8 Telepresence Alternatives for Video Meetings

Zoom Workplace is the closest direct replacement for a fixed telepresence room, because almost every guest already knows how to join a Zoom link. Basic costs nothing and allows meetings with up to 100 people, but group calls end after 40 minutes. Pro costs $14.16 per user per month billed annually, or $16.99 billed monthly, and lifts meetings to 30 hours with 100 participants, plus 10 GB of cloud storage per user.

• Business costs $18.33 per user per month billed annually, or $21.99 billed monthly, and raises the limit to 300, adds single sign-on and managed domai
• Enterprise is quoted by sales and raises the limit to 1,000 participants.
• Choose Zoom if your guests are outside your organisation.
• Do not choose Basic for regular hour long meetings.

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Microsoft Teams is the best telepresence alternative when your team already lives in Microsoft 365, because meetings, chat, file sharing and calls sit in one app. Teams Essentials costs $4.00 per user per month billed yearly, with meetings for up to 300 participants, a 30 hour limit, recordings with transcripts, English live captions, and 10 GB of cloud storage per user. Microsoft 365 Business Basic costs $7.00 per user per month billed yearly and adds business email, web and mobile Office apps, and 1 TB of storage per user.

• Business plans cover up to 300 users.
• Choose Teams Essentials if you only need meetings and chat.

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Google Meet is the simplest telepresence alternative for teams that run on Gmail, Calendar and Drive, because meetings start from a calendar invite and guests join from a browser. A free personal account allows group meetings for up to 60 minutes with 100 people. Google Workspace Business Starter costs $7 per user per month on a 1-year commitment, or $8.40 on a flexible monthly plan, and includes business Gmail, Drive, Docs and 30 GB of pooled storage per user, with Meet for 100 people and 24 hour meetings.

• Business Standard costs $14 per user per month on a 1-year commitment and lifts the limit to 150 participants, adds recording saved to Drive, noise ca
• Business plans cover up to 300 users.
• Choose Meet if your team already uses Google Workspace.
• Do not choose Starter if recording matters.

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Cisco Webex is the direct successor to classic Cisco telepresence, and it suits regulated teams that need strong admin controls and room hardware that works with Webex. The free plan costs nothing, allows unlimited meetings of up to 40 minutes, and holds up to 100 attendees. Webex Meet costs $12 per user per month billed annually, or $14.50 billed monthly, and allows unlimited meetings of up to 24 hours with up to 200 participants, plus 10 GB of cloud recording storage.

• Webex Suite costs $22.50 per user per month billed annually and adds Webex Calling with a business phone number, while the participant limit stays at
• Enterprise is quoted by sales and raises the limit to 1,000 participants.
• Choose Webex Meet for meetings with 101 to 200 people.
• Do not choose Suite for a bigger room, because the extra $10.50 per user over Meet buys calling, not more participants.

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GoTo Meeting is a focused meeting tool that charges per organizer, and that billing detail is its main advantage for teams where only a few people host. Professional costs $12 per organizer per month billed annually, or $144 per organizer per year, and holds up to 150 participants with HD video, screen sharing, web audio and cloud recording, with no time limit. Business costs $16 per organizer per month billed annually, or $192 per organizer per year, and holds up to 250 participants, plus transcripts, meeting lock and co-organizers.

• There is no free plan, but a 14-day trial is available.
• Choose GoTo Meeting if three hosts serve 50 staff, because you buy three organizer seats instead of 50 user seats.
• Do not choose it if every team member needs to host, because per-organizer billing then loses its advantage.

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RingCentral Video suits teams that want video and a business phone system from one vendor, because video is included in every RingEX plan. Video Pro is free and allows meetings with up to 100 participants, with a 50 minute limit, 10 hours of cloud recording, and recordings kept for 7 days. Video Pro+ costs $10 per user per month and supports 200 participants, 100 hours of recording, and 1 year of recording retention.

• RingEX Core costs $20 per user per month billed annually and adds unlimited domestic calling, SMS and team messaging alongside video.
• Choose RingCentral if you plan to replace a desk phone system as well as a telepresence room.
• Do not choose free Video Pro for long workshops.

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Whereby is the simplest option in this list for recurring external calls, because each host gets a permanent room link that never changes, and guests join from a browser with no download. The free plan costs nothing and gives one meeting room for up to 4 participants, with basic screen sharing. Pro costs $6.99 per host per month billed monthly and gives 3 meeting rooms for up to 12 participants, plus recording.

• Business costs $9.99 per host per month and gives 10 meeting rooms for up to 50 participants, plus breakout rooms and custom branding.
• Choose Whereby if you run the same weekly call with the same link.
• Do not choose the free plan for team meetings above 4 people.

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Jitsi Meet is the only option in this list with no licence fee at all, because the software is open source under the Apache 2.0 licence and the public server at meet.jit.si costs nothing to use. Guests join from a browser link with no account, and the software supports screen sharing, chat and video. Self-hosted Jitsi gives a team full control over its own server and call data, and it can scale by adding more video bridges, while the managed Jitsi as a Service option from 8×8 charges per monthly active user.

• The trade-off is operations work: you own setup, patching, uptime and bandwidth, and the public server has no service guarantee.
• Choose Jitsi if privacy, control or a zero licence bill matters more than a polished admin console.
• Do not choose the public server for business critical meetings, because it is shared infrastructure with no promise of uptime.

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