Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams vs. Zoom

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
Skype for Business was an online messaging and conferencing tool, now superseded by Microsoft Teams.N/A
Zoom
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Zoom helps consolidate communications and collaboration in the boardroom, classroom, operating room, and everywhere. Zoom is an intelligent collaboration platform that makes connecting easier, more immersive, and more dynamic. Zoom technology facilitates collaboration through solutions like Zoom Team Chat, Phone, Meetings, omnichannel cloud Contact Center, smart recordings, and Whiteboard.
$5
per month per license
Pricing
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft TeamsZoom
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Add-On Zoom Translated Captions
$5
per month per license
Add-On - Zoom Whiteboard
$24.90
per year
Pro
$149.90
per year per user
Business
$199.90
per year per user
Business Plus
$250.00
per year per user
Add-On - Conference Room Connector
$499
per year
Basic
Free
Enterprise
Custom
Add-On - Large Meetings
starting at $600
per year
Add-On - Cloud Storage
starting at $120
per year
Add-On Audio Conferencing
starting at $1200
per year
Add-On Zoom Phone Power Pack
Starting at $300
per year per user
Add-On - Zoom IQ for Sales
Contact Sales
Add-On - Quality of Service Subscription
Contact Sales
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft TeamsZoom
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft TeamsZoom
Considered Both Products
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
Chose Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
Skype for Business's unique features offers many benefits. When I need to communicate with my colleagues, I rely on the chat function. Its interface is intuitive and has top-notch sound. Making groups is easy, and
Chose Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
Teams is a superior product. The companies are now shifting more towards Teams as compared to Skype.
Chose Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
Our school district uses both Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Many of our users prefer Zoom over Teams because they say Zoom is easier. Not considering just the Chat feature, I like the ease of setting up a conference in Teams and sending out the calendar event. The integration of …
Chose Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
Skype for Business existing before all these other softwares were present.
So legacy is maintained by Skype.
Main feature that stacks up Skype against all of the mentioned apps is security provided by Skype for Business apps. As we all know Zoom was not at all safe to use as lots …
Chose Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
Skype for Business is great for arranging interactive sessions with group members. It has great audio and video quality and live chat enable others to communicate with each other personally or as a group during any session. File sharing is also easy. It is best for its quality …
Chose Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
We have Skype and teams both in the company. Teams GUI is very great when compared to Skype and also it has more features and options.
It works with other 365 products. File storage, video quality is much better. Also, application integration are tremendous. It shows best …
Chose Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
We [use] Zoom at least 10x more often than Skype for Business, and even though I feel like Zoom has some very shady business practices, their recent security upgrades have been a really valuable way to feel safer about our calls. The biggest drawback on Zoom vs Skype for …
Chose Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
We're working to transition away from Skype for Business and onto one of the alternatives. Working with Skype for Business, many of the features feel "last-gen" and while it's not terrible and it gets the job done, the alternatives have more team collaboration utilities and …
Chose Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
Skype for Business is the paid version of Skype and thus provides more features and capabilities. As a business with employees worldwide, we require video conferencing software that supports more than 25 members in a call, which is why Skype for Business is preferred over Skype.…
Chose Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
WebEx seems to be more cumbersome than Skype and does not integrate as smoothly into Microsoft Outlook.
Chose Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
Skype is a solid product, but in comparison to the other tools on the market (mainly the 3 we have used being UberConference, Zoom, and Join.e), it is significantly overpriced. The power of Skype for Business is extreme, however, they are all great at this point and it has no …
Chose Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
Skype for Business has made itself a clear leader among the pack. I would put it at the top of the list because it's easy to deploy/manage and simply works great!
Chose Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
We had a similar situation, when the server was saturated, it was impossible to connect, but you could raise your hand to ask questions, it had polling and Q&A. You could also record the meetings, even when you connected through phone.
Chose Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
Slack has a bit higher sound quality on calls but does not have a very comfortable GUI and not very good notification sounds. On the other hand, you can connect several accounts to Slack client, as for Skype for Business you can connect only one account and run only one …
Chose Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
Although I do enjoy working with both Skype and Zoom for video conferencing. I would honestly say Skype delivered better video quality.
Zoom
Chose Zoom
Skype for Business will not work for video conferencing outside of our network so we can only video conference internally. Their chat feature is way better as well. You can save your chats and search them as well. You can also record meetings and it automatically takes notes …
Chose Zoom
Skype for Business had reliability issues and we often experienced poor quality audio and/or video. For a while, we tried using it with a large number of participants (50+) and encountered some bandwidth/quality issues. We haven't had any of these issues with Zoom.
Chose Zoom
We've selected Zoom because it integrates easily with our CRM and allowed to port our phone number. Unfortunately, their billing and tech support are really bad.
Chose Zoom
Low cost and improve quality when you have several participants.
Multi platform support is also amazing for this tool, no mater if we are talking about PC or MAC, Windows or Linux, Zoom can be easily be used.
Support provided by the vendor is also an incredible key feature of …
Chose Zoom
Zoom is much better than using a source such as Vonage for business meeting solutions. The main reason would be Vonage has limits and can't always function properly when using a government computer. In those situations, one would need to use a mobile device. When it comes to …
Chose Zoom
Zoom seems to be a bit more intuitive and user-friendly than Skype. We like the record function, screen share, and multi-use product.
Chose Zoom
Zoom is 100% superior in almost all aspects compared to its 2 main competitors: Microsoft Teams and Skype. Only a few organizations in the Australian Education sector use Skype anymore. There are several universities and organizations that are forced to use Teams by their …
Chose Zoom
Zoom has a very friendly UI that allows any kind of people to easily use the application, it has a light design but with all the necessary features without overflooding the options. Zoom has great stability and great performance among other counterparts making this a very …
Chose Zoom
Despite the availability of many tools like Zoom on the market, Zoom has made its presence and become the most valuable and loved tool. The tool has all the features that any other tool like this should have and provides a one-stop solution for all the demands any business …
Chose Zoom
I used to use Skype before Zoom. Zoom's robust and quality features are not available in Skype. Zoom is a video conferencing solution that maintains advanced online collaboration features while improving video quality. It has made it possible for me to continue my work as a …
Chose Zoom
Zoom app is user friendly, it is also very fun to use. We chose zoom over other apps because of its efficiency and better functionality. Because of Zoom, we've all become great communicators. Also, since it is widely used by business owners and corporations, people are counting …
Chose Zoom
Skype is Windows only, so it's completely unusable for us. It's got poor audio and video quality too. Microsoft Teams, at least on Linux, is incredibly slow. I once timed it--it took 45 seconds from hitting enter in the browser location bar until the Teams channels were usable. …
Chose Zoom
In my opinion, Zoom blows Skype out of the water. Skype was a great tool, but always seemed like an unprofessional form of communication given that I had been using it since my adolescence. While Zoom can be used by the younger generation as well, it seems to be a much better …
Chose Zoom
Zoom stacks up as the best product against Skype since Skype is very very slow and lags a lot between calls and video conferences whereas Zoom has all the [same] features with better quality and [more] user friendly. Sometimes it's hard to open Skype as it gets stuck on the …
Chose Zoom
We went with Skype since the pricing was better compared to other options.
Chose Zoom

We find Skype to be more effective internationally especially in India for some reason.

Zoom has had better connectivity than GoToMeeting with similar options.

Chose Zoom
I did not list all of the software we have tried here, but we have literally tried and used everything, nothing works as seamlessly and easily as Zoom.
Chose Zoom
We were formerly a Skype shop which worked great for internal IM and phone, yet, when we attempted to share content outside the organization the ability to do so never worked. We then turned our attention to Cisco WebEx which provided the collaboration externally but was …
Chose Zoom
More features, fewer dropped calls, fewer audio issues.
Chose Zoom
Zoom is leaps and bounds a better alternative to a Skype solution when it comes to video conferencing.
Chose Zoom
Zoom is easier to access and it doesn't fail like Webex does. I have issues getting into a Webex meeting all the time. I have to click on it multiple times to access or call the owner to figure out why I can't access the meeting. Very frustrating when you are trying to join a …
Chose Zoom
Zoom is much better than Hangouts for performance reasons.
Chose Zoom
Compared to these other products, Zoom has greater ease of use, and easier connection for our end users. Faster set up, with minimal to no hiccups. We have had user acceptance at a much more successful rate and customer satisfaction has been positive. I look forward to trying …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft TeamsZoom
Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software
Comparison of Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software features of Product A and Product B
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
7.5
193 Ratings
7% below category average
Zoom
7.2
710 Ratings
12% below category average
High quality audio8.0189 Ratings7.7704 Ratings
High quality video7.7184 Ratings7.6706 Ratings
Low bandwidth requirements6.6181 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile support7.9145 Ratings00 Ratings
Screen Sharing
Comparison of Screen Sharing features of Product A and Product B
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
8.5
190 Ratings
6% above category average
Zoom
7.6
698 Ratings
5% below category average
Desktop sharing8.8190 Ratings8.1697 Ratings
Whiteboards8.3119 Ratings00 Ratings
Online Meetings / Events
Comparison of Online Meetings / Events features of Product A and Product B
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
7.8
187 Ratings
5% below category average
Zoom
7.5
703 Ratings
6% below category average
Calendar integration8.0173 Ratings7.5626 Ratings
Meeting initiation8.1181 Ratings7.9685 Ratings
Integrates with social media7.783 Ratings00 Ratings
Record meetings / events7.6142 Ratings7.7658 Ratings
Slideshows7.7114 Ratings00 Ratings
Online Events Collaboration
Comparison of Online Events Collaboration features of Product A and Product B
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
8.6
172 Ratings
2% above category average
Zoom
7.3
613 Ratings
5% below category average
Live chat9.1170 Ratings7.4595 Ratings
Audience polling8.493 Ratings00 Ratings
Q&A8.193 Ratings00 Ratings
Online Events Security
Comparison of Online Events Security features of Product A and Product B
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
8.0
155 Ratings
5% below category average
Zoom
7.1
591 Ratings
5% below category average
User authentication8.1141 Ratings6.7511 Ratings
Participant roles & permissions7.9147 Ratings6.9565 Ratings
Confidential attendee list8.0109 Ratings00 Ratings
Cloud PBX
Comparison of Cloud PBX features of Product A and Product B
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
-
Ratings
Zoom
5.3
15 Ratings
42% below category average
Hosted PBX00 Ratings4.68 Ratings
Multi-level Interactive Voice Response (IVR)00 Ratings5.010 Ratings
Directory of employee names00 Ratings6.411 Ratings
Call Management
Comparison of Call Management features of Product A and Product B
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
-
Ratings
Zoom
6.7
19 Ratings
20% below category average
Answering rules00 Ratings6.510 Ratings
Call recording00 Ratings8.116 Ratings
Call park00 Ratings5.810 Ratings
Call screening00 Ratings6.510 Ratings
Message alerts00 Ratings6.314 Ratings
Business SMS/External Messaging00 Ratings6.86 Ratings
Voicemail Transcription00 Ratings7.110 Ratings
Mobile apps
Comparison of Mobile apps features of Product A and Product B
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
-
Ratings
Zoom
7.4
18 Ratings
15% below category average
Mobile app for iOS00 Ratings8.016 Ratings
Mobile app for Android00 Ratings6.812 Ratings
Unified Communications Platform and Collaboration
Comparison of Unified Communications Platform and Collaboration features of Product A and Product B
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft Teams
-
Ratings
Zoom
5.5
11 Ratings
30% below category average
Centralized communications management00 Ratings4.98 Ratings
Team messaging00 Ratings5.39 Ratings
Team document sharing00 Ratings6.79 Ratings
Call and meeting analytics00 Ratings5.09 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft TeamsZoom
Small Businesses
ClickMeeting
ClickMeeting
Score 9.4 out of 10
Nextiva Business Phone Service
Nextiva Business Phone Service
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
ClickMeeting
ClickMeeting
Score 9.4 out of 10
Nextiva Business Phone Service
Nextiva Business Phone Service
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Google Meet
Google Meet
Score 8.3 out of 10
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Score 8.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft TeamsZoom
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(196 ratings)
7.0
(727 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(7 ratings)
4.3
(16 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(14 ratings)
7.0
(39 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.5
(40 ratings)
4.7
(39 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.0
(2 ratings)
9.6
(7 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
7.9
(13 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
9.2
(8 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Skype for Business, now part of Microsoft TeamsZoom
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Skype is useful for collaborations across distances, including work from home, as well as a more convenient way to communicate with a large group of people. Skype is also useful to communicate with specific parties quickly, rather than relying on cellular service in areas where not as available. Skype is less useful if the team does not use computers , tablets, smartphones, etc in daily workflow as it would rarely be used.
Read full review
Zoom
I think Zoom runs circles around Teams! I just wish starting meetings was easier - anyone with a link should be able to start the meeting the way you can in Teams. It would also be great to be able to see participants when you are sharing your screen.
Read full review
Pros
Microsoft
  • Instant messaging to anyone who we know only by name/email. Even if they're offline, they get the message in missed convos and a notification automatically goes to them via Outlook mail. All conversations are saved and accessible via Outlook.
  • Video and voice calls are a norm in the WFH scenario, and an average employee has around 4-5 calls a day. Skype gives notifications for upcoming meetings, allows easy scheduling via outlook calendar, and its audio/video quality [is] reasonably good compared to the amount of data it consumes.
  • Status availabilities - in the WFH scenario, you could be off for lunch, out of office, busy, sharing screens - and might not want to be disturbed. Skype allows you to do that, and in case you're off, ensures that you know that you have missed messages.
  • Screen sharing - we have to share screens at least once or twice a day with a coworker when working on some issues/features, and Skype easily lets us do that. One of the best things about Skype is that the screen can be shared without being on a video/voice call - which is of immense advantage because oftentimes, you could prefer sharing the screen, while it [is] too noisy to talk.
Read full review
Zoom
  • I love how easy it is to set the focus on the presenter. It is annoying when people don't spotlight themselves as a presenter, so you get to see the whole gallery of attendees in smaller, two-inch windows.
  • I like the capability of having break-out rooms. Even though I don't use them very often, it is nice to have them available if the right situation presents itself for smaller group chats.
  • The recording quality is better than I have experienced with other products (Microsoft Teams, WebEx, etc.), and the fact that it is already an MP4, so I don't have to convert it for publishing on our intranet is huge to me.
Read full review
Cons
Microsoft
  • Probably the biggest area is the video element as it has historically struggled in this area.
  • The need to be forced to federate with another organisation by providing yours and enabling the other organisation settings is a bit tedious but once done, allows for simple collaboration between third-parties.
  • Functionality wise, as it's an older product and being superseded by MS Teams, it feels as if it's run its course but was very good for what it does/did at the time.
Read full review
Zoom
  • Sharing zoom complete information is not visible on the screen, and also a bit is confusing minimizing and maximizing.
  • Every time someone enters the chat, a chat box appears on my screen, and some features are missing from this version.
  • Automatic conference connection based on a schedule isn't an option, and neither is enhanced security measures.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
The software is simple to install and configure. It is rather simple to explain for correct use. It is possible to profile users for the different functions offered. It is integrated quite completely with Outlook and with Active Directory security. It performs all communication functions well with one or more interlocutors and the possibility of granting control of your computer is convenient.
Read full review
Zoom
We're sticking with Zoom for the foreseeable future--given its compelling feature set, ease of use, and advanced technology, there's just no other competition to be excited about. Plus it's a Gartner-recognized industry leader, so it's a rather easy choice.
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Usability
Microsoft
Very easy to use. Even though Microsoft Teams has a lot of features and integrations, as a user I feel completely comfortable on finding what I need, getting information about the app extensions and using them. It's a very comprehensive tool, intuitive design and does not make me feel tired to be using it. I am glad with the current experience.
Read full review
Zoom
Zoom is made for the non tech office. It has features that can be made to do what you need to run things on a day to day basis. Immediately we we able to get meetings going with remote employees. The ability to be able to add smartphone connected people was a big plus. Zoom met our needs at the time.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Zoom
There have been less than a handful of outages during our two years with Zoom, and whenever there was one, an email informing us of the outage went out immediately, and they had the issue resolved shortly thereafter.
Read full review
Performance
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Zoom
Zoom has among the best performance of any video conference platform, as I've mentioned several times. Besides that, their Chat platform works great, and their back end always runs smooth. It's unfortunate that reporting can now only be done by one month at a time, but nonetheless, it only takes a second to run any kind of Zoom report, whether it's an attendee report, Poll results, a user report, a list of meetings from the past month, etc.
Read full review
Support Rating
Microsoft
I have only had to reach out to the Support team at Skype for Business once with an issue, and I was pleasantly surprised and encouraged by the quickness and thoroughness of their response. The wait time was short and my question was dealt with politely and clearly, so I would say the support team has it together.
Read full review
Zoom
As I've written before, Zoom makes us feel like we matter and that we're a client rather than a customer. They want us to succeed and they put in the time to make sure that we do. I feel like they're more of a business partner rather than simply a vendor or supplier. They spent a lot of time onboarding with us, giving us demos, helping us get set up, and then giving us follow-up to be sure it's going well.
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Implementation Rating
Microsoft
Skpe for business is utilized company wide in regards to my company. Everyone not only uses it, but uses it often. It is an effective way of communicating. It also integrates very nicely with outlook and all conversation history is pushed to a folder within the outlook system. We also have it so that if someone misses a message, they are sent an email reminder saying that there is a message that went unread.
Read full review
Zoom
If you receive any pushback from higher ups, point to any of the various positive reviews like this one. Or show Zoom's excellent Gartner report, or articles describing Zoom's partnership with Sequoia capital. It's not difficult to show how Zoom is a trustworthy industry leader with best-in-class technology.
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Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
For the below reason I will always choose this app over its competitors: Better audio and video quality, Little to no disconnections or freezing when on a call/video conference Integrates well with mailbox/ calendar/ one drive, and SharePoint is easy to use
Read full review
Zoom
Zoom cannot be beaten for ubiquity - 100% of my clients and prospective clients are already familiar with Zoom. This is the #1 reason why I use Zoom. Additionally, Zoom integrates with AcuityScheduling, saving me a lot of time in creating meetings and adding them to the calendar. Zoom is disappointing in terms of video quality, interactivity features, and privacy. In cases where I need to use the recording of webinars for digital products, I will always use Crowdcast, and in cases where privacy is essential, I will use JitsiMeet.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Zoom
The billing and price model is really fair for so many functions that they offer, our remote work requires each of the features that Zoom offers, so accepting payment for a tool like this is the least we can do. I like that billing arrives on time and that they offer opportunities and payment times.
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Scalability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Zoom
Because the Basic licenses are completely free, and because it's very easy to configure and install Zoom, and because anyone can join Zoom from a link without needing an account, scaling is a Breeze. There are absolutely no roadblocks. My company keeps adding more Zoom Pro license every week since it's so in demand. We were able to convert users from several different platforms onto Zoom with no trouble at all.
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Professional Services
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Zoom
Zoom is perfect for our business. We use it to video chat with prospective clients. The name recognition alone gives us credibility and it is very easy to screen share and send content out.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • We almost lost our biggest client because of the poor performance early on in our implementation...the online meetings were poor quality for audio and bandwidth refreshing
  • Many of the employees in our company disliked the quality so much, they started to sign up for free Cisco WebEx accounts to use instead
  • The majority of employees in our company lost trust in our CTO because of his decision to switch from Cisco WebEx to Skype for Business
Read full review
Zoom
  • It enables me to send and receive messages from my team members during video calls, handling online presentations.
  • With the ability to quickly stop, mute, and even receive notifications when someone enters or exits the meeting room, I'm never obligated to show up while making a call.
  • It is possible to record online meetings for future reference and more effective customer service. As we dealt with a lockdown, Zoom helped our business run smoothly.
Read full review
ScreenShots