Zoom Alternatives 2026: 5 Free Options
Zoom alternatives: Jitsi Meet, BigBlueButton, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and 1 more. Prices and licenses checked October 22, 2026.
•3 min read•Team Chat, Meetings & Phone
Verdict:Zoom Basic is free but cuts group meetings at 40 minutes and 100 participants, and Pro costs $14.16 per user per month billed annually or $16.99 monthly. If the 40-minute wall is your only complaint, you do not need to pay Zoom: Google Meet gives 60 minutes and Microsoft Teams Free also gives 60, so whichever suite your company already uses is the cheapest move. Webex Free has the same 40-minute limit as Zoom, so it only makes sense if you want its whiteboards and local recording. If you want to stop depending on a vendor's limits, Jitsi Meet is the better path, because you can run your own server, and the hosted meet.jit.si service allows 95 minutes. BigBlueButton is the pick for a school or training business, since it was built around classrooms and plugs into learning platforms, but it is heavier to set up than Jitsi. The trade-off to accept is the AI side. Zoom's free plan includes a few AI summaries and notes a month, while none of the open-source options ship that out of the box. Participants also arrive expecting a Zoom link in some industries, so test one external call with a client before you switch the whole team. Pick based on your existing accounts first and your hosting appetite second.
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 | Free meetings, or a server you control | 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 | Schools and training courses | Docs only |
| Google Meet | Free (Free plan: up to 100 participants and 60 minutes per group meeting) | Web, iOS, Android | Teams already living in Google accounts | Docs only |
| Microsoft Teams | Free (Teams Free: group meetings up to 60 minutes and 100 participants) | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | Groups already on Microsoft accounts | Docs only |
| Webex | Free (Free plan: unlimited meetings up to 40 minutes and 100 attendees, local recording, unlimited whiteboards and messaging) | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | A direct free replacement with whiteboards | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- Meetings longer than 40 minutes without paying (Google Meet is the pick)
- Self-hosted video you control (Jitsi Meet is the pick)
- Online classes with LMS integration (BigBlueButton is the pick)
- Your staff already use Microsoft 365 (Microsoft Teams is the pick)
- Whiteboards plus unlimited chat on a free plan (Webex is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Zoom features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Zoom today: 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).
Why people look for Zoom alternatives
Zoom's free Basic plan limits meetings to 40 minutes and 100 participants, includes only 3 AI meeting summaries a month, and has local recording only, with no cloud recording. Pro costs $16.99 per user per month billed monthly or $14.16 billed annually, with 30-hour meetings and 10 GB of cloud recording per user. Business is $21.99 monthly or $18.33 annually and raises the cap to 300 participants. A Large Meeting add-on stretches Pro to 1,000 participants, with no price on the page.
Jitsi Meet
Compared with Zoom: Jitsi Meet is Apache-2.0 and self-hostable, so you drop Zoom's per-user fee and own the server. The public meet.jit.si service now caps meetings at 95 minutes, well above Zoom Basic's 40, but you lose Zoom's bundled AI summaries, clips and booking pages.
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: Free meetings, or a server you control.
BigBlueButton
Compared with Zoom: BigBlueButton is LGPL-3.0 and built for teaching, with integrations in Canvas, Moodle Cloud and Schoology. You lose Zoom's general-purpose meeting app polish, but gain a self-hosted virtual classroom with no per-host licence on your own server.
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: Schools and training courses.
Worth knowing: Aimed at teaching: built into Canvas, Moodle Cloud and Schoology.
Google Meet
Compared with Zoom: Google Meet's free plan allows 100 participants for 60 minutes, 20 minutes longer than Zoom Basic. Calls of up to 24 hours and 1,000 participants need a Google One or Workspace plan, and the page shows no separate price.
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 already living in Google accounts.
Microsoft Teams
Compared with Zoom: Teams Free gives 100 participants and 60-minute group meetings against Zoom Basic's 40 minutes. You trade a meeting-first app for a chat and files hub; the larger 300-participant limit needs Teams Essentials.
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: Groups already on Microsoft accounts.
Webex
Compared with Zoom: Webex Free matches Zoom Basic on 40-minute meetings and 100 attendees, and adds unlimited whiteboards, messaging and local recording. It is a like-for-like swap rather than an upgrade, and its pricing page shows no paid price, only Enterprise by contact.
Price: Free (Free plan: unlimited meetings up to 40 minutes and 100 attendees, local recording, unlimited whiteboards and messaging) (Webex pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android. Proprietary.
Best for: A direct free replacement with whiteboards.
Which one to pick
- Meetings longer than 40 minutes without paying: Google Meet
- Self-hosted video you control: Jitsi Meet
- Online classes with LMS integration: BigBlueButton
- Your staff already use Microsoft 365: Microsoft Teams
- Whiteboards plus unlimited chat on a free plan: Webex
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Jitsi Meet, BigBlueButton, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Zoom. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
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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 2026-10-22: Zoom, Jitsi Meet, BigBlueButton, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex. 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.