Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

The best videoconferencing software for small businesses

If you have a small business and are trying to stay in contact with your clients, stakeholders, and employees, having virtual meetings via videoconferencing software can help you stay connected. Over the last year, videoconferencing software has surged in popularity, and that focus has helped make it better than ever at connecting people over long distances.

Finding the perfect videoconferencing software can be a little tedious with so many options out there, so we have rounded up a few top names in the videoconferencing game beneficial to small businesses.

Zoom Meetings

Zoom cloud
Zoom

Zoom offers a wide range of plans for businesses that are looking to collaborate over videoconferences. With Zoom, users can pay monthly or annually; the prices range from free to $200 per year. The free tier allows users to host meetings with up to 100 participants; however, group meetings are only 40 minutes, while 1:1 meetings have unlimited time.

For small teams, Zoom offers a pro tier, which unlocks the time frame for group meetings to 30 hours, but it is still limited to 100 participants. Users can also stream their meetings to social media and access 1GB of cloud recording per license, with up to nine licenses per account.

Zoom also offers a tier specifically for small and medium-sized businesses, priced at $20 per month per license or $200 a year per license. This tier is in line with what small businesses can benefit from. This tier allows for hosting up to 300 participants, cloud recording transcripts, managed domains, and company branding.

Many small businesses can probably get by with Zoom’s free tier if they are known for doing 1:1 meetings. Another great feature Zoom offers for all tiers is sharing your screen with other viewers during a meeting. This allows the host and users to share information about the meeting and makes videoconferencing very effective.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft

Microsoft Teams is a great platform for businesses that are invested in Microsoft’s software products. Microsoft offers a free version of Teams that offers videoconferencing for up to 300 people, plus screen sharing and customized backgrounds. Another benefit of using the free version of Teams is using the web versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.

Small businesses looking to record their meetings can upgrade to Microsoft 365 Business Basic for $5 per user per month. Microsoft 365 users have access to the meetings and calling features in Microsoft Teams, but with additional features available for Microsoft 365 subscribers.

If your business needs a simple videoconference program that allows for teamwork and good collaboration flow, then Microsoft Teams can offer that. If your business is already subscribed to Microsoft 365, then using Teams is almost a no-brainer.

Skype

Skype

Skype is another Microsoft videoconferencing client that has been on the scene for quite some time. Skype supports up to 50 participants for an unlimited time for free. Skype features a call-recording feature that any participant can trigger. When this is activated, it will notify all call participants that the call is being recorded, and the recordings are available for users to save and share for up to 30 days.

Cisco Webex

Cisco

Cisco has been very business-oriented for years, and with Webex, it helps business with an easy to use videoconferencing platform. Just like many platforms, Cisco offers free and paid plans for users.

Webex’s free version offers many features, such as meetings of up to 100 users for up to 50 minutes, screen sharing, interactive tools, saving recordings to your computer, etc. For small businesses that have shorter meetings, Webex could be beneficial.

Furthermore, for businesses looking to record their meetings and extend meeting times, Cisco offers a Starter plan at $14 per month. With the Starter plan, users can access 5GB of cloud recording storage, and it unlocks the meeting length to 24 hours.

Cisco Webex can be a profound and intuitive platform, especially for administrators who want more control over what is happing during meetings.

Lifesize Video Conferencing

Lifesize

Lifesize Video Conferencing is one of the first 4K videoconferencing apps. This solution allows users to connect up to eight people and collaborate. Furthermore, in the free version, meetings are unlimited, which can be very beneficial for small businesses that are not looking to have many people in meetings.

The Lifesize Plus plan is geared toward small businesses, including all the standard features, and allows 300 participants during video calls and an hour of cloud-recording storage.

With so many options, finding the best videoconferencing software is possible for any small or medium-sized business. Some software has extra features that can benefit you outside of just videoconferencing.

Editors' Recommendations

James Holloway
James is a techie at heart; he covers Home Theater and Gaming for Digital Trends with a focus on how to get the best out of…
How to change your language in Google Chrome on desktop
Chrome OS

Google Chrome supports a wide range of languages. While it'll default to English in most cases, there's nothing stopping you from changing its settings and displaying pages in Spanish, French, or dozens of other languages.

Changing your default language in Chrome takes only a few seconds, and the technique used is the same across Windows and Mac. Aside from changing your language, note that Chrome now gives you the option to automatically translate pages written in another language – making it easy to read content from around the globe.

Read more
23 of the best Netflix hacks, tips, and tricks
The Netflix home screen.

Netflix is one of the most popular streaming platforms for all things movies and TV shows. Home to an immense library of titles, the Netflix archive is constantly changing and evolving, and so are the many ways you can use your Netflix account. 

For instance, did you know you can access region-locked Netflix shows and flicks by using a VPN? Or that you can disable that pesky Autoplay feature? There are tons of Netflix hacks, tips, and tricks out there, so we’ve gone ahead and rounded up all of our favorites! 
Expand your streaming with a VPN

Read more
How to make a GIF from a YouTube video
woman sitting and using laptop

Sometimes, whether you're chatting with friends or posting on social media, words just aren't enough -- you need a GIF to fully convey your feelings. If there's a moment from a YouTube video that you want to snip into a GIF, the good news is that you don't need complex software to so it. There are now a bunch of ways to make a GIF from a YouTube video right in your browser.

If you want to use desktop software like Photoshop to make a GIF, then you'll need to download the YouTube video first before you can start making a GIF. However, if you don't want to go through that bother then there are several ways you can make a GIF right in your browser, without the need to download anything. That's ideal if you're working with a low-specced laptop or on a phone, as all the processing to make the GIF is done in the cloud rather than on your machine. With these options you can make quick and fun GIFs from YouTube videos in just a few minutes.
Use GIFs.com for great customization
Step 1: Find the YouTube video that you want to turn into a GIF (perhaps a NASA archive?) and copy its URL.

Read more