Best Free Video Conferencing

There’s a number of great free video conferencing software available on today’s market.

Bear in mind that some of the recommended tools will cost after a certain meeting time and attendee number.

Having used quite a few video conferencing tools over the past 10 years, here are my best 3 picks:

Zoom

Great For: Zoom One has a free version that’s great for remote teams. I find the ease of use for setting up meetings and running them great with Zoom. There’s also a tonne of ‘in meeting features’ such as live chat, recording and AI summaries which are simple to access and utilize.

Features:

Meetings up to 40 minutes per meeting
100 Attendees per meeting
Whiteboard Basic
Team Chat
Mail & Calendar
Clips Basic

Zoom in-meeting features controls snapshot:

Verdict: Personally I’m a fan of Zoom. It’s feature packed, has great integration offerings and its ease of use means that the entire team can use it without the need for support. It has run into some security issues in the past to be aware of.

Google Meet

Great For: Google Meet is very simple to use and set up and can be a great option if you’re looking for simplicity, but from my experience it’s not packed with as many features as Zoom.

Features:

Up to 100 video participants
Video, audio, + messenger conversations
Unlimited meetings (up to 60 minutes)
Join calls using Google Calendar
Screen sharing

Google in-meeting features controls snapshot:

Verdict: Google Meet is super easy to use and users can easily connect on mobile, desktop and tablet with ease. One big drawback though is its challenging integration offering with anything not offered by Google. 

Dialpad

Great For: Dialpad is a great option for small teams or 121 meetings as it’s free for 45 minutes and up to 10 participants, with unlimited meetings.

Features:

Host up to 10 participants
Meet for up to 45 minutes
Instant join on desktop or mobile browser with no downloads
Virtual backgrounds
Unlimited audio recordings

Dialpad in-meeting features controls snapshot:

Verdict: Dialpad has a great integration offering with both Google and Microsoft tools as well as others. There’s a bit of a learning curve, but once set 

Best Video Conferencing Conclusion

Whichever software you decide to go for, make sure you take a long-term view in alignment with how you think your business will scale!

If you’re looking for a deeper dive on the pros and cons, tips and other considerations for video conferencing check out A Guide To Video Conferencing.