The Three Best Free Video Conferencing Apps

Working from home may not suit everyone, it may feel like April was two years long and that’s in part due to the lack of interaction with other people. If you miss the office environment as much as we do then maybe, it’s time to try video conferencing? Video conferencing can help by allowing you to talk face-to-face, even if it is via a screen.

Fortunately, there are plenty of free video conferencing apps you can use to connect. Each one has different features available to the free version so why not give them all a go to see which one suits your needs?

Google Hangouts

Participants: up to 10 employees at one time
Duration: unlimited

If you have a Google account, you have access to Google Hangouts. For free Gmail and G Suite Basic customers, Google Hangouts allows for up to 10 people to chat in a video call. The service also supports simultaneous voice chat and allows participants to join a conference via email or a shareable link, making it the perfect option for getting started quickly as most people would have a google account for email, YouTube or other apps by now.

Google Hangouts in most web browsers, or via the Google Hangouts apps for iPhone and Android.

Skype

Participants: Up to 50 staff concurrently
Duration: unlimited

Skype has been around the longest and is probably the one we are most familiar with. The app has had a big overhaul in features over the last few years and is now a very powerful free video conferencing app expanding the video calling feature in April 2019 from its previous limit of 25 users at once.

Skype includes a useful cloud-based call recording feature that any member of the call can activate this will allows users to save and share the recording for up to 30 days.

Zoom

Participants: Up to 100 staff simultaneously
Duration: 40 minutes

Zoom is a full video conferencing suite aimed at Enterprise-level users, with an attractive free option. Users with a free account can host video conferences for up to 100 participants, but conferences of 3 members or more are limited to 40 minutes.

Plans can be upgraded to increase duration but it is a handy tool for keeping meetings short. You can upgrade to a paid plan to remove these restrictions, or simply keep your conferences short and sweet.