What is the best video con­fer­en­cing software? 10 solutions compared

Suc­cess­ful meetings no longer require everyone to gather in the same location. Instead of trav­el­ling long distances, much can now be handled con­veni­ently online. A wide range of video con­fer­en­cing tools is available, and they differ not only in price but also in data pro­tec­tion standards, extra features, and the maximum number of par­ti­cipants supported.

Overview of video con­fer­en­cing software options

There is no single winner in the video con­fer­en­cing software market. Each provider focuses on different user groups and offers its own mix of features. The right choice ul­ti­mately depends on your specific needs. The following overview can help guide your decision.

Video con­fer­en­cing software options compared

Each program has its own unique ad­vant­ages and dis­ad­vant­ages. Some are perfect for small teams, while others are only suitable for large en­ter­prises. We present each video con­fer­en­cing program in a brief overview.

Zoom

With Zoom, up to 1,000 par­ti­cipants can join a video con­fer­ence, with 49 attendees displayed on a single screen at the same time. For webinars, where most par­ti­cipants simply watch and listen rather than interact, even larger audiences can be ac­com­mod­ated.

This level of scale, however, is only available with paid packages. In the free version, you can host up to 100 par­ti­cipants per meeting. A con­veni­ent benefit: invited par­ti­cipants don’t need their own Zoom account to join a meeting.

Another reason for Zoom’s pop­ular­ity is the wide range of ad­di­tion­al features it offers:

• Text chat: Par­ti­cipants in meetings and con­fer­ences can also com­mu­nic­ate with each other via chat.
• File sharing: Files can be easily shared via Zoom.
• Screen sharing: It is possible to share your own screen via Zoom.
• White­board: During a meeting, you can col­lab­or­ate on a digital white­board.
• Flexible back­grounds: Instead of showing a glimpse into your office or home, you can set a custom back­ground.

The software is available as a desktop version for Windows, Linux, and macOS, and can also be installed on iOS and Android devices or simply run through a browser. Numerous plugins, including for Microsoft Outlook, make handling in daily op­er­a­tions very easy.

Zoom has often faced criticism for short­com­ings in data privacy. On the one hand, meeting ad­min­is­trat­ors can access more in­form­a­tion than par­ti­cipants may expect — for example, they can see if a user switches to another window during a session. On the other hand, third parties may also gain access to sensitive data: meeting rooms are not suf­fi­ciently secured by default and can be hijacked by cy­ber­crim­in­als. In addition, Zoom, a U.S.-based company, only stopped sharing data with Facebook after sig­ni­fic­ant media attention.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft offers Teams as video con­fer­en­cing software for busi­nesses. However, in­di­vidu­al users can also hold meetings with Teams.

As a part of Microsoft 365, Teams in­teg­rates seam­lessly with many of Microsoft’s other services. For instance, it works closely with Outlook and the Office suite, allowing documents and spread­sheets to be shared and edited directly within the Teams workspace.

Teams provides multiple com­mu­nic­a­tion options: advanced chat functions, IP telephony, and the ability to host online meetings. According to Microsoft, a single virtual event can support up to 10,000 par­ti­cipants. Video con­fer­ences can also be scheduled through Outlook’s calendar and carried out directly in Teams.

The software is available for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. A sim­pli­fied preview version exists for Linux, and like all Microsoft 365 products, Teams can also be accessed fully through the browser. In addition, the platform can be connected with video con­fer­en­cing hardware, expanding its use in pro­fes­sion­al telephony en­vir­on­ments.

alfaview

alfaview is a GDPR-compliant video con­fer­en­cing software developed in Germany, enabling online meetings with up to 200 par­ti­cipants (video and audio). With the viewer function, up to 500 ad­di­tion­al people can join larger meetings or events. Fur­ther­more, alfaview is dis­tin­guished by the following features:

• Text chat: Par­ti­cipants can send personal direct and group messages.
• Screen sharing: alfaview allows unlimited screen sharing at the same time.
• Toolbox: Each meeting room can integrate tools for col­lab­or­at­ive work such as white­boards, polls, etc., or web links (e.g., to the company’s own intranet).
• Guest and group links: Par­ti­cip­at­ing in meetings requires no re­gis­tra­tion—or­gan­isers simply share specific par­ti­cip­a­tion links.
• In­di­vidu­al room structure: Companies, uni­ver­sit­ies, events, etc., can be virtually rep­res­en­ted using the video con­fer­en­cing software.

One of the biggest strengths of this video con­fer­en­cing software is its strict data pro­tec­tion standards. All data is trans­mit­ted in encrypted form (TLS and AES-256 bit). Storage takes place ex­clus­ively in ISO-27001-certified data centres in Germany, with audio and video streams never being stored or shared. The platform is also fully GDPR-compliant, as confirmed by the Berlin Data Pro­tec­tion Authority, among others.

alfaview is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, as well as for iOS and Android devices.

Google Meet

Google also provides its own solution for digital meetings. As part of the Google Workspace suite, Google Meet is primarily designed for browser use. The software is deeply in­teg­rated into the Google ecosystem, making it ac­cess­ible directly from Gmail.

In the free version of Google Meet, up to 100 par­ti­cipants can join a meeting with a time limit of 60 minutes. With the paid ‘En­ter­prise Plus’ edition of Workspace, this capacity expands to up to 1,000 par­ti­cipants. Like other video con­fer­en­cing platforms, Google Meet offers screen sharing and chat functions. A major benefit is that you can invite par­ti­cipants who don’t have a Google account. You can also join via phone call, and in addition to the web version, mobile apps are available for hosting and attending meetings.

WebEx

Cisco has also developed its own video con­fer­en­cing software, WebEx. The software is designed for large en­ter­prises and, like Microsoft Teams, aims to cover all aspects of internal com­mu­nic­a­tion. With WebEx, users can chat, make phone calls, and hold video con­fer­ences. Paid packages support meetings with up to 200 par­ti­cipants, with higher ca­pa­cit­ies available on request. Security is supported by features such as end-to-end en­cryp­tion, while a variety of ad­di­tion­al functions make WebEx a strong solution for everyday business com­mu­nic­a­tion.

• Screen sharing: You can share your screen for others to view.
• White­board: Meetings and present­a­tions can be enhanced with a white­board visible to everyone.
• Document editing: Multiple people can work on documents together.

One of WebEx’s key strengths is its versatile con­nectiv­ity, which expands the platform’s func­tion­al­ity. In addition to in­teg­rat­ing with col­lab­or­a­tion tools such as Teams or Slack, WebEx can also connect with various cloud storage services and integrate with Sales­force. Another useful feature is the ability to redirect WebEx con­fer­ences and webinars to Facebook, making them available as live video streams. Cisco also provides dedicated IoT devices that further simplify and enhance the video con­fer­en­cing ex­per­i­ence.

Amazon Chime

With its extensive AWS server network, Amazon offers its own business-focused video con­fer­en­cing software. Amazon Chime is designed as a complete com­mu­nic­a­tion solution, including chat features and IP telephony. Online meetings can host up to 250 par­ti­cipants, and screen sharing makes it easy to present in­form­a­tion or col­lab­or­ate with col­leagues.

Amazon Chime can be accessed directly in the browser via a web app or installed on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. While Amazon’s cloud services have often raised privacy concerns due to U.S.-based data centres, it is possible to select European regions as the server location. For added security, the platform also provides strong en­cryp­tion.

Nextcloud Talk

If you want to make sure that no sensitive data is exposed, a self-hosted solution on your company’s own server may be the best choice. Nextcloud Talk is open source and can be cus­tom­ised precisely to your business needs. To keep in­form­a­tion secure, all con­ver­sa­tions are protected with end-to-end en­cryp­tion, pre­vent­ing un­au­thor­ised access or eaves­drop­ping. One of Nextcloud’s biggest strengths lies in its extensive security mech­an­isms:

• Open source: Open software is often more secure, as more people can review the source code.
• Self-hosting: The im­ple­ment­ing company keeps all data on its own server and has control over its security.
• End-to-end en­cryp­tion: All calls are encrypted and therefore cannot be eaves­dropped on.
• Video veri­fic­a­tion: Before allowing external in­di­vidu­als to join a meeting room, you can verify them with a video call.

However, beyond its security tech­niques, Nextcloud Talk offers several features that are useful in web con­fer­ences. In addition to the usual chat function, you can activate screen sharing and give present­a­tions online. To invite external par­ti­cipants, you only need to send them a link. How many users can par­ti­cip­ate in a meeting at the same time depends entirely on your own in­fra­struc­ture and is therefore scalable.

Talk is part of Nextcloud Hub, a com­pre­hens­ive groupware solution. In addition to the video con­fer­en­cing program, it also offers other col­lab­or­a­tion ap­plic­a­tions as well as a complete office en­vir­on­ment. You can use Nextcloud Talk directly through the browser or download an app for iOS or Android.

BigBlue­But­ton

BigBlue­But­ton is an open-source video con­fer­en­cing solution built spe­cific­ally for education. It includes features such as present­a­tion sharing, a white­board, polls, shared notes, breakout rooms, and a learning analytics dashboard. The platform is es­pe­cially popular with schools, uni­ver­sit­ies, and con­tinu­ing education providers, as it in­teg­rates seam­lessly with learning man­age­ment systems like Moodle and ILIAS. BigBlue­But­ton runs entirely in the browser, so no ad­di­tion­al software in­stall­a­tion is required.

A key strength is its scalab­il­ity: with suf­fi­ciently powerful servers, con­fer­ences with more than 100 par­ti­cipants are easily possible. The moderator role provides precise control over sessions — from muting par­ti­cipants and launching polls to sharing videos. BigBlue­But­ton can also be self-hosted, enabling edu­ca­tion­al in­sti­tu­tions to retain full control over data pro­tec­tion and server location.

Spike

Spike is a modern com­mu­nic­a­tion platform that combines email, chat, and video con­fer­en­cing in one tool. Instead of relying on tra­di­tion­al inboxes, Spike turns email threads into chat-like con­ver­sa­tions for easier col­lab­or­a­tion. Alongside its unified messaging features, the platform also includes video and voice calls, group chats, file sharing, and col­lab­or­at­ive notes.

Spike is es­pe­cially popular with SMBs, freel­an­cers, and dis­trib­uted teams that want to simplify their com­mu­nic­a­tion by managing everything in a single app. Video meetings can host up to 50 par­ti­cipants (in paid packages), making it a good fit for smaller teams. One of its unique ad­vant­ages is that video calls have no time limit, even in the free version. Spike is available as a web app and on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.