What is Zoom used for?

Zoom is a communications platform for video meetings, team chat, phone, webinars, whiteboards and events, with apps for desktop and mobile. It is a good fit for remote team meetings, customer-facing webinars and events, and replacing a desk phone system with cloud calling.

Yes. Zoom has a free plan, and paid plans start at $16.99 per seat per month.

No. Zoom is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Zoom include Jitsi Meet, La Suite Meet and BigBlueButton.

What are some alternatives to Zoom?

Zoom competes with Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Zoom alternatives.

Zoom: features, pricing and alternatives

About Zoom

Zoom is a commercial communications platform mainly known for video meetings. The vendor now describes a wider workplace suite that includes team chat, a VoIP phone system, webinars, a whiteboard, contact center software and events, with the goal of connecting these tools on one platform.

Zoom Workplace groups the everyday tools: meetings, chat, phone, mail and calendar, a scheduler, whiteboard, clips, rooms and a marketplace of apps. Business services such as Revenue Accelerator and webinars and events sit alongside it, and AI features are promoted across the product. Apps are available on the App Store and Google Play, and people can join, host or schedule a meeting from the website.

Zoom is hosted, proprietary software with a free sign-up option, a pricing page and a sales contact. It suits businesses, schools and individuals who need straightforward video calls, and larger organizations that want meetings, phone and events from a single vendor.

Key features

Video meetings with screen sharing
Team chat and shared whiteboard
VoIP phone system
Webinars and virtual events
Mail, calendar and scheduler
Contact center options
Desktop and mobile apps

Good fit for

→Remote team meetings
→Customer-facing webinars and events
→Replacing a desk phone system with cloud calling

Tags: video-conferencing; meetings; webinars; team-chat; voip; collaboration

Zoom: questions and answers

What is Zoom used for?: Zoom is a communications platform for video meetings, team chat, phone, webinars, whiteboards and events, with apps for desktop and mobile. It is a good fit for remote team meetings, customer-facing webinars and events, and replacing a desk phone system with cloud calling.
Is Zoom free?: Yes. Zoom has a free plan, and paid plans start at $16.99 per seat per month.
Is Zoom open source?: No. Zoom is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Zoom include Jitsi Meet, La Suite Meet and BigBlueButton.
What are some alternatives to Zoom?: Zoom competes with Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Zoom alternatives.