Zoom Alternatives for Video Meetings, Free and Paid

Zoom works fine, and most people looking for an alternative have hit one wall: the 40-minute limit. The Zoom pricing page still caps Basic at 40 minutes per meeting and 100 participants, and since July 2022 that cap applies to one-to-one calls as well. Removing it means Pro at $16.99 per user a month, or $14.16 billed yearly.

The picks below are sorted by how well they replace Zoom for a typical team or class. Some give you more free minutes. Others cost less per seat, run in a browser with no install, or can be hosted on your own server. If you are moving off Skype rather than Zoom, our Skype alternatives page covers calls to phone numbers too.

Prices below are as of November 6, 2026. Our method is on How we review tools.

Quick comparison

Google Meet

Google Meet is the closest like-for-like swap for anyone who books meetings in Google Calendar. Google Calendar can attach a Meet link to any invite, and guests join from a browser tab with nothing to install. On a free personal account, one-to-one calls on a computer run up to 24 hours and group calls run 60 minutes, per Meet Help.

Paid Meet comes with Google Workspace. Business Starter allows 100 participants but cannot save recordings to Drive. Standard raises that to 150 with recording, and Plus to 500.

Best for: Small companies and schools that already run on Gmail and Google Calendar.

Pricing:

• Free with a Google account: 100 participants, 60-minute group calls
• Workspace Business Starter: $7.00 per user a month yearly, $8.40 flexible
• Business Standard: $14.00 yearly, $16.80 flexible
• Business Plus: $22.00 yearly, $26.40 flexible

Watch out for:

• Free group meetings on a computer chime at 50 minutes and end at 60.
• Business Starter has no recording, so a team that records calls needs Standard at $14.00 a seat.

Official site: Google Meet.

Microsoft Teams

Teams wins on price per seat. Teams Essentials costs $4.00 per user a month paid yearly and allows meetings of up to 30 hours with 300 participants, per Microsoft's business plan comparison. That is less than a third of Zoom Pro's yearly rate.

The free version for home use mirrors Zoom Basic more closely: group meetings of up to 60 minutes, 100 participants and 5GB of storage per user, with one-to-one calls up to 30 hours. It is also where Skype users were sent when Skype closed in May 2025.

Best for: Companies that want long meetings at the lowest price per seat, or already pay for Microsoft 365.

Pricing:

• Teams Free: 60-minute group meetings, 100 participants, 5GB per user
• Teams Essentials: $4.00 per user a month, paid yearly
• Microsoft 365 Business Basic: $7.00 per user a month, paid yearly
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot: $23.50 per user a month, paid yearly

Watch out for:

• Paid prices are quoted on yearly commitments, with no monthly rate shown for Essentials.
• On Linux there is no native app. The Teams download page offers a progressive web app instead.

Official site: Microsoft Teams.

Webex

Webex is Cisco's meeting service. It fits companies that already use Cisco calling or meeting-room hardware and want video under the same vendor. The Enterprise plan allows up to 1,000 attendees in a meeting, ten times the free cap.

The free plan is a close copy of Zoom Basic. The Webex pricing page lists meetings of up to 40 minutes with up to 100 attendees at $0, so it gives no extra free time.

Best for: IT teams that already manage Cisco phones or room systems.

Pricing:

• Free: $0, meetings up to 40 minutes, up to 100 attendees
• Enterprise: up to 1,000 attendees, contact sales
• Other paid plans: price on request, see Webex's pricing page

Watch out for:

• Free meetings stop at 40 minutes, exactly like Zoom, so it does not solve the most common reason people leave.
• Enterprise pricing is on request, so a large rollout starts with a sales call.

Official site: Webex.

Jitsi Meet

Jitsi Meet is open source under the Apache 2.0 licence, and the public server at meet.jit.si is free with no time limit. The GitHub repository, with 30.2k stars, ships Debian packages and Docker images, so an IT team can run its own server and keep every call on its own hardware.

There are apps for iPhone and Android, and the web client works in current browsers. For companies that want Jitsi without running servers, the same team sells a hosted service called JaaS through 8x8.

Best for: Schools, nonprofits and privacy-minded teams that want free, self-hostable meetings.

Pricing:

• meet.jit.si: free, no time limit
• Self-hosting: free and open source (Apache 2.0)
• JaaS hosted service: sold separately by 8x8

Watch out for:

• Creating a room on meet.jit.si has required a Google, GitHub or Facebook login since August 24, 2023, as the Jitsi blog announced.
• The main repository ships no desktop app, so on a computer you use the browser.

Official site: Jitsi Meet. Our listing: Jitsi Meet.

Whereby

Whereby gives each host a permanent room link, like whereby.com/yourname. Guests open it in a browser and they are in, with no app and no meeting ID. That suits tutors and consultants who meet the same clients every week.

The Whereby pricing page puts Pro at $10.99 a month for one host, with no time limit, 3 room links, 100 attendees and unlimited recording. Business adds unlimited rooms and 200 attendees.

Best for: Solo professionals who want one fixed link that clients can open in any browser.

Pricing:

• Free: 1 host, 1 room, 4 attendees, meetings up to 30 minutes
• Pro: $10.99 a month for 1 host
• Business: $13.99 a month per host, minimum 3 hosts
• Prices in USD excluding VAT; yearly billing saves 17%

Watch out for:

• The free plan is tighter than Zoom's: 4 attendees and 30 minutes.
• Business needs at least 3 hosts, so a two-person firm pays for a seat it does not use.

Official site: Whereby.

Zoho Meeting

Zoho Meeting fits small firms already on other Zoho apps, because it runs under the same Zoho account. Its free plan beats Zoom's on time. The Zoho Meeting pricing page lists up to 60 minutes per meeting with up to 100 participants.

Paid Standard and Professional plans are charged per host, so a company pays for the people who run meetings, not for everyone who attends.

Best for: Small businesses already using Zoho CRM, Mail or Desk.

Pricing:

• Free: up to 60 minutes, up to 100 participants
• Standard and Professional: priced per host; paid plans save more than 15% on yearly billing, see Zoho's pricing page

Watch out for:

• The free plan still stops at 60 minutes, so long workshops need a paid plan.

Official site: Zoho Meeting.

WhatsApp

Plenty of Zoom accounts exist only for weekly family calls. WhatsApp does that job for free, and the WhatsApp calling page allows group calls of up to 32 people with no time limit. Calls are end-to-end encrypted, and the apps run on Android, iPhone, Windows, Mac and iPad.

Everyone already has the app on their phone, so there is no link to send and no account to set up for a grandparent.

Best for: Families and friend groups who used free Zoom for long personal calls.

Pricing:

• Free; mobile data charges may apply

Watch out for:

• 32 people is the ceiling, far below Zoom's 100, and there are no webinars or breakout rooms.
• Every caller needs a WhatsApp account tied to a phone number.

Official site: WhatsApp. Our listing: WhatsApp.

How to choose

When to stay with Zoom

Stay on Zoom if you run large webinars, use breakout rooms every week, or join many calls with outside companies that send Zoom links. Its free tier also bundles tools the others lack, including 3 AI meeting summaries a month, 3 editable whiteboards and a booking page, all listed on Zoom's pricing page. If the 40-minute cap is your only complaint, Pro at $14.16 a month billed yearly may cost less than moving a team.

Frequently asked questions