Video conferencing software can make or break your business, especially if you consistently communicate with external teams and workers. Being able to efficiently and conveniently communicate online without any disruptions is what many businesses strive to achieve.
Webex is a popular web conferencing software. However, it appears the competition is getting ahead of it, pushing decision-makers in organizations to start looking for Webex alternatives. One particular problem emerges — there are dozens of video conferencing software solutions. How do you pick the best video conferencing software for your organization?
This is where we come in. We've done extensive research and found 6 Webex alternatives for you. But before we go to our list, let's see why to consider replacing Webex in the first place.
Why Consider Webex Alternatives for your team communication?
Webex comes from Cisco's kitchen. Thanks to years of development, updates, and resources available to the development teams at Cisco, Webex can offer some great perks. For instance, you don't have to worry about scalability as it can support up to 3,000 attendees. It also has great potential when it comes to training employees with screen-sharing features and support for desktop, iOS, and Android devices.
However, there are still some disadvantages when it comes to using Webex in modern, fast-paced work environments.
The inconsistent performance of Webex is one of those disadvantages. It often occurs when screen controlling or desktop sharing features are turned on. Also, Webex can be hard to onboard with because it has tons of features that are hard to locate through the lean user interface.
Webex also misses some functionalities that can make meetings even more effective, such as note-taking. There is also one disadvantage regarding inviting a guest to your online meeting. Permission settings are simply not adjusted to invite guest members so they can attend a meeting but see only limited space.
These are the most common reasons that make companies turn to some other video conferencing solution.
Best Webex Alternatives that provide better video meetings experience
If you want to streamline video meetings and video conferencing in your organization, the following WebEx alternatives will help you do it ever so easily.
Stork
Don't inefficient online meetings and clunky web conferencing tools annoy you?
We are well aware of these problems, and you are not the only one troubled by them. This is exactly why we created Stork — the first time machine for meetings. We've developed a platform that will make your video meetings appear as if they were face-to-face. Our goal was to build a versatile product to make your life easier, and we've succeeded. You can use Stork to do virtually anything ranging from improving customer support to keeping everyone in your team aligned.
With Stork, there is not one thing that you can't do with your virtual meetings. With Stork, you can effortlessly schedule and invite people to your online meetings, record any part of the meeting, transcribe it automatically, share it with the team, and play it back on demand. Plus, using Stork is so easy; all you have to do is download the app from your favorite App Store and immediately reduce wasted time and effort.
If you want to try out Stork, you can start your free trial period here!
Features
- Channels — Invite members, create public and private channels, and share files;
- Chats & calls — Effortlessly chat or join voice calls with colleagues;
- Recordings — Stork automatically records conference and one-to-one voice calls;
- Video Notes — Exchange video notes with your team with a slick of a button;
- Voice Notes — Send voice notes and unlock new levels of productivity;
- Screen Recording — Make great tutorials and presentations with screen (audio and video) recording.
Pros
- Great user interface;
- Reliable stability and performance;
- Versatile video conferencing solution with lots of features.
Cons
- Over time channel management can become hard.
Pricing
Stork is free for educators. There are three pricing plans:
- Free — includes all features with 100k message history and 5GB storage per user limit;
- Business Pro — starts at $9.99 per user per month, includes everything in Free plan, doesn't have message history limit, and bring 20GB storage per user, priority support, and retention policies;
- Enterprise — custom pricing, comes with everything in Business Pro, plus 1TB storage per user, SSO/SAML, and Advanced Analytics.
Zoom
It didn't take long for Zoom to emerge as one of the leading video conferencing software. It's one of the most popular commercial platforms for virtual meetings and a viable Webex alternative. Organizations of all sizes use it, and its use cases extend to individuals, too, for social relations purposes.
In its essence, Zoom is a platform for video conferences. It recently started working on telephony features, and if you plan to use it over the phone, you should expect to experience a lower sound quality than the competition delivers.
Its popularity spiked a couple of years ago, which made Zoom a target of cybercriminals. If you are worried about cybersecurity and using Zoom, you should get more familiar with all known Zoom security issues.
We can see Zoom predominantly used by startups and small businesses because it is fairly easy to use and integrate. Plus, it doesn't force you to make any trade-offs as it ships out with lots of useful video conferencing features, including meeting recordings and desktop sharing.
Features
- HD video and audio — enjoy high-quality video and audio during your meetings;
- Collaboration tools — share your screen and co-annotate to make the most of your meetings;
- Recording and transcripts - record and keep all your meetings in one place;
- User engagement — engage participants with polls, reactions, hand raising, and file-sharing;
- Chat — chat with participants and use search to find important information quickly;
- Add-ons — extend the functionality with paid add-ons.
Pros
- The free plan is more than enough for small businesses;
- Record meetings on demand;
- Group messaging is quite handy.
Cons
- There is a 40 minute limit for meetings in the free plan.
Pricing
Zoom offers four plans:
- Free — up to 100 participants, the 40-minutes time limit on group meetings, private & group chat, 30-hour time limit on 1 on 1 meeting;
- Pro — €13.99 per month per license - up to 100 participants, increase to 1,000 with addon (additional €46.50 per month), 30-hour time limit on group meetings, social media streaming, 1GB cloud recording;
- Business — €18.99 per month per license - up to 300 participants, increase to 1,000 with addon (additional €46.50 per month), single sign-on, recoding transcripts, managed domains, company branding, up to 99 licenses;
- Enterprise — €18.59 per month per license, up to 500 participants, unlimited cloud storage.
Click Meeting
Click Meeting is the next Webex alternative we discovered for you. It comes with a comprehensive list of features. The sheer number of features makes Click Meeting a versatile solution you can use for business video conferencing and screen sharing.
It also has some neat collaboration tools you can use to unlock new levels of efficiency and productivity. File sharing works out-of-the-box and even has the support for Dropbox.
ClickMeeting is easy to use, thanks to its clean user interface. You also get to change the color palette, which is a convenient customization perk to have. You can set up trigger events. For instance, you can have the participants take a survey once the video conference ends.
If you want to have a meeting in private, you can use the Click Meeting lock feature to keep unwanted participants out of the meeting. Here is a list of features.
Features
- Support for different types of events — video meetings, huge virtual events, automated webinars, on-demand webinars, and paid webinars;
- Customized invitations — you can send custom invitations to participants;
- Desktop app — the desktop app is the new addition to the family of Click Meeting mobile apps;
- Polls and surveys — collect valuable feedback from participants;
- Reports and analytics — attendee statistics and performance rating.
Pros
- Great white-label capabilities;
- 30-day free trial;
- Has support for huge events (up to 5,000 participants).
Cons
- No dedicated phone support.
Pricing
Click Meeting offers a 30-day free trial, no credit card required. There are three pricing plans (the below prices are for 25 attendees):
- Live — $30 per month, 6h recording storage, 1GB file storage, and screen sharing and control;
- Automated — $45 per month, everything in Live plus 10h recording storage, 2GB file storage, and auto stream and publish;
- Enterprise — Price available upon request, everything in Automated plus Breakout rooms, huge online events, SSO, account manager, individual onboarding and training, custom branding, and white label.
GoToMeeting
We consider GoToMeeting to be a veteran in the video conferencing software niche. The platform was launched back in 2004 by Citrix. Today it is maintained and managed by LogMeIn. GoToMeeting stands as a viable Cisco Webex alternative. The moment you start using GoToMeeting, it becomes clear that the team behind it packs some experience.
First of all, the GoToMeeting user interface is clean and intuitive. You will be able to use it easily given that it is much simpler than Webex's one. It's also quite easy to configure the platform according to your preferences.
GoToMeeting is so much more than a tool that enables video chat and video meetings. It comes with the support for multiple devices and packs some of the must-have features such as screen sharing. When it comes to advanced features, you will be happy to find out that you can set a PIN code for a participant to enter to join a video conference. Here is a more in-depth look into GoToMeeting features.
Features
- Integrated chat — communicate with your team on a single platform;
- Call me — set up GoToMeeting to call you on your phone to join a meeting;
- Webcam preview — check your connection and video before joining a meeting;
- Screen sharing — screen share works with desktop, mobile, and tablet devices;
- Meeting transcripts — share transcripts of your meetings and search for important information;
- Meeting recording — choose to record your meetings in the cloud or locally.
Pros
- 14-day trial period;
- Automatic meeting transcription, highlighting, and pinpointing;
- Extremely easy to use.
Cons
- Can't use it for webinars and training.
Pricing
GoToMeeting offers three pricing plans:
- Professional — $12 per organizer per month, up to 150 participants, mobile apps, and business messaging;
- Business — $16 per organizer per month, up to 250 participants, everything in Professional plus Unlimited Cloud Recording, Transcription, Smart assistant, and more;
- Enterprise — Contact Sales, up to 3,000 participants, access to all available features plus training and volume discounts.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is another solution in the line of alternatives to Webex. It comes from the team at Microsoft. Microsoft Teams wasn't developed as software for businesses from the ground up. Instead, Microsoft opted for creating a versatile platform able to cater to the needs of both individuals and companies. This is why you can often see Microsoft Teams advertised as home and business software.
When it comes to huge events, the chances are that Microsoft Teams offers the best support as it allows users to launch online events with up to 100,000 participants. The core video conferencing features are available across all plans. You can even use Microsoft Teams for free. There are certain limits, but you can still use search and chat.
Microsoft has recently added support for audio conferencing via an add-on, making it easier for you to organize meetings and have people on the go as participants.
Features
- Meetings scheduler — schedule meetings and invite participants hassle-free;
- Shared storage — keep all shared files and documents in one location;
- Collaboration — work together in real-time on documents;
- Advanced security — your data is protected with data encryption both in transit and at rest.
Pros
- Unlimited group meetings for up to 60 minutes for free;
- Great for businesses who use Microsoft Office;
- Automated meeting recordings and transcripts.
Cons
- Advanced plans are only available through Microsoft 365 Business Premium or Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3.
Pricing
Microsoft Teams is available through 4 plans:
- Free — meetings limit at 60 minutes, up to 100 participants, 5GB of cloud storage, unlimited chat, file sharing, tasks, polling, data encryption;
- Microsoft Teams Essential — $4 per user per month, everything in Free plus 30 hours meeting limit, up to 300 participants, 10GB of cloud storage, anytime phone, web support;
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic — $5 per user per month, requires Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription, everything in Essential plus meeting recordings with transcripts, web and mobile app versions, 1TB of cloud storage, business-class email;
- Microsoft 365 Business Standard — $12.50 per user per month, requires Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 subscription, everything in Business Basic plus webinar hosting, attendee registration, reporting, customer appointments.
Google Meet
Google Meet is the last of our sourced alternatives to Webex. Google Meet is not a brand new platform. It started as Google Hangouts Meet. Over time it evolved into a more comprehensive solution for video conferences. It is a cutting-edge web conferencing platform delivered by one of the IT giants.
Google Meet offers a number of packages catering to businesses of all sizes. It's a perfect option for small businesses because it delivers powerful features at no cost.
Setting up an event takes under a minute, and you get to choose how to invite the participants. You can have them join directly from a Calendar event or send them an invite via email. If you are already using some tools from Google Workplace, you will find Google Meet a perfect fit for your organization.
Features
- Attendance tracking — see exactly who joined the meeting and review reports after the meeting is over;
- Phone support — enable participants to join meetings while on the phone;
- Camera preview — test the video quality and connection before you join a meeting;
- Video captions — enable video captions in a video call to streamline communication;
- Customize the looks — completely customize the look of Google Meet;
- Record & live stream — you can choose to record and live stream video meetings.
Pros
- The Free version supports meetings with 100 participants;
- Support for events of massive scale (up to 100,000 live stream viewers);
- Ability to cast Google Meet to smart TVs.
Cons
- Sending multimedia documents through up is clunky.
Pricing
You have three options if you decide to use Google Meet:
- Google Meet Free — 24-hour limit on 1-on-1 meeting, 1-limit on meetings with 3+ participants, up to 100 participants, unlimited number of meetings;
- Google Workspace Individual — $7.99 per month, everything in Free plus 24-hour limit on meetings with 3+ participants, intelligent noise cancellation, dial-in phone support, meeting recording saved to Google Drive;
- Google Workspace Enterprise — Contact Sales for Pricing, everything in Individual plus up to 250 participants (100,000 viewers), Q&A, Attendance reports, designed Google advisors, & more.
Conclusion
If you are not satisfied with Cisco Webex and its video conferencing capabilities, these six alternative solutions will help you make an easy transition. As you can see, each one of these platforms differs in terms of basic features, advanced features, and pricing plans. Every business is unique, and we'll let you decide which one is best for your organization.
