Zoom recently announced Zoom Workplace, a revamped set of business plans with a renewed focus on AI.
Keep reading to discover how Zoom Workplace compares to Microsoft’s own video conferencing app for business, Microsoft Teams.
Zoom Workplace has a free tier
When it comes to pricing, it’s important to note that both Zoom and Microsoft offer a variety of plans with different features at varying price points. This means that it isn’t necessarily a matter of which video conferencing service is cheaper, but of which plan includes all the features you need for the lowest price.
Zoom offers five tiers – Basic, Pro, Business, Business Plus, and Enterprise. Microsoft Teams, meanwhile, advertises just three plans – Microsoft Teams Essentials, Microsoft 365 Business Basic, and Microsoft 365 Business Standard.
Of the eight business-oriented services on offer between the two companies, only one is free to use and that is Zoom Basic. Comparatively, the cheapest version of Microsoft Teams for business, Microsoft Teams Essentials, costs £3.30 per user per month.
Microsoft does offer a one-month free trial for all three of its plans, but after your 30 days is up you’ll need to be ready to cough up a monthly subscription. There’s also Microsoft Teams (Free), though this tier is categorised under Microsoft’s home plans as opposed to business plans.
Microsoft Teams offers more benefits for less
If you’re happy to pay for your video conferencing service, Microsoft will offer the best value for money for most people.
The Microsoft Teams Essentials plan includes standard security, space for up to 300 participants per meeting, 10GB of cloud storage per user, unlimited chat, file sharing, live captions and transcripts for meetings, and access to Microsoft Whiteboard. All of this and more comes in at just £3.30 per user per month.
If you opt for Zoom, you’ll need to choose between the free Basic plan – which includes up to 100 attendees per meeting, a 40-minute meeting time limit, team chat, mail and calendar, Clips Basic and Notes – and the £12.99 per user per month Pro plan.
The Pro plan includes everything available in the Basic plan, along with an increased 30-hour meeting time limit, 5GB of cloud storage, Clips Plus, AI Companion, and more. The £12.99 subscription is a steep jump from the £3.30 Microsoft Teams plan and you’ll need to pay even more for Business Plus to get the same 10GB of cloud storage.
Zoom Workplace meetings have an up to 1000 attendee capacity
Treat yourself and your employees to Zoom’s Enterprise plan and you’ll be able to host meetings with as many as 1000 attendees.
This is a huge jump from the 300 meeting participants available on the Zoom Business Plus plan or Microsoft’s 365 Business Standard membership, though it likely comes at a steep price.
Microsoft Teams plans can include Microsoft Office
Microsoft 365 Business Basic and Business Standard have their own additional benefits in the form of the Microsoft Office suite.
The Business Basic plan includes Microsoft Teams, Exchange, OneDrive, and SharePoint on the cloud, as well as Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and PointPoint on the web and mobile devices.
The Business Standard plan, on the other hand, includes desktop, web, and mobile versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, Exchange, Clipchamp, and Microsoft Loop.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
