Online meetings are becoming a more important aspect of our daily lives. As the world becomes more and more connected, meeting with people, whether it be for business or personal reasons, over the internet is a great way to communicate efficiently.
These online meetings are often referred to as webinars or video conferences, depending on their purpose. These terms can be used interchangeably.
There are so many different apps that offer these services, but only a few really stand out from the crowd. We’ve ranked our favorites so you can decide which one is best for you!
Best Free Online Meeting App
- GoToMeeting
- Cisco WebEx
- TeamViewer
- Skype
- Join.me
- Zoom
- Google Meet
- Microsoft Teams
- Dialpad Meetings
- Apache OpenMeeting
GoToMeeting
First on our list is probably one of the most popular, we even went in depth and covered a detailed look at the pricing plans GoToMeeting has to offer. But even with just their free plan, GoToMeeting offers one of the simplest ways to host a conference call, and allow users to share their screen. With their one-click meeting solution, GoToMeeting should be really simple to adopt – and users can start their meetings through almost any app, from Microsoft Office programs to email and chat links. The developers have also introduced user roles recently which makes it easy to edit the permissions each user has — avoiding any security threats or accidental edits.
Utilizing GoToMeeting limits users to just web audio conferencing, as video is limited to some of the paid plans, but with the option for either Toll-Based or VoIP voice chat, teams can tailor the conference calls to whatever suits their needs best. The only other hitch is that GoToMeeting’s free plan limits your conference calls to only 3 participants – but for a free, quick small team meeting (or one on one with clients) the solution should be perfect. GoToMeeting has also been catching up with its competitors in the security department. Despite being a bit late to the party, GoToMeeting now supports multi-factor authentication to make the sign-in process more secure.
Cisco WebEx
Owned, developed and hosted by the networking and security giant, Cisco, you can be sure WebEx scores high on our list. One of the original conference solutions, of course Cisco has it nailed down pretty well. Just like others on the list, the free version of WebEx will limit you to 3 participants, but the good thing about WebEx is that it allows for free video conferencing. Users can of course share their screens, and you can even integrate the platform with Cisco Spark, one of our favorite Slack competitors, to build your own complete collaboration suite of software.
WebEx would also be a solid choice for any larger, Enterprise, or even small business with a strong focus on security — as of course, we all know Cisco has their security locked down. Just take a look at the insane levels of encryption they took to lock down Spark and the messages you send back and forth. The platform has also recently released an integration for Slido which can make it a lot easier for you to present slideshows during your conference calls as if you were in a physical meeting. Finally, you should know that most of WebEx’s best features will be locked behind a paywall so if you’re looking for a free, freemium, or low-cost experience then you may need to check if WebEx still fits within your software budget.
TeamViewer
Competing with Cisco on the security frontier of their conferencing solution, TeamViewer’s home page boasts 1.3 billion protected devices that are running secure remote support and online meetings on their platform. With a strong focus on support and help solutions, TeamViewer offers some unique features such as the ability to run multiple remote sessions at once on macOS with browser tabs, remote sticky notes to leave behind a message for your customers and clients – let them know what fixes were applied or just send a personal “you’re welcome” message. The platform has also spent the past few months increasing its security to ensure your data stays safe despite the spike in virtual conferencing adoption.
To be specific, TeamViewer has added biometric security to its Remote Control app to maximize security. These new security features are also compatible with FaceID so iOS users will always have easy access without compromising on safety. TeamViewer offers other interesting add-ons, such as the TeamViewer QuickJoin to allow customers to quickly and easily join meetings or presentations without installation or administrator rights. Supported on Windows, Mac, Linux, and even Chrome OS, Android, and iOS, TeamViewer has all your devices covered. Of course, there’s also audio and even video conferencing, as well as text-based chat. Other interesting features, although behind a paywall, include things like the Remote QuickSteps, which adds in one-click shortcuts for the most-used remote support actions. So if you do decide to upgrade and go a paid route, TeamViewer is a strong contender for support and IT use.
Skype
Of course, just about everyone knows Skype, and with their free, familiar solution available without a doubt, the app is worth considering. Many may not even realize this, but Skype does in fact allow screen sharing, and again completely free. While not as flexible as some other apps that don’t even require participants to download the client (although WebEx even suffers from this), users will have to create a skype name, download skype and add each other to their contacts list for conferencing. Skype would make the best sense for a small team that doesn’t mind utilizing the platform especially now that Skype for Business has been discontinued.
Skype has also recently implemented the ability to lock meetings which ensures no unwelcome guests eavesdrop on privy conferences. With Skype users can host audio or video conferences, with up to 100 participants – one of the higher limits out of most solutions on our list. Skype also supports all popular desktop OS and even hosts iOS and Android phone apps for your conference on the go. Finally, you’re sure to enjoy using the newly-introduced animated backgrounds which can turn a drab meeting into a fun collaboration.
Join.Me
Developed, and powered, by the team behind the LogMeIn suite of collaboration tools, Join.Me is designed to “cut through pointless processes, politics, and protocols with a single click.” It seems like ease of use and one-click meetings are a bit of a theme behind these tools, and for good reason. Skype and WebEx would be great for teams willing to all adopt the solution, a solution like Join.Me expands the use case beyond simple interoffice communications and adds a layer of simplicity to extend conferences to customers, clients or prospects.
While their free plan seems to be limited to screen sharing and conferencing, a free trial of more advanced Join.Me plans include video conferencing, free audio conferencing with a dedicated conference number located in the U.S. and 50 other countries. One-click scheduling integrates with Outlook or Google Calendar to send and keep track of your invitations, and a personal link gives users a permanent meeting location so clients can just save their one web address to get in touch. Join.Me also includes an online whiteboard feature for that extra level of collaboration and presentation, oh and of course screen sharing.
Zoom
Zoom is a bit of an interesting candidate, with both a free basic plan and pricing that is actually a bit cheaper than the pricing that we noticed with GoToMeeting. But for the focus of this list, their free Basic Personal Meeting plan offers 40 minutes of conferencing, for up to 3 participants. A slight upgrade brings unlimited users, an unlimited number of meetings, and video conferencing with a host of features such as active speaker view, full-screen view, dual-stream for dual screens, join by telephone call-in. If you’re the type to customize the tools in your stack then you’ll be glad to hear that Zoom has recently introduced the ability to set custom background images so your virtual office feels just as personalized as your old physical workspace.
Web Conferencing features also include desktop, or application-specific, sharing, a personal room or meeting ID, both Chrome and Outlook integrations, MP4 recording of meetings, private and group chat, and even a virtual whiteboard. Beating out GoToMeeting again, Zoom actually includes keyboard and mouse sharing controls for free, and you can even share the screen of any iPad or iPhone app. The only major downside? Your group meetings with more than one other participant are limited to 40 minutes in length. You can host an unlimited amount, but they can’t go longer than 40 minutes. Thankfully, your 1-on-1 meetings are not limited based on duration.
free meeting app for 500 participants
Google Hangouts
Supports: Up to 10 participants for an unlimited duration.
If you have a Google account, you have access to Google Hangouts. For free Gmail and G Suite Basic customers, Google Hangouts allows for up to 10 people to chat in a video call. The service also supports simultaneous voice chat and allows participants to join a conference via email or a shareable link.
In response to the coronavirus crisis, Google has relaxed some restrictions for all G Suite and G Suite for Education customers, regardless of tier. Customers can now hold video conferences with up to 250 participants through to July 1, 2020.
Other Enterprise-level features that are available to all G Suite customers include the ability to stream video to up to 100,000 viewers within a domain, and the ability to record and save meetings directly to Google Drive.ADVERTISEMENT
You can use Google Hangouts in most web browsers, or via the Google Hangouts apps for iPhone and Android.
CISCO Webex Meetings
Supports: Up to 100 participants for an unlimited duration.
Update: Note that the free version has been made less generous. It limits free meetings to a maximum of 50 minutes in length and won’t let people call in to join on a phone.
CISCO is a name usually associated with pricey Enterprise products, generally beyond the reach of free users. Webex is the company’s web conferencing solution, and it comes with a robust free option for those looking for a barebones video conferencing solution.
Host up to 100 participants in a single call, for as long as you want. There are no limits on the number of calls you can place, and you get 1 GB of cloud storage with your free account. Conferences include support for features like screen sharing, video recording, and file sharing.
Webex allows users in up to 52 countries to use a standard telephone to join any conference. Participants who want to use their webcams have a choice of website, dedicated desktop apps, or mobile apps for iPhone and Android (complete with their own screen sharing features).
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Zoom Meetings
Supports: Up to 100 participants for 40 minutes.
Zoom is a full video conferencing suite aimed at Enterprise-level users, with an attractive free option. Users with a free account can host video conferences for up to 100 participants, but conferences of 3 members or more are limited to 40 minutes.
You can upgrade to a paid plan to remove these restrictions, or simply keep your conferences short and sweet. There are no limits on the number of meetings you can host, so you could simply host a new call once you’ve hit the limit.
Zoom allows participants to join via the web, dedicated apps, browser extensions, and mobile devices using iPhone and Android apps. Users can call in via phone if they need to. Free users can also record video or audio locally and share screens with other conference participants.
Skype
Supports: Up to 50 participants for an unlimited duration.
Skype is a popular VoIP app that most users will have heard of by now. It’s suitable for video conferencing for small teams of up to 50 people (including the host), free of charge. The company rolled out the expanded video calling feature in April 2019, improving on the previous limit of 25.
Anyone can join the meeting from a web browser on a computer. On a mobile device, people may need to download the Skype app to participate.
Skype includes a useful cloud-based call recording feature that any member of the call can trigger. This will notify other participants that the call is being recorded, and allows users to save and share the recording for up to 30 days.
FreeConference
Supports: Up to five video participants and 1000 audio participants for an unlimited duration.
Contrary to what the name suggests, FreeConference isn’t a free service. It’s a premium service with a decent free option that might be useful in some instances. For video conferencing, FreeConference only supports up to 5 participants on the free tier.ADVERTISEMENT
What makes FreeConference potentially shine, however, is its support for up to 1000 audio participants to call in via telephone. The service also takes a software-free approach to video calling, allowing most users to connect with nothing more than a browser.
FreeConference also offers mobile apps for iPhone and Android, which are open to free users. Unfortunately, there is no ability to record your call unless you’re willing to upgrade to a premium package
Conclusion
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