Video conferencing services are invaluable for businesses of all sizes, whether for connecting a far-flung remote workforce or facilitating meetings with clients across the globe. That’s why PCMag tests and rates the leading video conferencing software. In the process, we learned that different products serve diverse needs. Zoom, for example, began as a service for individuals and small teams and grew into a full-on business platform. Webex by Cisco, meanwhile, has a long history of catering to businesses, scaling all the way up to giant enterprises. Both are Editors’ Choice winners. Still, others specialize in mass-audience applications, such as online training and webinars, so it’s worth exploring all our top picks. Make sure to click through to our in-depth reviews and scroll past the list for advice on choosing the best video conferencing service for your company.
Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
EDITORS’ NOTE
October 17, 2025: With this update, our lineup of recommended video conferencing services remains unchanged. We have vetted the existing picks for currency and availability.
(Credit: Zoom)
(Credit: Zoom)
Pros & Cons
Competitive price
Advanced Zoom AI Companion
Many integrations
End-to-end encryption
Easy to use
Poor spelling and grammar correction in Zoom Docs
Why We Picked It
Zoom Meetings is now just one part of Zoom Workplace: a unified communication and collaboration platform that provides document editing, team chat, whiteboard sharing, and more. It aims to reduce the “toggle tax” that results from switching between applications. Zoom’s industry-leading AI Assistant can even answer any questions about what another participant said earlier and summarize in-progress meetings.
Who It’s For
Between its superb core video conferencing features and advanced collaboration tools, Zoom is the best all-around video conferencing platform we’ve tested. The free tier is workable, though businesses should prepare to pay for a premium plan to get the most out of it.
Specs & Configurations
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Zoom Workplace Review
(Credit: Cisco)
(Credit: Cisco)
Pros & Cons
Intuitive interface
Highly accessible closed captions
Native Vidcast tool for asynchronous video recordings
Recognizes hand gestures to generate emoji reactions
Powerful AI assistant helps you catch up on meetings
Pricey plans and add-ons
Non-enterprise tiers top out at 10GB of cloud storage for recordings
Why We Picked It
Webex was one of the pioneering video conferencing systems and continues to be highly competitive among the current offerings. It delivers reliable performance and rich collaboration features, such as breakout rooms, screen-sharing, and whiteboards. Webex now even has an advanced AI assistant that can transcribe meetings and give you a quick recap if you have to step away briefly. It’s not the most affordable service, but a highly capable free tier makes it easy to get started.
Who It’s For
Webex is an excellent choice for businesses anticipating rapid growth because it scales well. It’s also available on virtually every mobile and desktop platform, including Linux. If AI-enhanced features are important to you, Cisco’s AI assistant is among the most sophisticated.
Specs & Configurations
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Webex by Cisco Review
(Credit: ClickMeeting)
(Credit: ClickMeeting)
Pros & Cons
Clear interface
Supports massive audiences
Whiteboard and breakout room features
AI-powered automatic transcription
Mobile apps can cut off whiteboard views
No phone support and limited chat hours
Why We Picked It
Unlike most of the video conferencing solutions we test, ClickMeeting specializes in large online meetings and webinars. It claims to support up to 10,000 participants at its custom enterprise tier, but even its more basic plans can accommodate up to 1,000 attendees. The service has an accessible and sleek interface, making it a sound choice for any company looking to reach a mass audience.
Who It’s For
If you need to conduct online training sessions or webinars, ClickMeeting should be on your short list, since it specializes in these events.
Specs & Configurations
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ClickMeeting Review
(Credit: Google)
(Credit: Google)
Pros & Cons
Accessible entirely from a web browser
State-of-the-art transcription and recording tools
Real-time translated captions in 69 languages
High-quality audio and video
Extensive annotation tools available during screen-sharing
Requires Google Workspace for Business and Gemini subscriptions for the full experience
Lacks native whiteboard tools
No monthly plan
Why We Picked It
Google Meet is an excellent general-purpose video conferencing platform that’s accessible from virtually any device. Its real-time transcription feature is top-notch and supports more languages than any competitor. The platform also offers extensive Gemini AI features, too, as well as tight integrations with other Google apps.
Who It’s For
Google Meet is a no-brainer if you use Google Workspace for online collaboration. It’s very easy to use and reliable.
Specs & Configurations
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Google Meet Review
Pros & Cons
Approachable design
Lets you share your screen within a browser
Annotation and automatic transcription abilities
Enables keyboard and mouse sharing
Excellent customer service
Lacks breakout rooms
Chats tab can get confusing when multiple attendees are typing at once
Why We Picked It
Intermedia AnyMeeting is an attractive, easy-to-use service that’s packed with enough features to suit any organization. We especially liked its AI-powered assistant that delivers reasonably high-quality transcriptions of video meetings and can even flag action items based on what participants say during calls. And, as comprehensive as it is, AnyMeeting’s pricing is on par with most of its competitors.
Who It’s For
If you feel comfortable with its user interface and controls, AnyMeeting is hard to beat. The one caveat is that it lacks certain webinar-oriented features, such as breakout rooms.
Specs & Configurations
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Intermedia AnyMeeting Review
(Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)
(Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)
Pros & Cons
Extensive features
Straightforward interface
Powerful AI summaries of conversations
Excellent support
Overwhelming admin tools
Expensive add-ons
Why We Picked It
Microsoft steadily adds features to its products, and Teams is no different. It rose from humble beginnings to become a team collaboration behemoth and a core part of the Microsoft 365 suite. More importantly, unlike some competitors (such as Slack), it’s also a full-featured video conferencing system that’s suitable for far more than one-to-one video calls.
Who It’s For
If you’re already a Microsoft 365 customer, Teams might be all the video conferencing software you need.
Specs & Configurations
Learn More
Microsoft Teams Review
(Credit: RingCentral)
(Credit: RingCentral)
Pros & Cons
Robust free tier
Attendees can join calls without downloading any software
Can easily switch devices between calls
Impressive live transcriptions
Difficult to turn off default meeting recording behavior
Why We Picked It
RingCentral Video provides reliable, visually consistent video calling tools across different platforms. Its robust free plan includes intuitive in-meeting collaboration tools and highly accurate live transcription features. The available Webinar tier for large meetings is also a better value than most similar services we’ve tested. Finally, post-meeting tools make it easy to pick out insights and share recordings.
Who It’s For
You can’t do much better than RingCentral Video if you don’t want to pay to host video meetings. It’s also an excellent choice if you want a solution that pairs well with a business VoIP system, and both products work within RingCentral’s top-notch app.
Specs & Configurations
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RingCentral Video Review
(Credit: GoTo)
(Credit: GoTo)
Pros & Cons
Minimalist dashboard
No time limits on video conferences
24/7 phone and web support for all customers
SmartNotes distill meeting summaries to their essentials
Commuter Mode eliminates on-the-go distractions
No free plan
Odd process for enabling annotation while screen-sharing
Post-meeting summaries, transcripts, and recordings aren’t immediately accessible
Why We Picked It
GoTo Meeting is a dependable and mature video conferencing solution from GoTo (formerly LogMeIn). It offers good value for the money and includes competitive features, such as smart transcription and unlimited recording to the cloud. It also integrates with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 calendars.
Who It’s For
GoTo Meeting works best for contact centers, remote IT management, and webinars, especially in combination with GoTo’s other related software.
Specs & Configurations
Learn More
GoTo Meeting Review
(Credit: Zoho)
(Credit: Zoho)
Pros & Cons
Inexpensive
Up to 25 simultaneous video feeds
Supports virtual backgrounds
Includes reactions
Useful AI-powered transcriptions and insights
Complicated AI setup
Requires additional downloads to access necessary features
Demands investment in the greater Zoho ecosystem
Why We Picked It
Although it lacks the bells and whistles of some competitors, Zoho Meetings’ appeal lies in its low price. Unlike many of the services in our roundup, it has a free tier that lets you host meetings for up to 100 attendees. It also integrates seamlessly with the rest of Zoho’s business software suite.
Who It’s For
If you already use apps within the broader Zoho ecosystem, Zoho Meetings is worth a look. It could also meet your needs if you’re on a particularly tight budget. As a standalone solution, however, you might find that alternatives provide more value.
Specs & Configurations
Learn More
Zoho Meeting Review
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The Best Video Conferencing Software for 2025
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Buying Guide: The Best Video Conferencing Software for 2025
What Is Video Conferencing Software?
Video conferencing software continues to evolve. Initially, it was available only in the form of pricey conference room systems that combined specific hardware and software. Now, popular cloud-based services largely work within a browser and don’t require any dedicated infrastructure.
Contemporary video conferencing systems have a cornucopia of capabilities that their predecessors didn’t. Best-in-class video conferencing services offer broadcasting modes for passive viewers (also known as webinars), digital whiteboard collaboration, file exchange, remote desktop access, screen sharing, text chat, and more. Additionally, some services integrate with business voice over IP (VoIP) packages, enabling users to convert voice calls to video calls or initiate a shared meeting at the touch of a button without interrupting the original connection.
How Much Does Video Conferencing Software Cost?
Like most software-as-a-service (SaaS), video conferencing providers offer multiple pricing tiers. The lowest tier is free for many of the services we test. These offerings are great for connecting with friends and family, or for occasional business use. However, they have limited features and place restrictions on how long meetings can be and how many people can attend. Organizations that plan to use video conferencing as an everyday tool should invest in a paid service.
Among the services we reviewed, the median pricing for business-grade service is around $16 per user per month. Most also offer more expensive tiers for enterprises. As usual, the greater your needs, the more you should expect to pay.
Although most services charge by the number of users, others charge by the number of hosts. Services that charge per host focus on webinars, in which only a host can initiate a meeting (and meetings typically have many attendees). Services that charge per person are usually for peer-to-peer usage, allowing anyone to start a meeting.
What Can Video Conferencing Software Do for Your Business?
Video conferencing has quickly become an essential business tool, particularly with the rise of remote work, but understanding what constitutes a video conferencing platform can be confusing when some team messaging platforms, such as Microsoft Teams and Slack, have similar features. Teams offers a complete video conferencing solution, which is why we include it. Slack and some of its competitors focus more on ad-hoc video meetings, so they don’t make the list.
You might also want other capabilities. Screen sharing is essential for presentations. The ability to share just one application, document, or image (rather than the entire desktop) is helpful, too. Many packages also support video annotation and virtual whiteboards, which foster participant collaboration. Most of the video conferencing services in this roundup also allow for text chat inside or outside of meetings.
Many services offer automated recording that you can initiate with the press of a button. Typically, they save recordings to cloud storage and automatically share them with all meeting attendees. If you think this is a feature you will use often, make sure the service tier you choose has enough storage. Alternatively, you can integrate it with your existing third-party cloud storage provider.
Video conferencing services now include lots of artificial intelligence (AI) features. These cover analytics and optimization, automatic call summaries and transcription, call scheduling, facial recognition, noise cancellation, and more.
What Equipment Do You Need for Video Conferencing?
Beyond video conferencing software, you should also consider the hardware you need. Fortunately, almost every modern laptop, smartphone, or tablet has a serviceable (if mediocre) camera and microphone. Higher-end devices feature high-resolution front-facing cameras and quality mics.
Desktop PCs often require additional hardware. If you’re looking for top-notch audio or video quality, you need the best microphone and webcam you can get. Some business monitors also come with built-in video conferencing features. You can use some digital cameras as webcams, too. You might need to consider some extra lighting accessories, too.
Although these hardware purchases drive up the total cost of your video conferencing deployment, you still save compared with old-school, end-to-end conferencing solutions. You don’t need to make a huge capital outlay all at once. Instead, you can buy the licenses you need and add new seats as necessary, which can dramatically reduce costs.
How to Buy Video Conferencing Software
Choosing the right video conferencing service for your organization can seem challenging at first since most offer the same basic features. Although you still need to evaluate several factors before making a decision, assessing a software’s user experience is a great place to start.
Recommended by Our Editors
In each review, we discuss the ease of signing up, creating a meeting, inviting participants, and setting up audio and video controls. We also look at the experience from a meeting invitee’s point of view and how easy it is to access meeting features such as annotation, file sharing, virtual assistants, and whiteboard-style collaboration.
We’ve also tested each service’s prominent features, but it’s up to you to decide which ones you need most. For example, do you need dial-in numbers, VoIP integration, or both? Some services offer teleconferencing with dial-in numbers (local or toll-free) and VoIP calling, while others provide just one or the other. A few offer international dial-in numbers.
During our testing, we host and join meetings to evaluate the experience of registered and non-registered users. We make sure to outline how easy it is to join a meeting, including whether a participant needs to download software before joining (which could cause a delay or even be a deal-breaker). Other services simply require that attendees enter a code to access the meeting.
Our reviews also cover the host’s administration features. The best services let you set up various types of meetings, such as lecture-style calls in which all participants are on mute or a Q&A mode in which presenters can mute and unmute participants as necessary. Other options include allowing breakout sessions, creating a waiting room while preparing for the meeting, locking latecomers out of a meeting, and toggle video feeds.
Most of these services offer at least a 30-day free trial, so you can test the product that looks most attractive to you.
Neil McAllister contributed to this story.
