Best Video Conferencing Software 2026
Best Video Conferencing Software in 2026
AI has become the primary differentiator in video conferencing in 2026 — not the video quality, not the participant limits, not even the price. Every major platform now offers automatic meeting summaries, action item extraction, and real-time transcription. The differences are in where AI lives (bundled vs add-on), how good the summaries actually are, and whether the intelligence integrates into the tools where work happens after the meeting ends.
The other major shift: Around.co shut down in March 2025. Its floating-head-style video approach was absorbed by Miro, which embedded the concept into Miro Video Calls for whiteboarding sessions. If you used Around, the successor is either Miro (for visual collaboration) or one of the five platforms below for general meeting needs.
This guide covers Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, and Riverside — five tools with genuinely different strengths across team size, use case, and AI approach.
TL;DR
Zoom is still the default enterprise choice, with the broadest AI rollout in 2026 and the largest ecosystem. Google Meet is the best value for teams already on Google Workspace — Gemini AI is now included in the Business Standard plan with no add-on cost. Microsoft Teams is the right call for Microsoft 365 organizations, though its best AI features (Copilot Intelligent Recap) require a separate add-on. Webex has the strongest built-in AI for enterprise use cases — real-time 100+ language translation, noise isolation, and meeting summaries are all included in paid plans without add-on fees. Riverside is not a traditional video conferencing tool — it is purpose-built for podcast and video production with local separate-track recording, and should only be evaluated for content creation use cases.
Quick Picks
| Tool | Best For | Free Tier | Paid Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoom | Enterprise teams, broadest ecosystem, AI Companion | 40 min / 100 participants | $13.33/user/month (annual) |
| Google Meet | Google Workspace teams, best price-to-AI ratio | 60 min / 100 participants | $7/user/month (Business Starter, annual) |
| Microsoft Teams | Microsoft 365 organizations | 60 min / 100 participants | $4/user/month (Essentials, annual) |
| Webex | Enterprise security, built-in translation and AI | 40 min / 100 participants | $12/user/month (Webex Meet) |
| Riverside | Podcast and video content production | 2 hr recording / up to 10 | $24/month (annual) |
Pricing Comparison
| Tool | Free | Pro / Entry | Business / Mid | Enterprise | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoom | $0 | $13.33/user/month (annual) | $18.33/user/month Business (annual) | Custom | Business Plus: $22.49/user/month (annual) |
| Google Meet | $0 | $7/user/month (Business Starter, annual) | $14/user/month (Business Standard, annual) | Custom | Business Plus: $22/user/month; Gemini included at Standard+ |
| Microsoft Teams | $0 | $4/user/month (Essentials, annual) | $6/user/month (365 Basic, annual) | $12–$57/user/month | 365 Standard $12.50/user/month; prices rising ~5–43% from July 2026 |
| Webex | $0 | $12/user/month (Webex Meet) | $22.50/user/month (Webex Suite) | Custom | Webex Calling: $17/license/month |
| Riverside | $0 | $24/month annual ($29 monthly) | $34/month annual (Live) | $79/month annual (Webinar) | Flat pricing, not per-user |
Price alerts for 2026: Microsoft is raising prices globally effective July 1, 2026, with increases ranging from 5–43% depending on plan and region. Teams on Microsoft 365 plans should verify updated pricing before renewal. Zoom reduced AI Companion costs by bundling it into all paid plans in 2025 — what previously required a $7.99/user/month add-on is now included.
Participant Limits and Meeting Duration
| Tool | Free Participants | Free Duration | Pro Participants | Business Participants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoom | 100 | 40 min (group calls) | 100 (Pro) | 300 (Business) |
| Google Meet | 100 | 60 min (group calls) | 100 (Business Starter) | 150 (Business Standard) / 500 (Business Plus) |
| Microsoft Teams | 100 | 60 min | 300 (Essentials/365 Basic) | 300 (365 Standard) |
| Webex | 100 | 40 min | 200 (Webex Meet) | Up to 1,000 (Suite/Enterprise) |
| Riverside | 10 | 2 hrs total monthly | 10 (Pro) | 100 registrants (Webinar) |
Zoom's 40-minute free tier limit for group calls remains the most frequently cited friction point for teams evaluating the free plan. Google Meet and Microsoft Teams both allow 60-minute free group meetings. For 1:1 calls, both Zoom and Google Meet are unlimited on the free tier.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Zoom | Google Meet | Microsoft Teams | Webex | Riverside |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI meeting summaries | AI Companion (all paid plans) | Gemini (Business Standard+) | Intelligent Recap (Teams Premium or Copilot add-on) | AI Assistant (all paid plans) | Auto-chapters + topics (Pro+) |
| Real-time transcription | Business+ | Business Standard+ (via Gemini) | 365 Basic+ | All paid plans (100+ languages) | AI transcription (Pro+) |
| Noise cancellation | Yes (adaptive) | Yes (Business Standard+) | Yes (paid plans) | Yes (AI voice isolation, deep learning) | Magic Audio (Pro+) |
| Virtual backgrounds | Yes (all plans) | Yes (all plans) | Yes (paid) | Yes | Limited |
| Cloud recording | Business+ (Pro: limited cloud) | Business Standard+ (Google Drive) | 365 Basic+ (OneDrive) | All paid plans | Pro: up to 15 hrs/month, 4K |
| Local separate-track recording | No | No | No | No | Yes (core feature) |
| Screen sharing | All plans | All plans | All plans | All plans | Yes |
| Whiteboard | Yes (Zoom Whiteboard) | Via Google Jamboard (deprecated → FigJam) | Yes (Whiteboard app in Teams) | Yes (Webex Board) | No |
| Breakout rooms | Pro+ | Business Standard+ | 365 Standard+ | All paid plans | No |
AI Meeting Intelligence
AI has become the most actively developed feature in video conferencing — and the cost model varies significantly across platforms.
Zoom AI Companion is the most comprehensive AI rollout in this group and is included in all paid Zoom plans at no additional cost. AI Companion generates post-meeting summaries, action items, and next steps. In 2026, Zoom added voice translation (English ↔ multiple languages, currently in beta), AI-generated virtual backgrounds (text-prompt based, not just preset images), and @Zoomie — a group AI assistant that can answer questions about past meetings during live sessions. Zoom also launched an AI-powered productivity suite in March 2026, positioning AI Companion as a broader work assistant beyond meetings.
Google Meet with Gemini is the best AI value for teams already paying for Google Workspace. Gemini at Business Standard ($14/user/month) generates real-time notes with attribution, post-meeting summaries, and action items written directly to a shared Google Doc accessible from the Calendar invite. In 2026, Gemini expanded language support for summaries to French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish — a significant improvement for global teams. For teams that work primarily in Google Docs, Sheets, and Gmail, having meeting notes automatically land in Drive with proper formatting is a genuine workflow advantage.
Microsoft Teams + Copilot has the most powerful AI in this group on paper — Teams Copilot can answer real-time questions about what was said in a meeting, search the transcript mid-call, and generate comprehensive meeting recaps with attributed speaker quotes. The catch is that this requires either the Teams Premium add-on or Microsoft 365 Copilot ($30/user/month), meaning the effective cost for Teams with best-in-class AI is $42.50–$57/user/month depending on your base Microsoft 365 plan. For organizations that are already paying for Microsoft 365 Copilot for other use cases (Word, Outlook, Excel), the Teams AI comes effectively free.
Webex AI Assistant takes a different approach: it is built into the platform at no additional cost on all paid plans, with no separate tier required. Real-time transcription in 100+ languages, noise isolation using deep learning, meeting summaries with action items, and AI-generated meeting chapters are all available from the Webex Meet plan ($12/user/month). Webex also offers real-time translation during live meetings — a capability no other platform here matches at the same price point without add-ons. For multinational organizations or enterprises with distributed global teams, Webex's translation depth is a material operational advantage.
For teams focused on capturing meeting intelligence for follow-up workflows, also compare best AI meeting assistants — tools like Otter.ai and Fireflies work across all video platforms and offer specialized features beyond what native AI provides.
Recording, Transcription, and Production Quality
Recording quality requirements differ dramatically between use cases — a team standing up daily standups has different needs than a company producing a podcast or a sales team analyzing call recordings.
Zoom includes cloud recording with basic transcription on Pro plans (5 GB storage), with unlimited cloud recording and full transcription on Business and above. The recording quality for standard meetings is solid, but Zoom is not a production recording tool — recordings are compressed for efficient streaming, not optimized for audio/video fidelity.
Google Meet saves recordings to Google Drive at Business Standard and above. Gemini generates timestamped transcripts and notes from recordings. The storage efficiency benefit for Google Workspace teams is real — meeting recordings land directly in Drive without a separate download-upload workflow.
Microsoft Teams recordings save to OneDrive or SharePoint at the 365 Basic tier and above. AI Intelligent Recap (Teams Premium/Copilot) generates chapters, speaker attribution, and follow-up suggestions from recordings. For organizations already using SharePoint for document management, having meeting recordings indexed alongside project documentation improves discoverability.
Webex includes cloud recording on all paid plans, with AI-generated summaries and action items attached to each recording automatically. The Webex transcription engine supports over 100 languages and has historically been rated highly for accuracy in multi-speaker environments — a meaningful advantage for global teams with varied accents and terminology.
Riverside is in a different category from the other four tools on recording. It records each participant's audio and video as a separate, uncompressed local track — meaning the final recording quality is independent of anyone's internet connection during the call. The platform transcribes in 100+ languages with approximately 99% accuracy (per vendor claims), generates AI-powered short clips (Magic Clips), and allows text-based transcript editing where deleting text from the transcript removes the corresponding video segment. Riverside Pro ($24/month) includes up to 15 hours of cloud recordings per month at up to 4K resolution, 48 kHz audio, and no watermark. For zoom alternatives focused specifically on content production quality, Riverside is in a class of its own — but it supports only up to 10 participants and is not a practical replacement for organization-wide meeting infrastructure.
Integrations and Platform Ecosystem
Zoom has the broadest third-party ecosystem of any platform here. The Zoom App Marketplace includes over 1,500 integrations, with native support for Salesforce (meeting logging, CRM action items), Slack (meeting links, status sync), Microsoft 365, and Google Workspace. Zoom's API is among the most documented in the industry, making it the default choice for teams building custom integrations on top of video infrastructure.
Google Meet integrates natively and deeply with the entire Google Workspace suite — Calendar invites include Meet links automatically, Gmail has one-click Meet calls, and transcripts land in Drive without any configuration. For teams outside Google Workspace, Meet's integrations are more limited and require third-party tools (Zapier, dedicated connectors) for CRM and project management sync.
Microsoft Teams shares a similar story: it is deeply native for Microsoft 365 organizations and requires more effort for everything outside the Microsoft stack. SharePoint, Outlook, OneDrive, Dynamics 365, and Azure Active Directory all integrate seamlessly. The Teams App Store has over 700 third-party integrations, including Salesforce, Asana, GitHub, and Slack (with limitations).
Webex connects with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Slack, and Salesforce. Its App Hub supports hundreds of integrations, and Cisco's enterprise relationships mean Webex often has pre-approved integrations in regulated industries where third-party marketplace apps require security review. Webex also supports cross-platform meeting federation via Mio, allowing Webex users to message and meet with Teams or Slack users without requiring everyone to use the same platform. Comparing platform options? See Zoom vs Google Meet vs Teams and Slack vs Microsoft Teams for deeper head-to-head analysis.
What Happened to Around.co?
Around.co shut down on March 31, 2025. The product — which featured floating circular video bubbles, EchoPrevention audio technology, and a minimal meeting-room aesthetic — was acquired by Miro, and its visual collaboration approach is now embedded in Miro Video Calls. If you used Around for its unique UX, Miro's Video Calls are the closest successor — video calls embedded directly inside Miro boards for collaborative design sessions. Miro Starter runs $8/member/month (annual). Miro Video Calls are designed for whiteboarding sessions, not general meeting infrastructure — for the latter, evaluate the five platforms above.
When to Use Which
Choose Zoom if you need the broadest platform compatibility, the largest app marketplace, and the most active AI feature development. AI Companion being included in all paid plans — not as a costly add-on — makes the value calculation clean.
Choose Google Meet if your organization is already on Google Workspace. At Business Standard ($14/user/month), you get Gemini AI meeting notes, Drive recording storage, and 150-participant meetings — the best price-to-AI ratio in this group for Workspace subscribers.
Choose Microsoft Teams if your organization is on Microsoft 365 and collaboration already happens in SharePoint, OneDrive, and Outlook. Account for the July 2026 price increases and the Copilot add-on cost if you want best-in-class AI features.
Choose Webex if you are in an enterprise or regulated industry where translation across 100+ languages is operationally necessary, or where AI features need to be included (not add-on) for budget predictability. Webex's security certifications also make it the common choice in government, finance, and healthcare environments.
Choose Riverside only if you are producing podcast episodes, video content, or high-quality interviews. It is not a meeting platform — it is a production studio in the browser. The local separate-track recording and post-production features are unmatched for content creators, but it is not a Zoom replacement for everyday team meetings.