Webex Alternatives 2026: 5 Free Options
Webex alternatives: Jitsi Meet, BigBlueButton, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and 1 more. Prices and licenses checked October 23, 2026.
•3 min read•Team Chat, Meetings & Phone
Verdict:Webex Free gives unlimited meetings for up to 40 minutes and 100 attendees, and that time cap is the first thing people hit. Leave it when your calls run longer, or when your organization already lives in another suite. Zoom's Basic plan has the same 40-minute and 100-participant caps, so it does not solve the limit by itself. Its Pro plan is $14.16 a user a month billed annually, and that is the real upgrade decision. Microsoft Teams Free and Google Meet both allow 60-minute group meetings with 100 participants, which is the cheapest fix if you already use Microsoft 365 or Google accounts. Jitsi Meet is free and open source under Apache-2.0, so a team with its own server pays no per-user fee, although the hosted meet.jit.si service now caps meetings at 95 minutes. BigBlueButton suits class sessions, since it is built into Canvas, Moodle Cloud and Schoology. Keep Webex if your meetings are short, your people already use it, and you want unlimited whiteboards on the free tier.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jitsi Meet | Free (free; meetings on meet.jit.si limited to 95 minutes from October 9, 2026) | Web browser, Self-hosted | Self-hosted or ad hoc calls | Docs only |
| BigBlueButton | Free (Free to self-host; commercial hosting is sold by third parties and bigbluebutton.org lists no prices) | Self-hosted, Web browser | Class sessions inside a learning platform | Docs only |
| Zoom | Free (Basic plan: meetings up to 40 minutes and 100 participants, 3 AI meeting summaries a month, 5 clips of up to 2 minutes); paid from $14.16 per user/month, billed annually (Pro; $16.99 billed monthly) | Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | Teams wanting a paid step up | Docs only |
| Microsoft Teams | Free (Teams Free: group meetings up to 60 minutes and 100 participants) | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | Teams already on Microsoft 365 | Docs only |
| Google Meet | Free (Free plan: up to 100 participants and 60 minutes per group meeting) | Web, iOS, Android | Teams on Google accounts | Docs only |
| RingCentral | See pricing page | Web, Mobile apps | Communication | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- Your meetings run past 40 minutes and you stay on a free plan (Microsoft Teams is the pick)
- You want to self-host meetings with no per-user fee (Jitsi Meet is the pick)
- Your classes run in Moodle or Canvas (BigBlueButton is the pick)
- You want a paid step up on a familiar interface (Zoom is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Webex features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Webex today: Free (Free plan: unlimited meetings up to 40 minutes and 100 attendees, local recording, unlimited whiteboards and messaging) (Webex pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Why people look for Webex alternatives
Webex Free allows unlimited meetings but each is capped at 40 minutes and 100 attendees, with local recording only. The step up on the pricing page is Enterprise, which lists no price and says to talk to sales; it adds AI Assistant, up to 1,000 attendees and unlimited cloud recording. A team that wants longer meetings or cloud recordings therefore has to request a quote, with no mid-tier price shown.
Jitsi Meet
Compared with Webex: Free and open source under Apache-2.0, with no per-user fee to self-host. The hosted meet.jit.si service caps meetings at 95 minutes from October 9, 2026, which is longer than Webex Free's 40 minutes.
Price: Free (free; meetings on meet.jit.si limited to 95 minutes from October 9, 2026) (Jitsi Meet pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser, Self-hosted. Apache-2.0 (open source).
Project activity: 30.2k GitHub stars · latest release stable/jitsi-meet_11248 (Sep 14, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Self-hosted or ad hoc calls.
BigBlueButton
Compared with Webex: LGPL-3.0 and free to self-host, and it is built into Canvas, Moodle Cloud and Schoology. Webex suits corporate calls, while BigBlueButton is aimed at teaching, and its site lists no commercial price.
Price: Free (Free to self-host; commercial hosting is sold by third parties and bigbluebutton.org lists no prices) (BigBlueButton pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Self-hosted, Web browser. LGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 9.3k GitHub stars · latest release v4.0.0 (Oct 14, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Class sessions inside a learning platform.
Worth knowing: Aimed at teaching: built into Canvas, Moodle Cloud and Schoology.
Zoom
Compared with Webex: Basic has the same 40-minute and 100-participant caps as Webex Free, so you gain no time on the free tier. Pro is $14.16 a user a month billed annually, the paid step up rather than a free fix.
Price: Free (Basic plan: meetings up to 40 minutes and 100 participants, 3 AI meeting summaries a month, 5 clips of up to 2 minutes); paid from $14.16 per user/month, billed annually (Pro; $16.99 billed monthly) (Zoom pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android. Proprietary.
Best for: Teams wanting a paid step up.
Microsoft Teams
Compared with Webex: Teams Free allows group meetings up to 60 minutes and 100 participants, 20 minutes longer than Webex Free. It fits a team already on Microsoft 365, and the page points to Teams Essentials for higher limits without a visible price.
Price: Free (Teams Free: group meetings up to 60 minutes and 100 participants) (Microsoft Teams pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android. Proprietary.
Best for: Teams already on Microsoft 365.
Google Meet
Compared with Webex: The free plan allows up to 100 participants and 60-minute group meetings, 20 minutes more than Webex Free. Premium features such as 24-hour calls need certain Google One or Workspace plans.
Price: Free (Free plan: up to 100 participants and 60 minutes per group meeting) (Google Meet pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, iOS, Android. Proprietary.
Best for: Teams on Google accounts.
Other popular options (paid)
RingCentral
Compared with Webex: No free plan; new subscribers get a 14-day trial covering up to 20 phone lines, with most RingEX features but no SMS. Its pricing page lists no per-user price in the text read, so check it before comparing.
Price: See pricing page (RingCentral pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Which one to pick
- Your meetings run past 40 minutes and you stay on a free plan: Microsoft Teams
- You want to self-host meetings with no per-user fee: Jitsi Meet
- Your classes run in Moodle or Canvas: BigBlueButton
- You want a paid step up on a familiar interface: Zoom
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Jitsi Meet, BigBlueButton, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Webex. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
Related guides
More in Team Chat, Meetings & Phone
- Zoom alternatives
- Skype alternatives
- Google Meet alternatives
- Zoom vs Google Meet 2026: Price, Free Plan & Which to Choose
Sources
Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked between 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-23: Webex, Jitsi Meet, BigBlueButton, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, RingCentral. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.