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11 Best Video Conferencing Platforms of 2020 [Ultimate Guide]

top video conferencing platforms 2020

As working from home became the norm recently and looking to become a long term trend, video conferencing has become the go-to solution for not just business meetings, but also employee socialization and even team buildings.

We tested and reviewed 11 video conferencing software solutions to help you choose the right one to manage remotely your company.

Emails can be very efficient and quick, but nothing is better than a “face-to-face meeting”. In fact, meeting face to face is 34 times more successful than email communication.

With more employees working remotely, traveling and enjoying flexible schedules, the need for more personal conversations can really only be done with video conferencing software.

Fortunately, there’s a huge market of endless options for different types of video conferencing software. The best one for your company will depend on several factors, such as the number of employees you have, your budget and any special features you may need. 

In fact, the video conferencing market has plenty of space to mature by 2030, when it is estimated to reach a market of $50 BN from $14 BN in 2019

 

video conferencing market

While the video conferencing tools are pretty similar these days, the devil is in the details like:

  • What is the overall experience of the employees in the meeting room?
  • How many viewers can you present to at one time?
  • How easy is it for colleagues to download the plugin and join the meeting?
  • How well integrated is the conferencing too with calendars and other 3rd parties?
  • How high-quality is the audio

All these factors matter when you pick a software,especially because you’ll be joining a long term contract with the provider most of the times.

And this is where choosing the best webinar software comes into play.

With more employees working from home these days, you need to select the 

To make things easier for you, we tested, ranked, and reviewed these tools and curated a list of the best webinar software that’ll work for any business.

We’ve broken down the top 11 video conferencing for 2020 to help you figure out which one will fit best for your company. 

These reviews are based on ease-of-use, features, integrations, marketing features, automation, pricing, and more.

Here are our top picks for the best video conferencing software to try this year. 

What is the Top Videoconferencing Software?

With more employees working from home these days, you need to make sure you and your company have the right video tool to perform remotely.

The best video conferencing software makes it easy to access the meeting, screen share, invite people and offers a great video and audio quality.  

In our opinion, the best webinar software tools are Zoom, ClickMeeting, GoToWebinar, Cisco Webex and Ring Central.

Don’t forget about the integrations too. An excellent video conferencing tool will offer calendar and meeting integrations with the most popular software providers like Microsoft and Google.

Here are our top pics for the best video conferencing tools to try and use this year! 

#1 Best Overall Video Conferencing Software

zoom video conferencing

Zoom is one of the best webinar and most popular software available on the market today for video conferencing. Its intuitive interface, the fact that is entirely cloud-based, and has a user-friendly interface makes it a great app for a regular user.

It performs a wide array of activities that make it an asset to any company. Zoom offers HD video and audio, screen sharing, desktop, and app sharing options. Participants can share their screens simultaneously and co-annotate for a more interactive meeting.

A very cool feature of this video conferencing software is that one can record meetings locally or to the cloud, with searchable transcripts.

Moreover, it allows you to host the scheduled and unscheduled meeting, and keeps a backup of every session in the cloud for ready and instant access at a later time.

The best part is that it allows private and public chats so that the audience does not necessarily have to interrupt the speaker while he or she is making a point.

It also integrates with Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook, which allows its users to schedule meetings and send emails, seamlessly. Zoom is a one-stop-shop for everything when it comes to hosting a video conference.

Are you worried about the security of your video conferences?

Zoom has robust security settings to ensure disruption-free meetings. Encryption, role-based security, Passcode protection, Waiting Rooms and more.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Excellent HD video and audio, along with screens sharing facility.
  • Desktop and app sharing options.
  • Backup of every meeting in the cloud.
  • It allows private and public chats, which lets your viewers communicate during the event without any interruption.
  • Provides free access to up to 100 participants and 40 mins limit on group meetings.
  • Efficient host controls and virtual whiteboards.
  • User-friendly and easily navigable dashboard.
  • Free to sign up – NO one time fees
 

PRICING PACKAGES (ANNUAL):

It is one of the best video conferencing platforms that provides a freemium package. The free plan (personal) offers 40 minutes of video conferencing and allows up to 100 participants. The Basic paid plan offers every feature along with 1 GB of cloud recording and costs $14.99 per month.

The Business package, ideal for small and medium-sized businesses who want to to videoconferencing, is $19.99 per month. The Enterprise package, which is best suited for large enterprises, costs $199.99 per month.

cisco webex conferencing tool

A Cisco product, Webex lives up to the expectations that come from having such an acclaimed parent company.

It provides some impressive features, such as a host room along with HD video and audio services that can be accessed on multiple devices. It allows its users a high degree of customization so that the host environment can be tailor-made to suit the business requirements.

Through Webex webinars, you can hold meetings throughout your organization, offer online and offline training sessions, and provide remote support. The key USPs of Webex include mobility, user-friendliness, and compatibility with all devices and browsers.

It is a cloud-based platform, so along with superior speed, there is a guarantee of data security as well.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Cloud-based platform.
  • It allows the hosting up to 40,000 attendees.
  • Built-in Q&A sessions, polls, and surveys to facilitate audience engagement.
  • Mobile app available too
  • The excellent HD video and audio quality
  • Integrates with popular marketing tools like Salesforce.
 

PRICING PACKAGES:

The Basic plan costs $13.5 per month for up to 50 participants if billed annually. The price climbs up as you move on to a higher-tier plan.

video conferencing tool gotomeeting

 GoToMeeting (which begins at $12 per month) is one of the better-known video conferencing services, along with Cisco WebEx Meetings and ClickMeeting. 

But GoToMeeting, which was acquired from Citrix by LogMeIn in January 2017, no longer dominates the space, and might even be falling behind the competition in some areas.

However, this video conferencing tool  remains a highly polished remote meeting software with a long list of features that would satisfy the needs of most business environments.

This user-friendly software has a few important advantages over its competitors, including its polling and “raise a hand” features. Furthermore, GoToMeeting allows unlimited video meetings and secures these meetings with end-to-end encryption.

GoToMeeting allows 10 to 250 participants, depending on the type of plan you get. However, the free version allows a maximum of three participants vs. up to 100 on other platforms.

KEY FEATURES:

  • 24/7 customer care
  • 14 day free trial
  • 25 HD video feeds
  • Simple user interface
  • Unlimited meetings
  • Screen sharing from desktops, tablets or mobile devices
  • Messaging
  • Meeting transcription
  • Web audio – no phone required
  • Security

PRICING PACKAGES:

video conference gotomeeting price

GoToMeeting offers three versions of its software:  Pro, Business and Enterprise.  GoToMeeting Pro supports up to 10 participants and GoToMeeting Pro (which begins at $29 per month, billed annually) supports up to 150 participants. GoToMeeting Plus (which begins at $39 per month, billed annually) can handle up to 250 participants on a call. There is also a free version of GoToMeeting, which offers limited features for up to 50 participants. GoToMeeting doesn’t require a credit card to sign up for the free 14-day trial, a practice I wish was more prevalent among business services. It also offers a 60-day refund, which is also unusual.

microsoft team video conference 2020

Teams it’s a clean, orderly, and sequentially numbered video conferencing application. The learning curve is steep, because the interface takes some time to get used to. But once you know what you’re doing, it’s a powerful tool for staying in touch, and especially important in these days of COVID-19, for working from home.

A lot of users love this the chat from this app for everything else it has to offer, from its long list of integration options to its ability to work seamlessly with nearly any other Office app. Given its potential, Teams is a top choice, but only if your company is invested in the Microsoft Family.

 Teams has a love-it-or-leave-it sensibility. Its design makes communication faster, more open, perhaps messier, but also more fun.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Web version of Word, Excel and PowerPoint
  • File storage and sharing
  • Host secure online meetings with the ability to mute, remove uninvited attendees, and designate presenters and participants
  • Hold meetings and conferences live with people inside and outside your organization—large meetings, webinars, company-wide events, and presentations with up to 10,000 attendees
  • Chat, live captions and cloud recordings
  • Customized backgrounds
  • Up to 300 users
  • 24/7 phone and web support

PRICING PACKAGES:

teams pricing

 As with the free version, this version lets you have up to 300 team members, unless you have the enterprise edition, which is good for as many people as you need. Here are the three versions of Office that include Teams and their prices:

  • Office 365 Business Essentials: $5 per person per month with annual commitment
  • Office 365 Business Premium: $12.50 per person per month with annual commitment
  • Office 365 E3 (enterprise): $20 per person per month with annual commitment

Cheap and easy to setup

joinme video tool

Join.me offers feature-rich video conferencing and three affordable plans. Monthly fees are charged per user and only meeting hosts need an account helping to keep costs down. Its user interface (UI) is friendly and modern, and it’s very easy to setup meetings. 

Join.me wasbuilt for  everyday video conferencing and online meetings. With only a few clicks, you can host or join a personalized, free-to-use meeting with join.me and be instantly connected to your colleagues and clients via engaging visual bubbles.

With Android and iOS mobile apps and one-click scheduling, you’ll never miss or be late for a meeting. Set a custom meeting background, share your screen, turn the meeting over to a new presenter, use a whiteboard from desktop or mobile, the possibilities are endless — join.me’s platform is fun, flexible and easy to use.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Generous free plan
  • Whiteboard available
  • Up to 10 streams at once
  • Integrations with Outlook, Office 365, Trello, Slack and more
  • One click scheduling
  • Screen sharing

PRICING PACKAGES:

join me pricing

join.me is scalable, with three paid tiers in addition to their free account level. Easy pricing, just like the tool!

A good video conferencing tool overall, but lacks some features

ring central video conferencing

RingCentral is an old name in the industry due to their Voice-over-IP (VoIP) telephony solutions aimed primarily at midsize and larger businesses. But RingCentral Meetings (which begins at $14.99 per user per month for the Essentials plan) is the company’s first stab at breaking this feature out into its own product platform. 

RingCentral’s security controls are externally verified so you this company is taking this chapter very seriously. They have been audited by McAfee, HPAA and own a AICPA SOC2 certificate. 

Whether you’re joining a meeting from your browser or the RingCentral app, every conversation is private and secure.

KEY FEATURES:

  • HD voice and video
  • No download needed
  • Meeting analytics and screen sharing
  • Meeting recordings
  • Webminars available: up to 10,000 attendees
  • Available for smartphones too
  • Dial-in support for all plans
  • Device switching
  • Works on all major platform

PRICING PACKAGES:

ringcentral video tool pricing

The starting plan which most users choose is the $19.99-per-user-per-month Essentials Plan (annual basis)because it includes such features as phone support, Single Sign-On (SSO), and the ability to dial out to join a conference. It also offers unlimited business SMS and unlimited calls within the US/CA.

The next plan Standard, for $24.99 per user per month offers unilimited audio conferencing, no limit on number of users, integrations with Office 365 and G suit and 24/7 support. You can bring up to 100 participants in the meetings.

 

CONS:

  • Only local recordings are offered
  • Does not offfer its own collaboration, calendar, and task management service
  • No collaboration with outside users

A solid conferencing tool for people who want to meet,screenshare and whiteboard

blue jeans conference tool

BlueJeans is the meetings platform for the modern workplace.It is an excellent service for people who want to meet, share the screen and use the whiteboard. 

The software is fast enough that you can schedule, join and host one-touch meetings in just six seconds from anywhere, on any device or room system.

The video conferencing platform also offers HD experience and stunningly clear audio in an intuitive interface.

Drive meeting productivity within the digital workplace through seamless integration with your favorite scheduling, messaging and productivity tools. Leverage AI and voice recognition to make your meetings efficient.

You can manage and troubleshoot meetings, events and rooms in real-time with an enterprise-grade platform that meets the most demanding management, security and scalability requirements.

BlueJeans Conference Meetings are also available in the  browser with one click. BlueJeans’ zero download, browser-based meeting experience leverages the open WebRTC standard to bring immersive video andaudio, and easy join automation for simple and productive meetings.  Fully featured, friction free meetings are a click away.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Up to 100 participants (on the enterprise plan)
  • Unlimited recordings 
  • Command centre live and analytics
  • Sales integration with Gong & Zoho
  • Apps available on iOS and Android
  • Collaboration Integrations featuring Slack & Microsoft Teams

PRICING PACKAGES:

blue jeans pricing

The standard version for this video conferencing tool costs $9.99 offers pretty good value for money. Maximum 50 participants, unlimited group meetings, user management and Smart Meetings Features. 

Our #2 choice. Best All in One Tool (Onboarding + Elearning + Marketing + Enterprise). 

clickmeeting videoconferencing tool

ClickMeeting is one of the most popular video conferencing software platforms in this list, with an impressive and user-friendly interface.

ClickMeeting was founded in 2011 by GetResponse, the leading email marketing platform. The idea was to provide a complete webinar solution for businesses, large and small. Over the next five years, ClickMeeting grew so much that s it became  a separate company.

ClickMeeting makes it easier for you to reach out to your colleagues as well customers for training, product sales and marketing, and other aspects. All in all, it is a well-integrated, intuitive platform that provides options for automated webinars and customized invites. 

Best suited for small and medium-sized businesses, ClickMeeting provides clear instructions to set up the event effortlessly, without worrying over any technical stuff. It also offers analytical insights regarding the past video calls and the audience of the upcoming video call.

We love the versatility of this tool.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Offers polls and surveys for feedback.
  • Chat options and interactive sessions.
  • It can be connected to Facebook and YouTube to enhance engagement.
  • You can record the entire audio and video of the live sessions, which are then stored in clouds, and can be downloaded easily.
  • Multiple presenters can present with HD video.

PRICING PACKAGES:

clickmeeting-pricing-video-conferencing

ClickMeeting’s rates start at $25 per month (billed annually) for 25 attendees or $35 (billed annually) per month for up to 50 viewers. There’s also an option for custom-pricing that’s best suited for enterprise customers.

ClickMeeting also has a free 30-day trial to test out its features.

intermedia video conferencing tool

Intermedia AnyMeeting is a web-based video conferencing software solution designed for small to midsize business  customers. Aside from video communication, the platform also features a variety of tools for hosting webinars and collaborating during online meetings.

The video platform has been around in some shape or form since 2011 and was originally called Freebinar. Intermedia acquired AnyMeeting in 2017, and has since sold the service as a standalone product as well as part of its Intermedia Unite. Intermedia Unite offerrs a larger package of business video communication tools centered on Voice-over-IP (VoIP) and cloud-based Private Branch Exchange (PBX) features. So if you need extra services like this, maybe Intermedia is the tool for you.

One thing to be conscious about is that the video quality is limited to 720p HD resolution, which is similar to several competitors, but not the best on the market.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Offers polls and surveys for feedback.
  • Unlimited and Recurring Meetings
  • Join or host from Mobile or Chrome
  • Meeting Chat,Notes and Screen Sharing
  • Meeting recordings and transcripts
  • Integrations (Google, Slack, Office 365, Outlook, Teams And More)

PRICING PACKAGES:

intermedia pricing video tool

 Intermedia AnyMeeting begins at $9.99 per user per month for the Lite plan. This plan includes video and web conferencing for up to 10 attendees, 200+ web phone participants, 10 HD video participants, VoIP/Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) audio calling, unlimited meetings, custom meeting URLs, recurring meetings, instant and scheduled calls, screen sharing (desktop and apps), and meeting chat with attendance reports and chat reports. The plan also includes J.D. Power-certified 24/7 support with a reported 99 percent uptime.

The Pro plan costs $12.99 per host per month, and includes video and web conferencing for up to 30 attendees, 12 HD video participants, 200 web plus phone participants,  VoIP and PSTN audio calling, unlimited messaging, customer meeting URLs, recurring meetings, instant and scheduled calls, screen sharing (desktop and apps), meeting chat and presentation uploads. There’s also in-meeting file sharing, record meeting functionality, unlimited recording cloud storage, meeting notes, custom branding, and international dial-in numbers.

The free version offers 100 people in a single meeting for up to 40 minutes, and host an unlimited number of HD video conferencing 

ez talks video software

ezTalks Meetings is a solid web application for video conferencing in healthcare, community and education. 

This video conference software enables people to enjoy great video conferencing experience across any Mac, Windows, iOS or Android device with anyone from anywhere easily.

No internet access? No problem, you can join meetings by phone.


Perhaps the biggest selling points of ezTalks Meetings are its continuous technological advancements and its developers’ unwavering commitment to introducing cutting-edge features and state-of-the-art video meeting protocols.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Unlimited number of meetings
  • Instant or scheduled meetings
  • Interactive whiteboard
  • Vote and polling
  • iOS and Android available
  • Meeting control
  • Join by telephone call-in
  • Conference Room Solutions
  • HD video and audio
  • Private and group chat
  • Interactive whiteboards
  • Screen sharing with co-annotation

PRICING PACKAGES:

eztalks video conferencing price

On the free version of video conferencing you can host up to 2 participants with a 10 mins limit on group meetings and MP4 local recording included.

The next  version, standard which is just 10$/month, can host up to 100 participants, offers MP4 cloud recording, 2 GB /host online storage and access to the REST API.

Easiest and Cheapest Video Conferencing Tool

zoho video conferencing tool

Zoho Meeting is a solid video conferencing tool if you need screen sharing and web presentations. However, if you need features such as white boarding, recording, and social sharing this is not the tool for you. 

Zoho has features like , including screen sharing, private chat, video playback, and hand raising features.

This service makes itself outstanding by the simplicity of use where even tech beginners can use it quickly. 

 Zoho Meeting (which begins at $8 per month) comes in as perhaps the easiest-to-use video conferencing service on the market. A drawback is its fairly bare-bones feature set compared with other competitors such as ClickMeeting or Webex.

However, it is, by far, the cheapest option. So, if you are running a small business and don’t to spend to much on a video conferencing tool, then this could be a good option.

Zoho remains a tool that’s great for basic remote support, team collaboration, and application-based demonstrations.

KEY FEATURES:

  • 14-day free trial
  • Setup meetings, RSVPs and email reminders
  • Screen sharing
  • Record, watch, download and share sessions
  • iOS and Android available
  • Meeting control
  • Great native integrations with ZOHO integrations with ZOHO Calendar, CRM and Projects 
  • Private and group chat
  • Screen sharing 

PRICING PACKAGES:

pricing packages zoho video call tool

Zoho Meeting comes in 4 different varieties: the Meeting-10 ($2.5/user/month), the Meeting-25 (5$/user/month),  Meeting-50 and Meeting-100 ($10/user/month). 

As you see, all plans are  more expensive when billed monthly. The Free plan gives you access to two participants only; however, you’ll be able to host an unlimited number of meetings for an unlimited duration. You can schedule meetings in advance, share your screen, and even let your participant take control of your desktop remotely. This is a great deal for anyone who makes impromptu, one-on-one casual calls to colleagues and friends.

 While Zoho is amazingly cheap in its base form, it carries many hidden costs if you want features comparable to Cisco WebEx Meetings or ClickMeeting (40.00 Per Month Per Host at ClickMeeting) . You can mix and match licenses and add-ons to meet your needs.

Promising and cost effective European Startup

whereby video conferencing europe

Whereby is very promising startup made by a team of passionate people with the headquarters in Norway. However,  the company itself is fully remote so its memebers 

Their every day mission is to  extend the priviliges of the flexible working culture to everyone.

Some of the clients of this fresh startup in the space include Shopify, Capgemini, Trello and even General Electric. 

KEY FEATURES:

  • Chat and reactions
  • Room Control
  • Maximum 50 participants
  • Integrated with Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar
  • Screensharing
  • Recordings in the cloud
  • Only iOS app for now supported

PRICING PACKAGES:

whereby pricing

The Pro version is priced at 9.99 USD/month per user, being one of the cheapest on the market. Even if the team is working on adding more feature, the cool part about this tool is the great customer service and the very responsive team behind the product.

How to Choose a Video Conferencing Tool

  1. Have a budget in mind for this software

Find out what is the maximum budget for the tool purchase. Also, it’s very important to understand your company’s and team’s needs when it comes to a 

How about you do a small survey with your remote team and find out what are the most important specifications for them when it comes to a video conferencing tool?

It’s important to have the exact count of the team members who will be using the software. Usually, these vendors will charge you per user so you will need to give them an exact head count for an accurate price.

2. Always use the free trial option

Why not? Most of the video platforms can offer you two weeks or even a month of free trial. You should take advantage to see if that tool works for you and your team and then enter a long term paid contract with that company.

3. Schedule a call with the video conferencing provider

If you have questions about the tool, or want to test the quality of audio/video schedule a call with the software provider. Make sure you tick all the answers before you sign a yearly long agreement with them (yearly subscriptions are cheaper).

4. Be careful at the contract length

You don’t want to get stuck in a really long contract so pay attention at what you sign and terms and conditions of the contract with the video conferencing company

Video Conferencing Software – Summary

Owing to their impressive and user-friendly features, these are the best videoconferencing tools available today.

But the question is which conferencin software platform is best for your business. 

To identify this, you need to take several things into account. For starters, see what your budget is and then compare the features accordingly.

Then you need to identify what size of your company is and what features you might require to engage them as well as the ease of use. Also, you should keep in mind the mobility that these tools offer for your employees. Do they offer iOS and Android version? 

The best part is that most of these tools come with a free trial or money-back guarantee, which allows you to test out the product before upgrading to a paid plan. When you find what you are looking for, then you can make the final purchase.

If you’re looking for our top pick, we would recommend you get started with Zoom.

 

Which video conferencing software do you plan to use?

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About Andrew Williams

Andrew Williams is the Founder of Remote Tribelife, an online magazine for digital nomads and remote working. Andrew has an extensive background in SEO and content marketing. His experience with digital marketing goes back to his early age in University when he founded a blog about startups and funding. He does his best writing in the coffee shops in Bali or in the condos of busy cities like Bangkok and Singapore. He is currently based in Singapore. You can connect with Andrew on his Linkedin profile and/or follow Remote Tribelife on Instagram.

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