zoom

Zoom

A video conferencing tool for business meetings, webinars, collaboration, and remote work.

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  • Overview
  • Features
  • Pricing
  • Pros
  • Cons
  • Reviews

Zoom Overview

  • Updated August 11, 2025

Zoom is a leading video conferencing platform designed for business communication and collaboration. It enables virtual meetings, webinars, and remote work with high-quality audio and video. Features include screen sharing, recording, breakout rooms, and integrations with productivity tools.

Zoom supports businesses of all sizes, fostering seamless team interactions, client engagements, and large-scale events, with robust security measures to ensure safe and reliable communication.

Key Features

  • Video and Audio Conferencing: High-quality video and audio for meetings with up to 1,000 participants, designed for smooth communication across devices.
  • Screen Sharing: Users can share their screens or specific apps, perfect for presentations and teamwork.
  • Meeting Recording: Save meetings to the cloud or local storage as MP4 files, with automatic transcription for easy reference and distribution.
  • Team Chat: Built-in chat enables real-time messaging before, during, and after meetings to strengthen team communication and collaboration.
  • Virtual Whiteboards: Collaborative digital whiteboards allow teams to brainstorm, annotate, and share ideas in real time.
  • AI Companion: Delivers meeting summaries, action items, and key takeaways with AI to improve productivity and follow-up efficiency.
  • Breakout Rooms: Divide participants into smaller groups for focused discussions, ideal for workshops or team exercises.
  • Polls and Q&A: Engage attendees with interactive polls and Q&A sessions to encourage participation in meetings and webinars.
  • Zoom Phone: A VoIP phone solution integrated with Zoom, equipped with business-grade calling and voicemail features.
  • Calendar Integration: Syncs with Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar, and iCal to simplify meeting scheduling and joining.
  • Virtual Backgrounds and Effects: Customize video backgrounds or apply filters to enhance appearance and protect privacy.
  • Multi-Language Captioning and Translation: Offers captions and translations in 11 languages to improve accessibility for global teams.
  • Third-Party App Integrations: Connects with tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Asana through the Zoom App Marketplace for efficient workflows.
  • Accessibility Features: Includes adjustable captions, screen reader support, and sign language interpreter windows for inclusive meetings.
  • Security Features: Provides end-to-end encryption, meeting passwords, and role-based access controls to ensure secure communication.
  • Zoom Rooms: Software-based solutions for conference rooms enable seamless in-office video meetings with one-tap join functionality.
  • Mobile App Support: Fully functional iOS and Android apps include features like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for meetings on the go.
  • Focus Mode: Hides participant video for others (except the host) in educational settings to reduce distractions during classes.
  • Annotations: Participants can annotate shared screens or whiteboards to enhance real-time collaboration.
  • Gesture Recognition: Allows quick reactions, like raising a hand, through gestures to improve meeting interactivity.

Price

  • Basic: Free, up to 100 participants, 40-minute meeting limit, unlimited 1:1 meetings, chat, whiteboards.
  • Pro: $15.99/month/user, up to 100 participants, 30-hour meetings, 5GB cloud storage, recording, streaming.
  • Business: $21.99/month/user, up to 300 participants, SSO, company branding, unlimited whiteboards, Zoom Phone.
  • Business Plus: Contact Sales, up to 300 participants, Zoom Phone, advanced analytics, enhanced security.
  • Enterprise: Contact Sales, up to 1,000 participants, advanced integrations, dedicated support, custom features.

Official pricing page: https://zoom.us/pricing

Pros

Competitor

Zoom Advantages
Microsoft Teams Zoom offers a user-friendly interface and excellent video/audio quality, staying smooth even with up to 1,000 participants. Breakout rooms, AI Companion for meeting summaries, and seamless calendar integrations (Outlook, Google Calendar) boost usability.

Its free plan (100 participants, 40-minute limit) is more generous than Teams’ less flexible free tier. Users prefer Zoom for reliability and ease in client meetings, especially for diverse teams.
Cisco Webex Zoom provides a simpler setup and works effortlessly across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Its AI features, like real-time translations and meeting summaries, match or surpass Webex’s, with a more intuitive interface.

Zoom’s pricing starts lower (free plan vs. Webex’s $12/month starter), and its cloud recording (5GB on Pro) is more accessible than Webex’s local-only free plan. Users value Zoom’s stability and easy onboarding.
Google Meet Zoom excels with features like breakout rooms, virtual whiteboards, and gesture recognition, which Meet lacks or offers in limited form. Its video quality and noise suppression are better, especially for large meetings (1,000 vs. Meet’s 500 participants).

Zoom’s free plan is more flexible (100 participants), and paid plans include Zoom Phone for VoIP, absent in Meet’s core offerings. Users appreciate Zoom’s external collaboration flexibility.
RingCentral Zoom’s intuitive design and features like AI-driven insights and multi-language captioning outshine RingCentral’s complex setup. Zoom’s pricing is clearer ($15.99/month Pro vs. RingCentral’s $20/month minimum), with a better free plan for larger meetings.

It’s reliable for webinars and large events, with strong support. Users note Zoom requires less training and management than RingCentral’s steeper learning curve.

Cons

Competitor

Cons of Zoom
Microsoft Teams Zoom doesn’t quite mesh with Microsoft 365 tools like OneDrive or SharePoint the way Teams does, which can feel like a bummer if your team lives in Microsoft’s world.

Its Team Chat feature is handy but doesn’t match Teams’ robust file-sharing or group chat vibes for ongoing projects. Some folks also say Teams has beefier security options for big companies, which might make Zoom feel a bit less enterprise-ready.
Cisco Webex Zoom’s security is solid with end-to-end encryption, but it can feel a step behind Webex’s super-secure setup, especially for folks needing stuff like FedRAMP compliance.

Webex’s all-in-one app blends calls, meetings, and chats more smoothly, while Zoom’s Zoom Phone feels like an extra piece you have to add on. Webex’s AI assistant has cool tricks like auto-camera tweaks that Zoom doesn’t offer, and some users say Webex nails hybrid work setups better.
Google Meet Zoom’s free plan caps meetings at 40 minutes, which can cut your chats short compared to Google Meet’s 60-minute free calls if you’re on Google Workspace. If your team’s all about Gmail or Google Drive, Meet’s seamless integration might feel like a cozy hug that Zoom can’t quite give.

Plus, Meet throws in some basic collaboration tools for free, while Zoom often makes you pay for extras like breakout rooms. Some folks find Meet’s simpler vibe better for quick calls.
RingCentral Zoom’s Zoom Phone is nice but feels a bit new compared to RingCentral’s rock-solid phone system, which has fancy call analytics and PBX features. RingCentral’s teamwork tools, like task management and messaging, are more tightly knit than Zoom’s video-first focus.

Some users say RingCentral’s support team is quicker to jump in for tricky setups, while Zoom’s support can sometimes leave you hanging, especially for big enterprise needs.

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