Webex Meetings
Based on 1176 reviews and ratings
Zoom
Based on 1868 reviews and ratings
Highlights
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.
Provided by the TrustRadius Research Team
Published on April 24, 2020
Likelihood to Recommend
Webex Meetings
Zoom
Feature Rating Comparison
Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software
High quality audio
High quality video
Low bandwidth requirements
Mobile support
Screen Sharing
Desktop sharing
Whiteboards
Online Meetings / Events
Calendar integration
Meeting initiation
Integrates with social media
Record meetings / events
Slideshows
Online Events Collaboration
Live chat
Audience polling
Q&A
Online Events Security
User authentication
Participant roles & permissions
Confidential attendee list
Pros
Webex Meetings
- it is very robust and Stable
- Security is one important strength
- it is easy to use, and even when shared to arrange meetings with customer that are more familiar in using other Meeting Tools, they find it easy to use and better than the tools they have been using.
- It is curious how they like the way they could change the Virtual Background and how better it looks than others
Zoom
- It just works. Biggest complaint with our previous solution is that it took 10 minutes to connect to a meeting. Now, our users connect instantaneously.
- Dashboard is fantasitic. Can access real time information to troubleshoot calls.
- Admin ports offers quite a bit of information. Like that it's a one stop shop to access everything I need to administer the site, users, run reports and access the dashboard.
- Tickets get resolved quickly.
- Feature requests are realized quickly.
Cons
Webex Meetings
- Better performance playing videos; higher frame rates.
- Lower cost to compete with MS Teams and Zoom.
- Participant panel minimized to the right side by default instead of having to manually move it every meeting.
- Make it easier to migrate from legacy Webex sites to Control Hub.
Zoom
- There are a few areas of the Zoom Phone functionality that I feel like need improving, such as the 911-calling capabilities and some of the call center solutions.
- Some of the ways in which Zoom interacts with other hardware, such as Cisco room kits and Advocor conference systems, leaves a little to be desired. Those that are partnering with Zoom to bring the meeting conference experience to the next level need to have the "bugs worked out" before launching their products.
Likelihood to Renew
Webex Meetings
Zoom
Usability
Webex Meetings
Zoom
Reliability and Availability
Webex Meetings
Zoom
Performance
Webex Meetings
Zoom
Support Rating
Webex Meetings
Zoom
Implementation Rating
Webex Meetings
Zoom
Alternatives Considered
Webex Meetings
Zoom
Scalability
Webex Meetings
Zoom
Return on Investment
Webex Meetings
- We got approval to test this solution in 3 rooms (that is all the budget we got).
- People loved it so much that we got enough budget to do 30 more rooms.....then 300.
- And now this year because our 300 rooms are so successful we got 10 million and were able to start a huge project of rolling out 1000 new rooms.
- This is just showing that the product proves itself. Start small, set it up right and the users and execs will LOVE it.
Zoom
- Allowed for us to start meetings at a faster speed especially with its Slack integration.
- Integration with HubSpot has made it easy to also set up Zoom webinars and sync any contact data within the CRM.
- Need battery chargers for laptops in a meeting lasting over an hour - drains them fairly quickly.
Screenshots
Webex Meetings
—Pricing Details
Webex Meetings
General
Free Trial
Free/Freemium Version
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Entry-level set up fee?
Webex Meetings Editions & Modules
Edition
Free | $0.001 |
---|---|
Starter | $13.501 |
Plus | $17.951 |
Business | $26.951 |
- per month
Additional Pricing Details
Pricing available by monthly or annual subscription, with discounts available for annual commitments.Zoom
General
Free Trial
Free/Freemium Version
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Entry-level set up fee?
Zoom Editions & Modules
On-premise Edition
Virtual H.323/SIP Room Connector | 49/month |
---|---|
Business | 19.99/month |
SaaS Edition
Basic | $0 |
---|---|
Pro | 14.99/month |
Business | 19.99/month |
Zoom Room Conference Room | 49/month |
Webinar | 54.99/month |