Let’s have a look at Zoom alternatives for different purposes including webinars, meetings, friends, business, family, education and more.
Microsoft Teams
With Office 365 support on its backbone, Microsoft Teams is one of the most diverse communication software out there. Not only it can be used as a video chat application within your company you can also use its collaboration tools like doing a presentation to 10.000 people with PowerPoint, another application that resides on Microsoft Office 365. Teams support up to 250 people on video conference mode and can utilize most of the tools that Office 365 suite provides, like sharing Office documents on the call or real-time collaboration on the files themselves.
Skype
Being one of the oldest telecommunication software our there, Skype is one of the popular choices amongst them all. Skype can be used either for plain teleconferencing with only utilizing voice features, or as a video conference software with its video capabilities.
Google Duo
Google alternative video conferencing system Duo supports up to 12 people simultaneously. Google Duo is a flexible application supported on many platforms. You can use it on your PC through a browser as well as installing it on your mobile phone or other smart devices. Choices are plenty. Like the most Google offering, it supports the end to end encryption, enhanced security and privacy.
HouseParty
Not exactly a video call application hence the name suggests, HouseParty is the more fun-oriented app that also provides you with video conferencing capabilities. Most of the capabilities are free but if you want to play games through it (let’s call these teambuilding events) there are paid options within the app. Dire straits call for repurposed solutions, obviously.
The most popular messaging app is Whatsapp and it is the default calling app for most of the mobile users whether it is just voice or video. The only problem with the calls are they are limited to four people. For small teams, it is perfectly okay but for larger teams, WhatsApp can only serve as a text messaging app. While it is practical to use WhatsApp in every possible situation sometimes voice lags and you end up interrupting each other.
Facebook Messenger
Even a greater security concern than Zoom itself, Facebook Messenger enhanced its capabilities in recent years and added video call support. Text messaging with fancy stickers and voice calls were also available for some time. Facebook Messenger can support up to six people at a time on the screen, but 50 people can participate in the conversation.
Google Hangouts (Google Meet)
Readily available for anybody that logs into their Gmail account, Google Hangouts is an ancient yet practical video and voice communication software. You can share screens, and Google Docs services through the app while talking to each other. People can 10 simultaneous participants while for normal calls you can add 250 people if you integrate your G Suite for the task (a paid service for professional users). With Hangouts, you can access to all Google Docs services with the Meet service as Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and others.