Zoom alternatives for 2026
Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Jitsi Meet and Whereby all replace Zoom for most meetings. Which one fits depends on what you already use and how long your calls run.
If you want a quick answer, here it is. Pick Google Meet if your team already lives in Google Workspace. Pick Microsoft Teams if you use Microsoft 365. Pick Jitsi Meet if you want a free, open source tool with no account. Pick Whereby if you want simple permanent rooms. Pick Webex if your company already buys Cisco. Zoom itself is still a strong choice, and in some areas it beats every tool below.
This list is about the tools, not about one winner. Every limit and price below comes from the vendor's own page and was checked on 31 October 2026. Where a page was unclear or would not load, we say so. Prices and limits change often, so check the vendor before you buy.
What to check before you leave Zoom#
Most people look for a Zoom alternative for one of four reasons.
- Cost. Paid seats add up for a team.
- The free time limit. Group calls on a free plan often stop after a fixed time.
- Guests who do not want an app or an account. A link that opens in the browser is easier.
- One tool for the whole company. If you already pay for Google or Microsoft, a second meeting tool can be a waste.
Write down your biggest call (how many people, how long) and the features you really use. Then compare against the numbers below.
The starting point, Zoom#
Zoom's pricing page is zoom.us/pricing. On 31 October 2026 it showed these plans.
| Plan | Price per user | Participants | Meeting length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Price not stated on the page | 100 | 40 minutes |
| Pro | $16.99 a month billed monthly, or $14.16 a month billed annually | 100 | up to 30 hours |
| Business | $21.99 a month billed monthly, or $18.33 a month billed annually | 300 | up to 30 hours |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | 1,000 on the plan card, 500+ in the comparison table | up to 30 hours |
The page lists the Basic plan with a 40 minute limit but does not print a price for it, so we could not confirm from that page that it is free. The page's FAQ says every plan allows up to 100 participants by default, and up to 1,000 with the Large Meeting add-on. Translated captions are listed under Enterprise.
Google Meet#
Google Meet is the easy pick for Workspace teams. Its product page is workspace.google.com/products/meet. We read the French version of it, and it says free group video meetings are limited to 60 minutes and 100 participants. One-to-one meetings and mobile calls have no time limit. Premium plans allow up to 1,000 participants and group calls of up to 24 hours.
Prices are on workspace.google.com/pricing. The page showed euro prices for our location, per user per month, billed monthly and excluding tax.
| Plan | Price | Meet participants | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Starter | €6.80 | 100 | not included |
| Business Standard | €13.60 | 150 | included |
| Business Plus | €21.10 | 500 | included |
| Enterprise | contact sales | 1,000 | included |
The page also showed a limited-time 20% discount and a separate annual option, but the annual figures were not clear to us, so we leave them out. Meetings can last up to 24 hours on every plan.
Where Meet wins is simple. It sits inside Gmail, Calendar and Drive, and nobody has to learn a new tool.
Microsoft Teams#
Teams is the natural choice if you use Microsoft 365. Prices are on microsoft.com/microsoft-teams/compare-microsoft-teams-business-options, but that page timed out when we fetched it. What we could confirm came from Microsoft's search listing of its own pages and its support page.
- Teams Essentials is listed at $4.00 per user per month, billed annually, with up to 300 participants and meetings of up to 30 hours.
- Teams Free allows up to 100 participants for up to 60 minutes, according to Microsoft's support page.
Because we could not open the plan page itself, treat these two figures as listed, not fully verified. Teams wins on integration with Word, Excel, SharePoint and chat. If your files live in Microsoft 365, that matters more than any price difference.
Webex#
Webex is Cisco's meeting product. Its pricing page, pricing.webex.com, showed two plans on 31 October 2026.
| Plan | Price | Participants | Meeting length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Webex Free | $0 | up to 100 | up to 40 minutes |
| Webex Enterprise | contact sales | up to 1,000 | not stated |
The page did not show paid per-user prices. Webex's help center lists a default maximum of 24 hours for Webex Meet. Webex suits larger organisations that want a sales contact and managed deployment, less so a small team that wants to see a price and start.
Jitsi Meet#
Jitsi Meet is the open source option. Its page, jitsi.org/jitsi-meet, calls it a "fully encrypted, 100% open source video conferencing solution". You can use it without signing up, and you can download the server and run your own. The team behind Jitsi also offers a hosted service called JaaS through 8x8.
The page states no usage limits, and we did not test the public meet.jit.si server's limits, so we make no claim about them. The trade-off is clear. Self-hosting means you run the servers, the network relay and the updates yourself. For a hobby group or a company with an IT team, that can be a good deal. For everyone else it is work.
Whereby#
Whereby gives each host a permanent room link. Its meetings pricing page is whereby.com/information/meetings/pricing. On 31 October 2026 it showed these plans, in US dollars excluding VAT.
| Plan | Price | Attendees | Meeting length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 4 | up to 30 minutes |
| Pro | $10.99 a month per host | 100 | no time limit |
| Business | $13.99 a month per host, minimum 3 hosts | 200 | no time limit |
The page also shows a monthly and annual toggle with a 17% saving, but not the annual prices. Whereby is a good fit for small teams, consultants and anyone who meets clients in the same room again and again. It is not built for large webinars.
RespireSoft Meet, where it fits#
We make RespireSoft Meet, so read this section with that in mind. It is not a full Zoom replacement, and for large companies Zoom and Teams win on ecosystem: calendars, phone systems, chat, admin controls and a huge number of integrations. We have none of that depth.
Where it does fit is narrow and real.
- A free meeting with no install and no account. The free online meeting tool opens in the browser, with video, chat and screen share for up to 6 people. The free minutes each day are limited.
- A live interpreter. The live interpreter lets each person speak their own language and hear the others in theirs. It supports five languages today (English, Spanish, French, Arabic and Persian) and up to 4 people.
- Live captions. The live captions tool shows captions in the browser for up to 2 people.
If you are a developer, RespireSoft Meet API adds the same meetings to your own site. Its prices are on the pricing page. Billing is not switched on yet, so you are not charged, and prices may change before it is.
How to choose#
| If you need | Look first at |
|---|---|
| Calls inside your office suite | Google Meet or Microsoft Teams |
| The longest calls and big events with admin tools | Zoom, Teams or Webex |
| Free and open source, with no account | Jitsi Meet |
| Simple permanent rooms for clients | Whereby |
| A quick no-install call or a live interpreter | RespireSoft Meet |
If you are weighing the three biggest names against each other, read Google Meet vs Zoom vs Teams. If you only need a call without sign-up, see free video conferencing without sign-up. If language is the problem, live translation for meetings covers what works today.
Questions people ask#
Is there a completely free Zoom alternative? Jitsi Meet is free and open source, and you can use it without an account. Google Meet, Teams and Webex all have free plans with time limits (60, 60 and 40 minutes for group calls, as listed above).
Which alternative allows the longest free call? On the pages we checked, Google Meet and Teams Free list 60 minutes for group calls. Zoom Basic and Webex Free list 40. Whereby Free lists 30. Jitsi's page states no limit.
Do guests need an account? It depends on the tool and the settings the host picks. Check the guest flow yourself with a colleague before an important call.
Prices checked 31 October 2026 on the vendor pages named above. Confirm on the vendor's page before you buy.