Zoom

Zoom is a cloud collaboration platform developed by Zoom Communications, Inc. Its product range includes video meetings, team chat, cloud calling, webinars, events, whiteboards, documents, clips, calendars, and workplace AI features.

Zoom began operations in 2011, founded by Eric S. Yuan. The company released Zoom Meetings publicly in 2013 and is headquartered at 55 Almaden Boulevard in San Jose, California.

The platform serves individuals, schools, healthcare organizations, businesses, public agencies, and large enterprises. Capabilities depend on the selected plan, add-ons, user permissions, and regional availability.

Zoom Meetings supports video and audio conferencing, screen sharing, meeting chat, reactions, captions, breakout rooms, host controls, and recording options. The Basic plan permits meetings with up to 100 participants and limits group meetings to 40 minutes.

Zoom Workplace also includes Team Chat, Mail, Calendar, Docs, Whiteboard, Clips, Tasks, Notes, and optional Zoom Phone services. Business and enterprise plans add higher participant limits, administration controls, security features, and broader communications capabilities.

AI Companion provides features such as meeting summaries, meeting questions, chat summarization, writing assistance, phone call summaries, and whiteboard content generation. Availability varies by plan, administrator settings, product, and region.

Zoom supports third-party integrations through the Zoom App Marketplace. Documented integrations include Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Office 365, Salesforce, Salesforce Pardot, Panopto, and identity providers using SAML 2.0.

Developers can use Zoom REST APIs with OAuth 2.0 or server-to-server OAuth authentication. Zoom also provides Meeting SDK, Video SDK, Zoom Apps, and other developer tools for embedding or extending communications features.

Zoom offers a free Workplace Basic plan and paid Workplace Pro, Business, and Enterprise plans. Paid plan features, limits, and add-ons vary by product and account configuration.

Workplace Basic costs $0 and includes meetings, chat, mail, calendar, limited Docs, three editable Whiteboards, five two-minute Clips videos, Tasks with manual entry, and Notes.

Workplace Pro is listed at $15.99 per user per month when billed monthly. It raises meeting duration to 30 hours, includes AI Companion, unlimited Docs sharing, unlimited Clips videos, 10 GB of cloud recording storage per license, and live chat support.

Workplace Business supports organizations with up to 250 users and raises the meeting participant limit to 300. Zoom does not expose a fixed Business price in the retrieved official pricing material.

Workplace Enterprise is sold through a custom sales quote. Zoom also provides free trials for selected products, including Zoom Phone, Zoom Scheduler, and My Notes. The standard Basic plan is a free service rather than a time-limited trial.

Pros: Zoom offers broad collaboration coverage across meetings, chat, phone, events, whiteboards, documents, and recordings. It provides desktop, mobile, browser, API, and SDK access. The App Marketplace supports integrations and custom extensions.

Cons: The free plan limits group meetings to 40 minutes. Important capabilities may require paid plans or add-ons. Feature availability can vary by license, administrator settings, product, and region. Zoom states that the desktop and mobile applications provide a more complete experience than the web application.

Microsoft Teams is a comparable collaboration suite with meetings, chat, file collaboration, and Microsoft 365 integration. Google Meet is a browser-focused alternative closely integrated with Google Workspace.

Cisco Webex provides meetings, calling, events, and enterprise collaboration features. GoTo Meeting focuses on online meetings and screen sharing. RingCentral offers meetings, messaging, and cloud communications for organizations seeking a broader unified communications suite.

Does Zoom have a free plan?
Yes. Workplace Basic is free for one user. Group meetings are limited to 40 minutes and 100 participants.

What platforms support Zoom?
Zoom provides a web application and desktop applications for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Its mobile application supports iOS, iPadOS, and Android.

Does Zoom provide an API?
Yes. Zoom provides REST APIs authenticated through OAuth 2.0 or server-to-server OAuth. It also offers Meeting SDK, Video SDK, Zoom Apps, and other developer resources.

Which integrations does Zoom support?
Documented integrations include Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Office 365, Salesforce, Salesforce Pardot, Panopto, and SAML 2.0 identity providers. Additional apps are available through the Zoom App Marketplace.

Is Zoom AI Companion included?
AI Companion is included with eligible paid Zoom services at no additional cost. Feature access depends on the plan, product, administrator settings, and region.

Does Zoom offer free trials?
Zoom offers free trials for selected products, including Zoom Phone, Zoom Scheduler, and My Notes. Workplace Basic is available as a continuing free plan.