5 tools compared
Best video conferencing software
Meetings, webinars, recordings and transcripts — and how much of it works for people dialling in from outside your company.
The field
Every meeting tool worth considering
Cheapest first. Ranked properly once you tell us about your team.
Google Meet
Bundled with Google Workspace, so it usually costs nothing extra.
Free · free tier
Jitsi Meet
Open-source video you can self-host with no per-seat cost.
Free · free tier
Whereby
Browser-only rooms with fixed links, plus an embeddable video API.
$6.99 · free tier
Zoom
The reliability benchmark for meetings, webinars and large events.
$15.99 · free tier
Livestorm
Browser-based webinar platform with registration and attendee analytics built in.
$99 · free tier
Prices are unverified estimates — useful for comparing orders of magnitude, not for budgeting. Confirm the current figure with the vendor before you commit to anything.
Feature matrix
What each meeting tool can do
Generated from the dimensions this category is compared on, so it stays true as the catalogue changes. Blank means we have not established it either way.
| Capability | Google Meet | Jitsi Meet | Livestorm | Whereby | Zoom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max participants | 500 people | 100 people | 3,000 people | 200 people | 1,000 people |
| Webinars and events | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Recording | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Automatic transcripts | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Phone dial-in | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| Guests join without installing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| SAML single sign-onAvailable on some tier — check which, it is usually the expensive one. | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| SOC 2 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| EU data residency | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Open source | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Public API | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Native mobile apps | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
How to choose
The questions that actually decide a meeting tool
Everyone asks about price and seat count. These are the ones specific to this category — and the ones our questionnaire asks you.
- 01
How big is your largest regular meeting?
Under 10 people · 10 to 50 · 50 to 300 · More than 300
- 02
Who is on the call?
Our team · Clients and customers · Public audiences and events
- 03
Do you need recordings and transcripts?
Every meeting · Sometimes · No
The trade-offs
What each one asks you to accept
No tool here is strictly better than the others. These are the prices of admission.
Webinar and large-event features are thin compared with Zoom.
Call quality at scale depends entirely on how well you run the servers.
Participant caps are low — this is not a town-hall tool.
Webinar and phone add-ons are separately priced and add up quickly.
Priced for webinars, not for daily internal standups.
10 comparisons
Head to head
If you have narrowed it to two.
Questions
Choosing a meeting tool
What is the best meeting tool?
There is no single best one, and any page that names one without asking about your team is guessing. The credible options are Google Meet, Jitsi Meet, Livestorm, Whereby, Zoom. Which fits depends on the answers to the 3 questions this category turns on, plus your team size and budget — our questionnaire scores all 5 against them in about three minutes.
Is there a free meeting tool?
Google Meet, Jitsi Meet, Livestorm, Whereby, Zoom all have a free tier. The limits differ sharply though — usually on history, seat count, or exactly the features that pass a security review. Check what the free tier withholds before you plan around it.
How much should we expect to pay for a meeting tool?
Median list price across the tools we cover is about $13 per seat per month, which is roughly $7,800 a year for 50 people. Real bills land above that once you add the tier that includes single sign-on, and again once add-ons appear.
When is it worth switching meeting tool?
When the problem is a capability the current tool does not have — a price that scales the wrong way, a compliance control it cannot enforce, an integration that does not exist. When the problem is how your team uses the tool, a new one reproduces the same mess in a fresh interface within six months, and you will have paid for the privilege.
What should we compare meeting tools on?
The dimensions that actually separate them: max participants, webinars and events, recording, automatic transcripts, phone dial-in, guests join without installing. Price matters, but it is rarely the thing that decides whether a tool survives contact with your team.