What are the top 5 video conferencing applications?
27th March 2025
During the Covid pandemic, the use of video calling apps surged: now they have become an integral part of our personal and business lives, which one should you be using?
Video calling has come a long way in recent years, largely due to necessity during the pandemic. I remember first encountering video calls when my grandparents moved to Spain and we used to spend hours trying to get them to figure out Skype – these applications have developed a lot since then with even the least tech-savvy among us being able to easily jump on a call.
Speaking of Skype, which for me is the classic example of a video calling app, it is going to be retired on May 5th 2025*. As this historic piece of tech is phased out, and with VoIP services becoming more and more popular with business moving on from traditional phone lines, we thought what better time to look at some other video calling options to see if you’re using the right one for your business:
5. GoToMeeting
Very user friendly, with solid security, high-definition video and audio, screen sharing, meeting recording and drawing tools, GoToMeeting offers simplicity for small to medium businesses.
With only up to 250 participants and lack of integration into other existing applications, GoToMeeting is limited in scope – fine if you want an easy-to-use choice, but a basic option.
Plans:
Professional – £9.36/organizer/month (billed annually)
· Up to 150 participants
· Unlimited meetings, no time limits
Business – £12.48/organizer/month (billed annually)
· Up to 250 participants
· Additional features like unlimited cloud recording and drawing tools.
4. Cisco Webex
Unlike our previous option, Cisco Webex is suitable for larger enterprises, with up to 1,000 participants. It includes high-definition video and audio, screen sharing, advanced security features, meeting recording and virtual backgrounds – helpful if you plan to use it for webinars.
Cisco Webex also lacks integration with other apps, as well as reportedly not being as easy to use as some of the other options. For larger enterprises though, it could be a good choice.
Plans:
Free – £0/user/year
· Up to 100 attendees per meeting
· 40-minute limit on meetings
Meet – £9.36/user/month (billed annually)
· Up to 200 attendees per meeting
· Unlimited meetings up to 24 hours
· 10GB cloud features
Suite – £17.55/user/month (billed annually)
· Includes Meet features plus business phone number and unlimited local/domestic calling
3. Google Meet
Now we get to the big three, probably the apps you would expect, and with good reason. Google Meet is best used by businesses already using Google Workspace, for easy integration and access across the apps within it. It also has real-time captions, which can be useful for going back over points made in the meeting.
Having said that, Google Meet offers very similar features to GoToMeeting, our number five pick: high-definition audio and video, screen sharing and secure calls with encryption. The biggest difference is size and if you are already using other Google apps, making it simple to decide if Google Meet is right for your business.
Plans:
Business Starter – £5.46/user/month (annual commitment)
· 30 GB pooled storage per user
· 100 participant video meetings
Business Standard – £10.92/user/month (annual commitment)
· 2 TB pooled storage per user
· 150 participant video meetings
Business Plus – £17.16/user/month (annual commitment)
· 5 TB pooled storage per user
· 500 participant video meetings
Enterprise – Contact sales for pricing
· 5 TB pooled storage per user
· 500 participant video meetings
2. Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is an immensely popular choice, largely due to the ability to integrate with Microsoft 365. As 365 is so widely used, it is unsurprising that Teams is a popular choice – many of us have it anyway, so why not use it?
Teams also has other features like team chat, file sharing, a whiteboard feature, high-definition video and audio, up to 300 participants and robust, enterprise-level security features. It is also where Skype users are being moved to as of May.
It may not be perfect for all businesses though – without the rest of the 365 suite it becomes far more basic. Additionally, and I feel I can speak to this as I have used Teams more than any of these other apps, it is prone to error and malfunction. All the additional features and integrations are amazing, but that means constant updates, and those updates often cause problems.
Plans:
Teams Essentials – £3.12/user/month (annual subscription)
· Up to 300 participants
· 10 GB cloud storage
· Unlimited group meetings up to 30 hours
Microsoft 365 Business Basic – £4.68/user/month (annual subscription)
· Includes Teams Essentials features plus custom business email and web versions of Office apps
Microsoft 365 Business Standard – £9.75/user/month (annual subscription)
· Includes Business Basic features plus desktop versions of Office apps and additional collaboration tools
Large Meeting Add-ons: available for E3/E5/A3/A5 licences
· Up to 1,000 interactive participants
· Up to 1,000 view-only participants
1. Zoom
I am sure it comes as no surprise that Zoom makes the top of our list – for many trying to keep in touch with work and friends during lockdown, Zoom was the go-to video calling app. It has only improved with time, making it ideal for most users but particularly bigger meetings and webinars, as the 1,000 participant capacity and advanced collaboration tools make it simple to do things on a large scale.
Reliable, easy to use and ideal for businesses of all sizes, Zoom boasts a lot of features including breakout rooms, virtual backgrounds, high-definition video and audio, screen sharing, end-to-end encryption and even a Zoom AI companion.
While it doesn’t offer integration with existing applications, it is still our number one choice. It might not be right for you if you don’t need everything it can do, but Zoom is a great video calling app.
Plans:
Basic – Free
· Up to 100 participants
· 40-minute limit on group meetings
Pro – £10.40/month/user (billed annually) or £12.47/month/user (billed monthly)
· Up to 100 participants
· 30-hour meeting duration
· 5 GB cloud storage
Business – £14.29/month/user (billed annually) or £17.15/month/user (billed monthly)
· Up to 300 participants
· Additional features like single sign-on (SSO) and managed domains.
Enterprise – Contact sales for pricing
· Up to 500 participants
· Additional enterprise level features
Large Meeting Add-Ons:
500 participants - available as an add-on for Pro, Business, and Enterprise plans
1,000 participants - available as an add-on for Pro, Business, and Enterprise plans
There is our list of the top 5 video calling apps – please keep in mind that these are only our opinion! We encourage you to take a detailed look at each plan, the features and the pricing to find the right video conferencing app for you.
Do you agree with our choices? Let us know by contacting us either on our website or via our socials below:
https://www.interfuture.co.uk/contact-us
https://www.linkedin.com/company/interfuture-systems-limited