Zoom Pricing Guide 2024: Is the Free Plan Enough for Your Business?

Zoom pricing starts at $13.23 per user, per month for Zoom Workplace, the bundle of services that includes access to the video conferencing platform Meetings, as well as Team Chat, cloud storage, and Zoom’s AI companion. ~

Zoom also offers a free forever plan, allowing users to host 40-minute video calls with fewer than 100 people. On top of that, there’s also a robust VoIP solution, Zoom Phone, which you can buy on its own for as little as $10 per user, per month, or bundle it with Zoom Workplace for as little as $18.32 per user, per month.

In this guide, you’ll learn about all the pricing that goes into Zoom, including how the pricing plans match up, how much it costs to bundle multiple services together, and whether or not the paid add-ons are worth it for your business.

In this guide:

• Isn’t Zoom Free?
• Zoom Workplace Pricing Plans
• Zoom Rooms Pricing Plans
• Zoom Phone Pricing Plans
• Zoom Video Webinar Pricing Plans
• About Our Research
• Is Zoom Worth the Cost?

Zoom Pricing: Is Zoom Free?

Yes, Zoom does offer a free forever option called the Basic plan, which allows up to 100 participants and 40 minutes of meeting time per call.

As you can imagine, though, the feature offerings are quite limited compared to the paid versions, which means it isn’t ideal for businesses that are looking for a robust tool to conduct a lot of meetings for their larger teams. When we tested Zoom, the time limit alone proved to be a deal-breaking issue, with our team needing to use it for more than 40 minutes on most occasions.

Here’s a breakdown of what is available with the free plan vs the paid plans with Zoom Workplace.

Features included in Zoom’s free plan:

• Local recordings
• Automated meeting captions
• Team Chat
• Whiteboards
• Zoom Mail
• Calendar
• Virtual backgrounds
• Breakout rooms
• Multi-share
• Host controls

Features not included in Zoom’s free plan:

• Cloud stored recordings
• AI Companion
• Translated captions
• Zoom Scheduler
• Telephone dial-in
• Polling
• Streaming
• Reporting
• Alternate host
• Visitor management

The Zoom home dashboard provided us with a clear guidance on what to do and how to start meetings. Source: Tech.co testing

Zoom Workplace Pricing Plans

The video conferencing platform from Zoom is called Zoom Meeting, but you can’t just buy that on its own anymore. The service is now bundled with other Zoom services, including Team Chat, and is known as Zoom Workplace.

Zoom Workplace comes in two different pricing plans. There’s the Pro plan ($13.32 per user, per month) and the Business plan ($18.32 per user, per month).

On top of that, Zoom offers pricing plans that can bundle the Zoom Workplace platform with the VoIP service from Zoom, called Zoom Phone. The Pro Plus plan costs $18.32 per user, per month and the Business Plus plan costs $22.49 per user, per month.

For larger businesses that need more than 250 users, there’s also the Zoom Workplace Enterprise plan, but it offers no public pricing, so you’ll have to contact the sales team to learn more.

To find out what each pricing option has to offer, keep scrolling for an in-depth look at each plan.

The Zoom Meetings interface is simple, especially for free users, so our team was able to easily engage with meetings. Source: Tech.co testing

Zoom Workplace Basic – $0

This is the free plan we talked about above. You’re likely familiar with the Basic plan, as it’s the free plan offered to everyone and was the most popular option for those during the pandemic.

Our research found it to be the best free conference call service on the market too, even beating massive names like RingCentral and Google Meet to the punch. This is largely due to the fact that Zoom is incredibly easy to use, while still offering robust business-facing offers.

Zoom Workplace Basic offers users the ability to host unlimited meetings for up to 100 participants. All meetings are capped at 40 minutes, however, which we found to be a dealbreaker for our business, given that is simply not enough time to get much done.

Zoom Workplace Basic also offers a limited support option in the form of a help center, so we weren’t able to get in touch with an actual person when we had an issue. There’s also a Team Chat function for collaboration and file sharing, as well as three editable whiteboards and a little bit of local storage so you can keep your work for next time.

Despite being free, this plan still gave us access to most Zoom features, including virtual backgrounds and breakout rooms, the latter of which are key tools for running great team workshops.

The Zoom Whiteboard tool made it easy for our team to collaborate in real time. Source: Tech.co testing

Zoom Workplace Pro – $13.32 per user, per month

While the Zoom Workplace Basic plan is decidedly robust for a free plan, it does have some notable limitations, like time caps and limited support options. With Zoom Workplace Pro, you’ll be able to get a little more flexibility for your team for only $13.32 per license, per month.

Zoom Workplace Pro comes with all the features listed above while allowing for 100 meeting participants and up to 9 licenses. You’ll also essentially get rid of the meeting cap, moving it to a full 30 hours, which we found was far more than enough to handle our work meetings. For those longer meetings, we were able to take advantage of the 5GB of cloud storage per license for storing meeting recordings.

Additionally, we had access to live chat support options with this plan, so we were able to get help from an actual Zoom representative to solve our problem quickly and effectively.

Zoom Workplace Pro adds some features that could be beneficial to your business as well, including analytical reporting and social media streaming to Facebook Live and YouTube. You’ll even unlock interoperability with Skype for Business, in the event that your team is transitioning from another platform.

Perhaps most importantly, though, this plan unlocks the AI Companion from Zoom, the generative AI tool available at no extra cost. This feature was able to summarize information, generate messages, take meeting notes, and perform a wide range of other tasks to help our team communicate more efficiently.

Zoom Workplace Pro pricing is right in line with the industry, with other options like RingCentral ($11.99 per user, per month) and GoTo Meeting ($12 per user, per month) costing almost exactly the same. Google Meet ($6 per user, per month) and Microsoft Teams ($4 per user, per month), on the other hand, are notably more affordable, but you’ll want to be sure that you’re up for all the additional bloat that comes with those platforms.

Zoom Workplace Pro Plus – $18.32 per user, per month

If you want access to Zoom Workplace and Zoom Phone, you can bundle the two products together in the Zoom Workplace Pro Plus plan, which costs $18.32 per user, per month. This plan allows for up to 99 users and gives you access to both services in a single platform.

The Zoom Calendar integrated with our Google calendar, which made setting up meetings easier for our team. Source: Tech.co testing

Zoom Workplace Business – $18.32 per user, per month

If you’re hoping to find a video conferencing plan that caters to medium and large-sized businesses, Zoom Workplace Business has got you covered. This plan offers more features, more participants, and more licenses, all at the low cost of $18.32 per license, per month, billed annually.

Zoom Workplace Business comes with all the features we’ve already mentioned while allowing for up to 300 participants and up to 99 licenses. Naturally, you’re still without the meeting time cap, and you’ll get live chat support, as well as an added phone support option and a service ticket tool for even more comprehensive customer service.

As we expected, this plan came with more business-focused features when you shell out the extra money for the Zoom Workplace Business plan, allowing our team access to single sign-on, an admin portal, and company branding features.

It also expands on features that Pro offers: For example, Pro offers three editable whiteboards, but Business removes the cap entirely, allowing our team to access unlimited whiteboards. The extra capability makes this a great plan for our remote team, in which team-building workshops must function just as well on a screen as in-person.

Zoom Workplace Business Plus – $22.49 per user, per month

The Business plan also allows you to bundle the service with Zoom Phone in the Zoom Workplace Business Plus plan, which costs $22.49 per user, per month. You’ll be able to use this plan for between 10 and 250 users and have access to both the video conferencing and VoIP service in one platform.

The Team Chat functionality is built right into the Zoom Meeting platform, so we were able to communicate with our team via video or text. Source: Tech.co testing

Zoom Workplace Enterprise – Custom quote

Globally renowned companies need enterprise-level video conferencing solutions, and that’s where Zoom Workplace Enterprise comes in. There’s no public pricing available for this plan, but it does require you to sign up for at least 250 licenses.

As you can imagine, Zoom Workplace Enterprise comes with all the features listed above, while allowing for 1000 meeting participants and unlimited cloud storage. Plus, you get access to the same live chat and phone support from the Business and Business Plus plans, so you’ll have help on-hand whenever you need it.

Zoom Workplace Enterprise is the second Zoom plan with Zoom Phone included, but it’s a bit more advanced than what you get on the Business Plus plan. Features include metered outbound calls, call queues & IVR, and a Common Area Phone.

Outside of the increased meeting participant limit, Zoom Workplace Enterprise also offers some other enticing features for enterprise-level organizations. For one, you’ll get a dedicated Customer Success Manager to help you improve your communication across your business. Additionally, you’ll get advanced reporting tools in the form of executive business reviews to truly understand how Zoom improves your business.

Zoom Rooms Pricing Plans

Zoom Rooms is the specifically business-facing version of the Zoom video chat function. This software-based video conferencing system is compatible with third-party hardware for cameras, speakers, and monitors, allowing for a flexible transition with your existing video conferencing setup.

Every plan below supports 720p HD video and audio quality, 1,000 meeting participants, and 10,000 webinar viewers, and allows you to join, book, and schedule meetings with a single click. You’ll be able to integrate meetings with Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook, and meetings can be recorded and transcribed in real-time. You can even use whiteboard and annotation features, as long as you have a touch-enabled display.

Rather than different plans with increasing features, Zoom Rooms offers all features with every plan, with licenses available for each.

Zoom Rooms Licenses

A single Zoom Rooms license will cost you $49 per month per room. You’ll be able to purchase up to 49 rooms at that price, giving you access to all the features listed above. If you pay the annual fee, it works out to $41.58 per month per room.

Zoom Rooms Enterprise

In the event that you need to purchase more than 49 licenses for Zoom Rooms, the Zoom Rooms Enterprise plan can help. You’ll have to contact Zoom’s sales department in order to be assisted with this, so that they can guide you through the large-scale deployment of an enterprise-level solution like this one.

Free Trial

If you aren’t sure about whether or not these Zoom pricing plans are the right fit for your business, Zoom Rooms does come with a 30-day free trial, which gives you access to all the features listed above, at no charge to your business.

Zoom Phone Pricing Plans

If you’re just looking for a VoIP system and don’t need the other features included in the Zoom Workplace Business Plus and Enterprise plans, then you can buy Zoom Phone as a standalone product.

Zoom Phone offers you the ability to consistently monitor call quality and manage user accounts with a centralized management system, as well as integrate with popular software including Salesforce, Microsoft Office 365, and Google’s G-Suite.

Zoom Phone has a simple interface that’s easy to get started on, especially if you’re already familiar with its video conferencing software. Source: Tech.co user testing

When it comes to VoIP security, Zoom offers 256-bit TLS encryption for all users, but there are instructions here that will show you how to enable end-to-end encryption for Zoom Phone. If you’re looking for your calls to be as secure as possible though, we found that most VoIP competitors to Zoom offer superior security features, but Zoom has recently added more tools for this, including multi-factor authentication.

In our VoIP research, Zoom Phone scored quite highly overall in our testing of the best VoIP service providers. In fact, given the low price of plans and the robust nature of the service, our research found that Zoom Phone is the best value option across the VoIP industry.

Zoom Phone comes in three different pricing plans that are pretty self-explanatory: US & Canada Metered ($10 per user, per month), US & Canada Unlimited ($15 per user, per month), and Pro Global Select ($20 per user, per month).

The best part of the Zoom Phone pricing plan breakup is that each plan still offers all the features you’ll find with the others. This means, no matter what you pay, you’ll get industry-leading HD call quality, voicemail with transcription, and access to native mobile apps for Android and iOS, among other things. The only tangible difference between each plan is where and how often you’ll be able to call.

If you’re interested in getting started with Zoom Phone today, check out our handy comparison tool to get a Zoom VoIP quote right now, as well as custom quotes from top competitors. Alternatively, check out our full guide to VoIP costs and pricing.

Zoom Webinars Pricing

If you find yourself using your Zoom account for all-hands meetings, employee onboarding, product announcements, or other large virtual events more often than actual video calls, it might be worth looking into Zoom Webinars. This product is specifically catered to webinars so that you can enjoy specific features designed to make these larger events easier and more engaging.

Zoom Video Webinar allows for up to 100 live participants, which can include panelists or just engaged viewers, and up to 50,000 webinar attendees. You’ll be able to live stream to Facebook Live and YouTube Live, and it even integrates with customer service platforms. You can also record webinars (with auto-generated transcription) to save for later or provide in online forums.

Zoom Video Webinars is also a helpful tool for management, as it provides analytic reporting tools and event assistance to make sure you run the best webinar every single time. Zoom even offers online event consultations, so you can improve throughout your webinar journey.

Zoom Webinar License Prices

Rather than offering specific pricing plans with differing features, Zoom Video Webinar offers all its features across the board, with the license price being based on a maximum number of attendees for your webinars. Here is the breakdown of the prices:

• 500 attendees: $79 per month per license ($57.50 on annual plan)
• 1,000 attendees: $340 per month per license ($283.33 on annual plan)
• 3,000 attendees: $990 per month per license ($825 on annual plan)
• 5,000 attendees: $2,490 per month per license ($2.075 on annual plan)
• 10,000 attendees: $6,490 per month per license ($5,408.33 on annual plan)

For more than 10,000 attendees, you’ll have to contact Zoom’s sales department to get a catered price for an enterprise-level solution.

About Our Research

Some websites just throw aggregated information in an article and hope that readers don’t need any more data to make the right decision. At Tech.co, though, we know that knowledge is power, which is why we’ve dedicated hours of our time to do in-depth research on business software.

For web conferencing platforms like Zoom, we took a lot of criteria into consideration when it came to rating and ranking providers, including features, pricing, ease of use, third party integrations, and help and support options.

If you want to learn more about how we evaluate business software, check out our research guide to peak behind the curtain of our process.

Zoom Pricing Alternatives

While we believe that Zoom is one of the best web conferencing solutions on the market today, that doesn’t mean it’s the only one. Here are how top competitors like Webex, RingCentral, and many others compare from a pricing perspective — view the table below to get a clear picture of what your options are.

Is Zoom Worth the Cost?

If you’ve been comfortable with taking advantage of the free Zoom plan for a while now, the thought of paying for it might seem a bit foolish. Even with Zoom pricing being competitive, moving on from a free plan can be daunting.

However, the reality – particularly for businesses looking to get ahead – is that Zoom’s wide range of paid options can truly improve the productivity and efficiency of your company. From advanced features to improved reporting, Zoom’s paid offerings are designed to make business communication easy and reliable across the board.

If you aren’t feeling it, though, there are plenty of Zoom alternatives to choose from.

The Whiteboarding tool is built right into the Zoom platform, so we could easily collaborate with our team. Source: Tech.co testing

Who Can Benefit from Zoom?

The reality is that pretty much everyone can benefit from using Zoom. Need to host a work meeting? Zoom has got you covered. Want to enjoy the holidays with friends and family while out of town? Zoom is on the case. Require virtual events for pretty much any reason? That’s what Zoom is built for!

Not everyone needs to pay for Zoom, though. In this instance, the businesses that benefit the most from Zoom’s paid offerings are larger companies with lots of meetings. In most cases, smaller businesses with few meetings can get by with the Zoom Basic plan, which is free, and you won’t notice a big difference. However, if you’re consistently on calls, trying to manage multiple teams, and require a bit more control over your video conferencing, paying a little bit per month could make a big difference for you, enabling more effective video meetings.

Best Features for Value

If you are considering paying for Zoom, you probably want to know exactly what you’re getting. Checking out the product plan descriptions above can help, but the main reason you would pay for Zoom is to eliminate meeting limits, add sharing features for social channels, and improve your reporting capabilities (if you even need them).

Zoom Security

You may have heard that Zoom security isn’t very good. After all, during the height of the pandemic, Zoom was experiencing some serious problems due to the sudden influx of users. Breached meetings, stolen data, and “Zoom-bombing” became all too common, resulting in some serious consequences.

Fortunately, those days are mostly behind them. Zoom has since established end-to-end encryption as a standard for all users, including the free ones, making it one of the more secure web conferencing platforms on the market today. Additionally, the company has generally owned its previous mistakes and been transparent about efforts to secure users’ data. Simply put, don’t let old news ruin a great video conferencing platform for you.

How to Get & Set Up Zoom

Perhaps the most important point to understand about Zoom setup, particularly compared to other popular options like Google Meet, is that you will be required to download it before use. Whether it be the mobile app or the desktop platform, you’ll need to download Zoom ahead of time if you want to take part in a meeting.

Once you’ve done that though, conference calls should be smooth sailing, as Zoom is famous for its intuitive interface and general ease of use. To simply set up a meeting, all you have to do is create an account, launch a meeting, and invite guests, either by sending them a link or relaying a meeting code. For security purposes, you’ll have to allow guests in from the waiting room, and then you’ll be ready to go.

Next Steps for Zoom

If you feel like one or more of these Zoom products is going to be a good fit for your business, that’s great news! We’d be happy to help you get set up with a video conferencing solution, as we’ve done with thousands of businesses in the past. Simply use our web conferencing price comparison form, and you’ll be on your way to better communication for your team.