Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Microsoft Teams Alternatives and Competitors

Our favorite Microsoft Teams alternative is GoTo Meeting because it is easy to use, secure, and affordable. Sign up for an annual professional plan and save 14%.

Microsoft Teams is a popular video conferencing service, and users can make video calls with as many as 300 participants. Even though it did make it to our list of the top video conferencing software, it is not the only option for companies with diverse needs. There are plenty of other options you can look into and choose the most appropriate service for your needs. 

The QuickSprout research team invested many hours in carefully analyzing the several video conferencing services available in the market. Based on a specific criterion system, the team shortlisted the following seven services to be the best video conferencing services.  

The 8 Best Video Conferencing Services

The best Microsoft Teams alternative is GoTo Meeting. It smoothly integrates with the existing business tools and is ideal for small-sized businesses. Sign up for an annual professional plan and save 14%.

  • GoTo Meeting — Best video conferencing service for small businesses
  • RingCentral — Best video conferencing service with VoIP business phone plans
  • ClickMeeting — Best video conferencing software for webinars
  • Zoho Meeting — Affordable video conferencing service with basic features
  • Microsoft Teams — Best video conferencing software for internal communication.
  • Zoom — Best video conferencing service for scalability
  • Join.me — Annual contract video conferencing plans for small meetings
  • Webex — Best video conferencing software for cloud collaboration
Brand logos for Quick Sprout's eight best video conferencing services.

You can read a detailed analysis of these services in our complete list

GoTo Meeting – Best Video Conferencing Service For Small Businesses

GoTo Meeting brand logo.

GoTo Meeting is more than just a video conferencing tool. It is a collaborative workspace with several advanced features. The service is ideal for remote workers because it seamlessly integrates with every system. Some of its prominent features include:

  • Multi-channel support
  • Integrated scheduling
  • Cloud collaboration
  • Single-click start
  • Automatic bandwidth adjustments

GoTo Meeting provides a special hardware and software kit to its clients to transform any conference room into a digital one. The kit offers better hardware than the average device, with a microphone, camera, and speaker. 

GoTo Meeting has three pricing plans—Professional, Business, and Enterprise—at reasonable fees. Each plan provides unlimited meetings, cloud storage, integration options, and more. 

How GoTo Meeting Compares to Microsoft Teams

Screenshot from GoTo Meeting's meeting web page.
GoTo Meeting is an ideal video conferencing platform for small businesses.

GoTo Meeting is an excellent tool for small and medium-sized businesses. It is just as easy to use as Microsoft Teams. Its defining feature is the GoTo Webinar which has no limit on meeting times. 

In terms of customer service, GoTo Meeting provides slightly better service than Microsoft Teams. It provides videos for training support along with phone and email support. Microsoft Teams provides 24/7 chat support and online training support.

Microsoft Teams is suitable for businesses that use the Microsoft ecosystem, while GoTo Meeting can be integrated with any software system or product. Therefore, GoTo Meeting is relatively easier to set up.

When it comes to pricing, Microsoft Teams is cheaper than GoTo Meeting and offers a free plan. However, GoTo Meeting charges between $14 to $19 for its various subscription plans.

Go through our detailed review of GoTo Meeting to decide if it’s the right option for you.

RingCentral — Best Video Conferencing Service With VoIP Business Phone Plans

RingCentral brand logo.

RingCentral is another excellent choice for video conferencing. Users can purchase its Meetings app as a standalone product for video conferencing. However, it has an additional feature called the VoIP business phone service that kills the need for traditional phone plans helping it stand out from the competition.

What makes RingCentral great is its easy-to-use software that’s ideal for small and large-sized businesses alike. It provides excellent value for money and allows several third-party integrations. 

The RingCentral video conferencing platform offers various subscription plans and pricing options based on the user’s region. The Free Plan enables you to attend and host unlimited meetings with up to 100 participants. It also helps store all recordings on the cloud for almost seven days. 

How RingCentral Compares to Microsoft Teams

Screenshot of RingCentral's video conferencing webpage
RingCentral offers a VoIP business phone plan along with video conferencing services.

RingCentral and Microsoft Teams both have a user-friendly interface and are ideal for all types and sizes of businesses. The plus feature of RingCentral is the freedom to delete a message sent by mistake. Microsoft Teams doesn’t allow that liberty.

Additionally, RingCentral has several unique features that keep it exciting for its users and offers other benefits like in-person training, live training, and video support. Microsoft Teams also has several unique features but some limitations, like only 250 people allowed in a private chat. In contrast, RingCentral allows an unlimited number of people in a group chat.

When it comes to pricing, RingCentral provides better pricing plans. Even its Free Plan provides several integrations and features that can easily meet the needs of a small or midsize enterprise.

Read the in-depth analysis of RingCentral to make an informed decision.

ClickMeeting — Best Video Conferencing Software For Webinars

ClickMeeting brand logo.

ClickMeeting has a separate webinar software platform. This additional webinar feature makes it stand out among its competitors. A webinar helps hold virtual training sessions and online events and market different products and services with video demonstrations. 

ClickMeeting provides all video conferencing tools necessary for collaboration between teams and businesses. Even though ClickMeeting’s video conferencing tool is slightly costlier than other brands, it is worth it if you use the webinar feature. It offers two pricing plans at different costs, and the cost mainly depends on the number of participants. 

How ClickMeeting Compares to Microsoft Teams

Screenshot of a ClickMeeting video live webinar in progress.
The special webinar feature of ClickMeeting helps it stand out.

ClickMeeting is user-friendly and offers several interactive features like question-and-answer sessions and much more. Its beautiful interface has always been its selling point because it can easily be navigated even by beginners.

However, the video quality of Microsoft Teams is slightly better than ClickMeeting. Moreover, Microsoft Teams also offers several customization options, good functionality, and excellent customer service.

In terms of pricing, ClickMeeting offers a free trial and various pricing plans costing between $25 to $40 a month, whereas Microsoft Teams also offers free and paid plans ranging between $4 to $12 per user per month. 

Read a detailed analysis of ClickMeeting on our website.

Zoho Meeting — Affordable Video Conferencing Service With Basic Features

Zoho Meeting brand logo.

Zoho Meeting is a simple video conferencing tool without any complicated features. Its top features include:

  • Screen sharing
  • RSVP scheduling 
  • Moderator controls
  • In-session chat 
  • Lock meetings
  • Embedded meeting links

Zoho Meeting easily integrates with Zoho CRM. Therefore, it is an ideal option for anyone using a Zoho product. It has no fancy features, but it allows users to remove other users, switch a presenter, and give over control.

It has no set pricing plans. Instead, it charges based on the number of participants in a meeting. It also offers a free forever plan with 100 meeting participants or webinar attendees, along with other limited features.

How Zoho Meeting Compares to Microsoft Teams

Screenshot of Zoho Meeting webpage with a list of online meeting features
Zoho Meeting is a basic video conferencing software with additional functionalities like screen sharing.

Zoho Meeting and Microsoft Teams offer excellent customer service, good functionalities, and ease of use. However, Zoho Meeting is slightly better than Microsoft Teams in some aspects. For example, Zoho Meeting allows its users to hold webinars, but Microsoft Teams doesn’t. 

Moreover, Zoho Meeting has a whole ecosystem of tools and software you can access. Additionally, adding or inviting more people to a meeting is extremely easy. Microsoft Teams also is ideal for businesses already using a Microsoft ecosystem.

In terms of pricing, Zoho Meeting offers the Free Forever Plan for $0 a month. Its paid packages are incredibly affordable, ranging from $1 to $16 a month. Microsoft Teams also has a free-of-cost plan. However, the functionalities offered in the free plans of both services are similar. Therefore, consider other aspects and choose the option most suitable for your business.

Go through a thorough review of Zoho Meeting here.

Zoom — Best Video Conferencing Service For Scalability

Zoom brand logo.

Zoom is an industry leader in the video conferencing space. It is the go-to video conference app for many known businesses like Pandora, GoDaddy, Uber, and Ticketmaster. It is a simple service and offers unique plans for all types and sizes of businesses. 

Zoom is a secure platform that provides password protection, waiting rooms, and role-based security options. It offers excellent collaboration features for a team, like screen sharing and other interactive features. 

The company offers four pricing plans. The Free Plan is ideal for freelancers or small businesses that only utilize the video chat feature once in a while. Each paid plan offers excellent features, and customer service improves with each plan upgrade.

How Zoom Compares to Microsoft Teams

Screenshot of Zoom Meetings home page.
Zoom is a leader in the video conferencing software industry.

Zoom and Microsoft Teams share several features. Both are highly secure and allow several unique integrations. However, there are slight differences between the two. For example, Zoom provides unlimited meeting hours, but Microsoft Teams offers up to 30 hours of meeting time for its Basic Plan users.

Zoom allows almost 1000 participant meetings compared with the 300 participants allowed by Microsoft Teams. Overall, Zoom is more accessible, modern, and easy to use on the phone. Therefore, it is ideal for people on the go.

In terms of pricing, Zoom is more expensive than Microsoft Teams. Even though Zoom’s Free Plan provides many basic features, the Pro and Business plans can cost $14 and $19 per month per user.  

Carefully go through this detailed review of Zoom to choose the best video conferencing service for your business needs.

Join.me — Annual Contract Video Conferencing Plans For Small Meetings

Join.me brand logo.

Join.me is a part of the GoTo Meeting ecosystem. Still, it has its own free version and offers its video conferencing services separately as Join.me. In comparison with GoTo Meeting, it is a simple service with limited features.

It provides unique solutions to startups and big businesses and is an excellent option for teams, businesses, or individuals. Easy to set up with one of the fastest signup processes, users can simply start a call using the website without even consulting a sales representative.

If you are starting a new conference, you can invite people to join the meeting through a link or an email. It allows you to customize your URL, change your conferencing background, and share your screen with one click. People who aren’t even using Join.me can still join your meetings which is a great feature.

Join.me is an exclusive video conferencing service. You have to sign up and install the application to get started. Therefore, little is known about the pricing options and plans offered by Join.me. If you want to hold a meeting, you must have an account on Join.me. Its customer support can assist you with the initial procedure. However, if you are an attendee, you can simply attend the meeting by putting in a specific nine-digit Join.me ID.

How Join.me Compares to Microsoft Teams

Screenshot of Join.me's join meeting web page showing join a meeting with 9-digit ID and join meeting button.
Join.me is a simple video conferencing software for individuals and small businesses.

Join.me is just as easy to use as Microsoft Teams. It also provides excellent value for your money. However, Microsoft Teams is far ahead in terms of customer service and functionality. A unique benefit of Join.me is its easy screen-sharing options.

Another advantage of Join.me over Microsoft Teams is that its video and audio quality are top-notch.

Moreover, the many integration options offered by Join.me make it a more attractive option for individuals and small business owners. 

One drawback of Join.me is its lack of transparency in pricing. The service provides custom quotes based on users’ needs. 

Give Join.me’s review a read and decide if it suits your needs.

Webex — Best Video Conferencing Software For Cloud Collaboration

Webex brand logo.

Webex is a highly regarded video conferencing service. It allows you to host huge virtual events with almost 100,000 participants. It also enables users to hold interactive webinars for as many as 3000 people.

The platform is ideal for people who run on-demand training lessons or businesses wanting to onboard employees in multiple locations. Its mobile app makes it easier to host and join meetings from anywhere in the world at any given time. The cloud collaboration feature also makes it an excellent choice for teams.

How Webex Compares to Microsoft Teams

Screenshot of a Webex video meeting in progress.
Webex is ideal for meetings and events in the cloud for all teams.

Webex allows the highest number of participants among all the video conferencing services. It accommodates as many as 100,000 participants. Moreover, it offers video recording and advanced screen-sharing options. 

Overall, Webex offers far more sophisticated tools and features than Microsoft Teams, which only provides basic video conferencing tools and a few additional services. Even with a wide range of unique features, Webex charges a minimal fee for each subscription plan.

It offers four different pricing plans and is ideal for small teams wanting business-level features and tools. Its pricing plans range between $0 to $32 a month. Overall, it suits businesses requiring collaboration with teams in different locations. 

Read a Webex review before choosing it for your needs.

https://www.quicksprout.com/microsoft-teams-alternatives/

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