If you suddenly find yourself working from home or another remote location, you’re going to miss those interactions with other people. Video conferencing can help by allowing you to talk face-to-face, even if it is via a screen.
Fortunately, there are plenty of free video conferencing apps you can use to connect. Video-meeting apps that offer different features that may appeal to some users more than others. Teachers may prefer a different platform than businesspeople, for example; kids may prefer a different platform than adults, and so on.
Here are the five most popular video apps in the U.S. based on user numbers and ratings:
Zoom, founded in 2011, gained hundreds of millions of users during the COVID-19 pandemic because it offers and easy-to-use video platform on mobile devices, tablets and computers.
The app is free, though it offers premium options for those who want to host meetings larger than 100 people, global toll-free calling, more storage and other features. Zoom began offering free, 40-minute-long video calls for users during the pandemic.
Zoom faced some privacy and security issues when it first gained an unprecedented number of new daily participants starting around March, but it has since worked to give users regular updates. The company announced this week that it now offers end-to-end encryption for all users rather than just paying subscribers.
Google rebranded its 'Hangouts" video conference app to "Google Meet" in April during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While Hangouts has much higher ratings than Meet, the apps are now the same under the name "Meet" and offer a competitor video app to Zoom.
Meet allows users to host 250 participants and offers 60-minute long conferences for free until Sept. 30. Businesses, schools and organizations can also live-stream an event to up to 100 viewers.
Cisco WebEx, founded in 1995 as a workplace collaboration app, has been widely adopted by business professionals in the U.S. and around the world. WebEx is included with Cisco Meetings, a workplace organization platform.
WebEx users can share screens, documents and virtual whiteboard writing over the platform for free. Additionally, users who do not pay a subscription fee can host up to 100 people on a video call that can last up to 50 minutes.
Paid subscriptions come with more storage options, call-in audio, 24/7 customer service, unlimited meeting time and more.
Skype, which launched in 2003, has made a big name for itself over the years as a video-meeting app.
The free, Microsoft-owned video-conference app has been used for a number of purposes, including school, business and virtual social gatherings. It offers end-to-end encrypted messaging, HD video quality, live subtitles for presentations, screen-sharing capabilities and more.
Users can make calls from all over the world for free, or they can purchase a subscription plan if they want unlimited calls without time caps to landline numbers and mobile where applicable.
Verizon announced plans to acquire BlueJeans, founded in 2009, in April during the pandemic for $500 million.
The telecommunications company took interest in the video-conferencing app's appeal to small and large businesses.
This app is the only one out of the five featured that is not free and did not offer a free service during the pandemic. with a $9.99/month option, users can host up to 50 people for an unlimited amount of time, and users can record for up to five hours.
With a $13.99/moth subscription, users can host up to 75 participants, record calls for up to 25 hours and integrates material from Microsoft Teams and Slack into meetings.
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