Webex Meetings vs Zoom

Cisco Webex Meetings and Zoom are among the most popular web conferencing platforms currently available. Both products specialize in web conferences, but they’re also part of larger software suites that help users manage web conferencing, webinar, VoIP, and other communication software all through one system. Cisco Webex Meetings and Zoom also offer video conferencing equipment for use with their web conferencing software.

Cisco Webex Meetings is primarily used by enterprise-level organizations, likely because companies at that level are more likely to use the broader Cisco suite of business software. By contrast, Zoom’s user base is fairly evenly spread across small businesses, mid-size companies, and enterprises.

Features

Although Cisco Webex Meetings and Zoom have many similarities, they each have standout features that are important to consider when choosing a video conferencing solution.

Cisco Webex Meetings is often best suited for larger companies that host plenty of external meetings. The software is designed to be used with Cisco’s other Webex communications tools, making it a solid choice for companies that want to consolidate web conferencing, webinar, and cloud-based telephony tools. Recently, Cisco has updated Webex Meetings with features designed to enhance its video conferencing capabilities. The software now includes features such as virtual camera backgrounds, a redesigned audio/video preview window, and educator-focused features like attendance management tools.

Zoom is often a good solution for business of all sizes. Designed to scale with your business’s needs, Zoom can help integrate online meetings, webinars, and conference calls into a single platform. Reviewers particularly appreciate Zoom’s high audio/video quality, breakout and sidebar room features, and overall ease of setup and use. Zoom’s recent updates have added new chat features with public channels, private channels, and direct messages. The software also now includes a calendar pane, allowing users to schedule meetings from Zoom and import calendar items from Google or Office 365 calendar apps.

Limitations

Although both Cisco Webex Meetings and Zoom are popular choices for video conferencing, they also have certain limitations to consider when choosing a solution.

Webex Meetings is commonly praised for its ability to host meetings from multiple types of devices. However, the software can also have a steep learning curve. Some of its advanced features, such as interface customization, can be difficult to learn and configure. Some reviewers also experienced frustrating intermittent lag issues, even if their overall internet connection was solid.

Zoom, on the other hand, is often praised for having a shallow learning curve, but some users find its UI sparse and clunky at times. Its “leave meeting” button is a particular pain point for reviewers, due to its screen placement and tendency to disappear at odd times. Some users also find that basic tasks in the UI take far too many clicks, with important or commonly-used features buried too far in menus or configuration panels. While Zoom does have clients for many platforms, some operating systems or implementations (such as Chromebook) might lack polish or feature parity.

Pricing

Webex Meetings uses a tiered, monthly per-host pricing plan. The Free tier includes all basic functionality and allows up to 100 participants in meetings of up to 50 minutes. The Starter tier is $14.95 per host per month with a maximum of 9 hosts. It extends the maximum meeting length to 24 hours, and adds 5 GB of cloud storage. The Plus tier is $19.95 per host per month for up to 50 hosts and has similar features to the Starter tier. The Business tier is $29.95 per host per month for up to 100 hosts. It allows up to 200 participants per meeting and increases cloud recording storage to 10 GB. The Enterprise tier is priced via quote and includes unlimited recording storage and up to 100,000 meeting participants.

Zoom’s Basic pricing tier is free and allows unlimited one-on-one meetings and 40-minute group meetings with up to 100 participants. The Pro pricing tier costs $15.00 per license per month and allows meetings as long as 24 hours. The Business tier costs $20.00 per license per month and includes custom branding and SSO options, with group meetings of up to 300 participants. The Zoom United Business tier costs $30.00 per license per month and requires at least 10 licenses. This plan includes unlimited cloud storage and phone features. Finally, the Enterprise plan is $19.99 per license per month with a 100-license minimum and allows up to 1,000 participants per meeting with transcription features.

Which is Right for You?

Zoom and Webex Meetings have fairly comparable pricing, however, if you’re on a budget, Webex Meetings will cost significantly less per month, but you trade 50 fewer participants for the cheaper price.

And while Webex Meetings is more commonly used amongst mid-sized companies and enterprises, Zoom is more popular with small businesses. When comparing these two powerhouses, consider your budget as well as the average size of online meetings you wish to host regularly.