Video Conferencing Platforms Compared: Teams, Zoom, Meet

Video conferencing software lets people meet over live video and audio from a computer, phone or meeting room. The major platforms are Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet and Cisco Webex. For a business, the best one is usually the platform that comes with the productivity suite you already use: Teams with Microsoft 365, Meet with Google Workspace, or Zoom if you want a standalone meeting service that works with either.

The main platforms

Platform	Comes with	Strengths	Meeting room systems
Microsoft Teams	Microsoft 365 business plans	Chat, files and meetings in one app; Outlook calendar	Microsoft Teams Rooms (Windows and Android)
Zoom (Zoom Workplace)	Standalone, free and paid plans	Easy for guests, strong meeting features, webinars	Zoom Rooms
Google Meet	Google Workspace	Runs in the browser, Gmail and Calendar integration	Google Meet hardware
Cisco Webex	Standalone	Enterprise calling and Cisco devices	Cisco Room devices

Others include GoTo Meeting and RingCentral, plus FaceTime and WhatsApp for casual calls.

Free plans and time limits

All four major platforms have free tiers, usually with a cap on group meeting length and limited admin tools. As of this writing, Zoom's free plan limits meetings to 40 minutes, and the free versions of Google Meet and Microsoft Teams limit group meetings to 60 minutes. One-to-one calls on Meet and Teams free can run longer. Limits change, so check each provider's current plan page.

For video conferencing with no time limit, you need a paid plan on any of the major platforms.

Best for personal use

Any free plan works for family calls and small groups. Pick whatever your contacts already have: Google Meet if they use Gmail, FaceTime for an all-Apple group, Zoom or Teams free for mixed groups.

Best for small business

• Already on Microsoft 365: use Teams; meetings are included in most business plans.
• Already on Google Workspace: use Meet; it's included.
• Neither, or lots of external guests: Zoom is simple for outsiders to join.

See video conferencing for small business.

Best for education

Schools on Microsoft 365 Education use Teams; schools on Google Workspace for Education use Meet; Zoom is common for lecture capture and webinars. See classroom video conferencing.

Choosing a platform for meeting rooms

Room hardware runs one platform natively. Standardize on the one most of your meetings use:

Platform	Room system	Guide
Teams	Microsoft Teams Rooms	Teams Rooms hardware
Zoom	Zoom Rooms	Zoom Rooms
Google Meet	Meet hardware	Google Meet hardware

Teams Rooms and Zoom Rooms can join each other's meetings, and Meet hardware can join Teams and Zoom meetings, through interop features (see Teams Rooms direct guest join, Zoom Rooms interop and Meet hardware interop). Native meetings still get the full feature set.

Many video bars, like the Logitech Rally Bar, Poly Studio X52 and Neat Bar Gen 2, can run Teams Rooms, Zoom Rooms or Meet depending on how you set them up. That keeps your options open if you switch platforms later.

BYOD rooms work with any app

A USB camera like the Logitech MeetUp 2 works with every platform because the laptop runs the meeting. It's the simplest choice for organizations that use several apps. Compare approaches in Teams Rooms vs BYOD.

Zoom plugins and add-ins

The Zoom add-in for Outlook and the Zoom extension for Google Calendar add a Zoom link to calendar invites. Teams and Meet links are added natively in Outlook and Google Calendar.

More background: what is video conferencing, Teams Rooms vs Zoom Rooms, and how video conferencing works.

Picked a platform? Get room hardware matched to it.

Related guides

• Join Teams or Zoom from Google Meet hardware
• Choosing a Conference Room Camera for Teams or Zoom
• Join Zoom or Google Meet from a Microsoft Teams Room
• Conference room setup for both Teams and Zoom
• How to Join Microsoft Teams Meetings from a Zoom Room
• Microsoft Teams Rooms vs Zoom Rooms: Which Is Better?

All video conferencing basics →