office number, team chat and client calls, with a video session one click away from a phone conversation.
- Pricing: Per user / month. Free meetings users get 50-minute meetings for up to 100 participants. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Companies already on RingCentral phones
- Strengths: Browser join for guests; Free 100-person meetings; Team messaging.
Where it falls short
Bought on its own, it offers little that Google Meet or Zoom lacks, and the combined app can feel crowded to someone who only wants video.
Wrong for
Companies already paying for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace with no appetite for a new phone system.
Visit RingCentral Video →
#12 Dialpad Meetings
Browser-based meetings with live transcription · United States · dialpad.com
Live transcription Dial-in Phone bundle
Dialpad Meetings, formerly UberConference, keeps meetings plain: send a link, guests join in the browser, and a transcript builds while people talk, which Dialpad's own speech recognition turns into a recap with action items.
- Pricing: Per user / month. A free sign-up tier with limits on meeting length and participants. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Dialpad calling customers
- Strengths: Browser-based join; Live transcription; AI meeting recaps.
Where it falls short
The free tier limits meetings, so it works as a trial more than a plan.
Wrong for
Teams running training sessions, large all-hands or client webinars.
Visit Dialpad Meetings →
#13 BigBlueButton
Open source virtual classroom built for online teaching · Canada · bigbluebutton.org
Open source Virtual classroom LMS integration
BigBlueButton began at Carleton University in Ottawa in 2007 and remains a teaching tool rather than a meeting app.
- Pricing: Open source + paid hosting. Free to self-host under an open source license; managed hosting from its founders and from third-party providers is sold separately. Free plan: open source.
- Best for: Schools, universities and training providers
- Strengths: Multi-user whiteboard; Shared notes; Polls.
Where it falls short
Running it well takes a dedicated Linux server on a specific Ubuntu release, careful TURN configuration and plenty of disk for recordings, and upgrades between major versions are real work.
Wrong for
Companies that mostly hold client calls and internal stand-ups.
Visit BigBlueButton →
#14 Livestorm
Browser-based webinars and virtual events for marketing teams · France · livestorm.co
Webinar-first Browser-only Marketing integrations
Livestorm runs entirely in the browser and is built for companies using webinars as a marketing and customer education channel. Registration pages, reminder emails, polls, Q&A, replays and analytics are well developed, and on the Enterprise plan native HubSpot, Salesforce and Marketo integrations send attendee data where it is needed.
- Pricing: Attendee credits / year. Pay per attendee: the Pro plan sells a yearly pack of attendee credits (from about 2.50 euros per attendee, team members free), a limited free plan allows up to 30 attendees, and Enterprise is quoted. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Marketing teams running webinars
- Strengths: Registration pages; Automated email reminders; On-demand and replay webinars.
Where it falls short
Livestorm no longer lists a meetings product, so it cannot serve as a daily internal or client meeting tool, and pricing reflects its webinar focus: every external attendee uses a credit.
Wrong for
Companies that need only everyday internal and client meetings, with no webinar program, should use their suite's tool, Whereby or Zoho Meeting rather than a webinar platform.
Visit Livestorm →
Questions and answers
What is the best video conferencing software in 2026?
Zoho Meeting ranks first of 14, best for budget-conscious SMBs, Zoho users. Whereby is second (client-facing small businesses) and Jitsi Meet third (privacy-minded and technical teams). Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands, wherever the category has them.
Should we pay for Zoom if we already have Microsoft Teams?
Usually not for internal meetings.
Can guests join without installing anything?
With most products, yes, although the experience varies. Whereby, Jitsi Meet, Google Meet and Livestorm run fully in the browser and are designed that way.
Which option works best for telehealth or therapy sessions?
In the US, the key requirement is a signed business associate agreement under HIPAA, available from Zoom (on its healthcare plans), Microsoft, Google Workspace and several smaller vendors on appropriate plans. Patients benefit from browser-only joining with no account.
What replaced Skype for business calls?
Microsoft retired Skype in May 2025 and pointed users to Teams Free for personal use; Skype for Business had been retired earlier in favor of Microsoft Teams.
How long can meetings run on free plans?
Limits change often, so check the current terms.
Is a self-hosted video platform realistic for a small company?
It is possible but requires skills. Jitsi Meet and Nextcloud Talk can run on a rented server, and for small internal meetings a single well-sized machine works.
Do we need separate webinar software?
For occasional presentations to a few hundred people, the webinar modes in Zoom, Teams, Zoho Meeting and Webex are enough.
How good are AI meeting summaries, and are they safe to use?
The summaries are generally useful for internal meetings, catching decisions and action items reasonably well, but they miss nuance and occasionally attribute statements to the wrong person.
What matters most for meeting-room hardware?
Choose the platform first, then buy hardware certified for it: Microsoft Teams Rooms, Google Meet hardware, Zoom Rooms and Cisco devices each have certified camera and panel lists.
Which tools keep meeting data inside the EU?
The major vendors all offer some EU data residency options on business plans, with details that vary by product and data type. European-headquartered options include Whereby (Norway), Pexip (Norway), Nextcloud Talk (Germany) and Livestorm (France).
