Introduction
Video conferences should now just be referred to as “meetings”; in-person meetings are now the exception. It’s true for remote workers, hybrid workers, and increasingly, offices that operate primarily in physical spaces.
Hence, poor video calls are detrimental to productivity in general and are not a specific issue. A huge inconvenience is every missed call, and waiting for somebody to set up unintelligible software is unacceptable.
For this reason, I completed my research for this piece of work. I tested more than thirty different video conferencing applications to see how they performed. Here are the top five video conferencing services.
The top 5 solutions for video conferences
- Zoom to make dependable, lengthy video calls
- For Google Workspace customers, Google Meet
- Combining video conferencing and team chat with Microsoft Teams
- Meetings using Webex for video quality
- For a lighter alternative, use Jitsi
What qualities distinguish the top video conferencing services?
How we test and assess applications
People who have used, tested, and written about software for a large portion of their careers write our roundups of the finest apps. Unless otherwise indicated, we invest several hours in investigating and testing apps, utilizing each one as intended and comparing it to the standards we establish for the category. We appreciate the confidence readers place in us to provide honest assessments of the categories & apps we review, thus we never receive payment for connections to other websites or inclusion in our posts from any app.
The quality of the video is the most crucial factor in video conferences. That’s more important than the picture itself; even the finest quality is useless if calls are dropped or individuals cut out. I put every online meeting application to the test to determine how well it functioned when the internet connection quality varied.
However, I wasn’t only considering that. Numerous video chat applications designed for consumers, such as Apple FaceTime, are incompatible with video conferencing software. For meetings, businesses want more than simply a reliable video connection. To sum up, the top applications for video conferences are:
- Provide consistent, high-quality audio and video. Should web conferencing software have a single function, this must be it.
- It should be straightforward to join, initiate, and arrange meetings. Setting up meetings and adding them to the calendar must be uncomplicated, and there should be prominent buttons available for joining the call when the time comes.
- Add elements that facilitate collaboration. Chat and screen sharing are the most basic features. Whiteboarding and direct collaboration tools are additional capabilities that the top video conferencing services provide.
- Permit the recording of videos. Meeting recordings fill the void left by people who are unable to attend every one. Using your internet-based meeting application to record a meeting must be as easy as pressing a button.
- Make it easy to include individuals from outside your company. It should be easy for anyone to attend your meeting by clicking on a link, but security measures should also be in place to keep away unauthorized individuals.
I concentrated on these attributes while testing and kept them in mind when deciding which Zoom competitors to evaluate.
1. Zoom: The best application for dependable, lengthy video calls
Zoom Pros
- Dependable and user-friendly
- Features for teamwork and permits video recording.
- Makes it easy to include individuals from outside your company.
Zoom Cons
- Not included in a software package, which in big businesses can be costly.
You are already familiar with Zoom. People who actually live beneath rocks are aware of Zoom. It is the most widely used video conferencing application available, and with good reason—it is effective.
Everyone should be able to participate in a Zoom meeting if you provide the link. Each major platform has apps, and you may presume that everyone has already set up and downloaded the software. All you have to do is click the link to join the meeting. The value of that cannot be overstated: nothing detracts from a meeting more than someone being unable to attend.
Zoom is also quite dependable. Even with a poor internet connection, it will usually continue to play your video, albeit with a lower quality. Any call can be recorded in its entirety as a video, and participants can engage in private messaging or group text chat. Furthermore, you have the capability to share your entire screen, a specific application, or a selected portion of it. Additionally, you can choose to transmit audio from your computer.
Currently, Zoom provides one of the greatest whiteboards available, which makes it quite easy to quickly fill an online board with images, sticky notes, and diagrams. With closed captioning, real-time transcriptions are also supported. Zoom has also fully embraced AI. A recently added function lets attendees of meetings ask questions and receive an AI-generated response based on the discussion log.
One possible approach would be to request a brief overview of the meeting thus far or a list of every action item that has been discussed thus far. With the typical AI disclaimers (don’t rely on it alone), it functions adequately. It’s encouraging to see an offering incorporate this, given that some consumers are willing to pay more for a quality AI meeting helper.
Zoom enables space conferencing hardware, video conference call scheduling, and instant chat with any of your connections. Overall, it’s a team video application that is almost ideal.
Zoom price: Up to 100 people can attend meetings for 40 minutes for free; the Pro plan, which includes AI features, management of users, thirty-hour meetings, and reporting, costs $15.99 per month per host.
2. Google Meet: The top video conferencing application for users of Google Workspace
Google Meet Pros:
- Complete compatibility with Google Workspace applications
- Real-time captions
- 100,000 or more people in view-only option
- Includes Google Workspace as a bonus
Google Meet Cons:
- Occasionally lags during lengthy video conferences.
- Calls are not handled as elegantly as Zoom.
Arguably Google Meet’s greatest feature is how well it integrates with other Google apps. You and the other participants can click the Meet link to immediately join a call once you set a meeting on Google Calendar. Additionally, you can locate files in Google Drive and circulate them in chat while on a conversation without ending the call.
You may even use your Gmail inbox to initiate a call. Additionally, there is the Chrome integration, which includes a tab-sharing capability that is excellent for sharing files and has a very minimal lag when utilized to stream a brief video in bulk (albeit it isn’t compatible with any other browser).
Google Meet still outperforms the competition in terms of live captioning, even though other applications like Zoom have started to catch up. The captions function reasonably well in English, but they are unable to identify other languages being spoken during a call.
Though it operates in a browser rather than an app, Meet is a well-liked substitute for Zoom. Given that nothing needs to be installed, this could be considered a benefit. However, I’ve found that browser-based apps often have trouble during lengthy video conferences. Meet is no different—heavy calls lead to noisy computer fans and worse quality. When your connection to the internet is slow, Meet doesn’t seem to lose calls as effortlessly as Zoom, in my testing.
Additionally, Google offers Google Gemini, an artificially intelligent meeting assistant, in corporate and enterprise editions. In addition to creating the background, this can enhance your lighting and filming quality and translate subtitles in real-time. Additionally, the AI may record notes for you, but only if you have the Enterprise plan.
Google Meet has a lot of positive reviews. Of all the apps I examined, the lightbulb had the most entertaining visual effects. The Jamboard touchscreen tool is used for team collaboration, and the Meet meeting room devices are used for full-room video conferencing by hybrid firms or businesses with numerous locations. Nonetheless, the main benefit is that Google Meet is almost free if your business already pays for Google Workspace, which it probably does.
Google Meet pricing: Up to a hundred people and 60 minutes are free; as a component of Google Workspace Business Starter, the cost starts at $6 per user per month.
3. Microsoft Teams: The finest app that combines video conferencing and team chat
Pros
- Excellent video conferencing services with seamless Office 365 integration
- Many features for collaboration
- Excellent video quality and compatibility with lengthy calls
Cons
- If you are not utilizing Teams as a team chat tool, it is completely perplexing.
Most team chat applications seem to have trouble with, or at best, ignore video, or treat it as an afterthought. Not Microsoft Teams, a platform that combines team chat with some of the most powerful video conferencing services available.
That’s the great thing about the whiteboard. A hand-drawn circle will look more like a rough approximation of a perfect circle, and the app will tidy up after you when you draw freehand. All your notes and diagrams are easily taken right there on the spot. Many more collaborative features are possible as well. For example, the conversation from the meeting can be saved for later use over your team chat application. Meetings may also be shared by using a built-in function that shares meeting notes with the team after the meeting. Furthermore, meetings are transcribed automatically and shared.
If there was poor video quality, nothing of this would matter. Teams function effectively, even during lengthy calls, and offer a plethora of tools to facilitate productive meetings. While some, like the combined mode in the screenshot above, are gimmicks, even gimmicks can promote teamwork. Microsoft is also developing a full-featured AI assistant named Copilot, which can be purchased as an add-on subscription for $20 per user each month.
The app isn’t flawless. Microsoft has a propensity to continuously add functionality to its apps, which causes the UI to become cluttered. Microsoft Teams is a prime example of that. However, it has improved in recent years, and it is now simpler than ever to send invitations to those who are not affiliated with your company.
And how much does it cost? In the past, Teams was essentially free because it came with almost all business versions of Microsoft Office. But now it’s not the case. However, Microsoft Teams is still available for a fair $4 per user per month.
Microsoft Teams pricing: The monthly cost of Microsoft Teams Essentials is $4 per user.
4. Webex Meetings: The top app for video conferences in terms of quality
Webex pros
- Outstanding video quality
- Fantastic collaboration tools, such as document annotation and whiteboard
- Real-time translations (at an extra cost)
Webex cons
- Can be costly for big businesses.
- A few users have complained about stability problems.
A well-known producer of video conferencing equipment is Cisco. They deploy a video call program called Webex Meetings. Video quality is emphasized, as one might anticipate, and Webex meets this need. Every time I try this software, I always see that everyone sounds and looks fantastic, both in terms of stability and image and sound quality. Although this isn’t as obvious of an advantage as it once was—Zoom has worked hard to catch up—I still believe it’s visible.
Meetings can be joined by users through the web version or by installing and executing the program. Especially remarkable are the collaboration aspects. There’s a great whiteboard, on par with any other software, which includes writing, sketching, and sticky notes, and there’s a “magic pen” tool that neatens up your jumbled outlines.
Without sharing the screen, you can still share a document so that everybody in the discussion can annotate it. It’s a fantastic method to discuss a project aloud with your group. Although it costs $30 per user per month, Webex is the only company that offers live translation as an add-on.
When you leave, Webex’s AI assistant may switch off the camera, and when you return, it can explain what you missed. All paid plans have this assistance.
Don’t ignore Webex. You might want to give it another go if you tried it a few years ago because it has undergone a complete makeover and is currently among the top video conferencing services available.
Webex pricing: A 40-minute meeting with a maximum of 100 individuals can be held for free, but it is devoid of certain crucial functions like sharing screens and recording. The business package, which includes closed captioning and noise reduction, starts at $14.50 per user per month for meetings involving a maximum of 200 participants.
5. Jitsi: For a lightweight choice, the top free video-conferencing application
Jitsi Pros
- Open-source and free
- Good quality of video
- Integrations accessible
Jitsi Cons
- Less feature-rich than other choices
- Sometimes sluggish
While using Jitsi online is free, you must first establish an account in order to initiate a meeting. It’s disappointing that creating an account is now required, as it appears to be a result of service exploitation. Nevertheless, it takes little time to create an account, and if you do, using the site is a breeze. All you need to do is visit the website, create a link, and send it to every person you would like on the call. Another option is to plan a meeting ahead of time.
The quality of videos is decent, but not exceptional, and you can’t count on sophisticated features like AI integrations or transcriptions. You can anticipate being able to smoothly and swiftly set up a meeting. The moderator is the only person with an account, there are no desktop programs to download, and hopefully, there is no friction.
A few lovely details are also present. There is some crazy fun when you use a GIF search tool that not only brings the GIF to the conversation but also temporarily replaces your video stream with the GIF. Additionally, screen sharing & polling are integrated. Every fundamental is well covered.
Due to Jitsi’s open-source nature, you are able to put the code on a server of your choice, which is significant for businesses that value privacy and security. Notably, you may configure the private server to skip the need for accounts if you value it. Additionally, a variety of applications have connectors accessible, so you may incorporate Jitsi in your personal website or any application you’re developing.
Which software is best for online conferences?
You can host meetings afar and still view each other’s faces, according to the claims made by all video conferencing services. Each video conferencing option on this list, as well as those that are not, offers unique features, varying quality levels, and unique constraints. I suggest trying Google Meet first if you’re currently paying for Google Workspace. Try the other conferencing services on the list if that doesn’t result in success.
