With remote work becoming more common, video communication is essential for connecting businesses with their teams and clients. However, with so many video chat software options available today, it can be difficult to decide which platform best suits your needs.
Having a remote workforce of over 330 employees, we’ve put countless video chat platforms to the test, from RingCentral to Zoom, to find the perfect solution for everything from one-on-one meetings to large-scale webinars and team breakouts.
This hands-on experience gives us a deep understanding of the challenges businesses face when selecting the right video communication tool.
In this article, we’ll share the best video chat software for small businesses based on our experience. We’ll highlight key features and benefits of each platform, so you can choose the best video chat software to fit your needs.
What Kind of Video Chat Software is Right for You?
Video chat software and video calling apps are synonymous with social media applications like FaceTime, Google Duo, WhatsApp, Viber, and Facebook Messenger.
While these social networking video chat platforms are fine for random video chats with family and friends, you may require more professional tools and functionality to support your business.
The right video chat software will have a variety of features to make business communication much easier:
- Real-time live video chat for team meetings
- Collaboration, screen sharing, and file sharing tools
- Screen recording for reviewing meetings later
- Transcription services to improve team accessibility
- Integrations to simply make calls from software you’re already using
- Group video and one on one live video meetings
That being said, let’s take a look at the top video chat software you can use along with your WordPress business website.
How We Chose the Best Video Chat Platforms
At WPBeginner, the software that we showcase is chosen by a dedicated team of people with over 16 years of experience in WordPress, SEO, web hosting, eCommerce, and online marketing. Our experts extensively review each tool and look at multiple factors, including ease of use, features, reliability, pricing, and more, to ensure it’s the best solution for our readers. To learn more, see our complete editorial process.
Quick Picks: The Top 5 Video Chat Software
| Software | Best For | Price | Free Version | |
| 🥇 | RingCentral | Video team collaboration | Starts at $10/mo | ✅ |
| 🥈 | Zoom | Large video calls | Starts at $13.32/mo | ✅ |
| 🥉 | GoToMeeting | Recording video meetings | Starts at $12/mo | ✅ |
| 4 | Nextiva | Nextiva business phone users | Starts at $30/mo | ❌ |
| 5 | Microsoft Teams | Microsoft 366 users | Starts at $4/mo | ✅ |
Now, let’s take a closer look at the best video chat software.
1. RingCentral
RingCentral offers one of the best video conferencing software for small businesses. They have some of the most feature-rich video chat software in the market.
You’ll find features like video call scheduling, screen sharing, whiteboard, annotations, live chat text messaging, breakout rooms, meeting recording, and much more. For a closer look at RingCentral’s features, you can check out our detailed RingCentral review.
The RingCentral video software integrates with dozens of other tools you’re already using in your business, like Slack, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace (G Suite), and more. These integrations let you launch video conference calls directly from these third-party platforms.
There’s also a RingCentral app that allows you to create or join video meetings right from Apple iPhones or iPads, as well as Android devices. This makes it easy to video chat from anywhere with a Wi-Fi connection.
The video chat software is optimized to run on all modern web browsers with minimal setup. This means you’ll spend less time on technical tasks and more time on your video chats and meetings.
If you’re already using the RingCentral platform for your business phone system, then adding this tool to your communication workflow is simple.
Pricing: RingCentral offers free video chat for up to 100 users on a single call. Your call durations can be up to 50 minutes long.
You can upgrade to a premium video plan starting at $10 per month. This gives you unlimited 24 hour video meetings for up to 200 participants and more advanced features.
2. Zoom
Zoom is one of the most popular video chat apps in the world. This tool has seen a ton of growth since the start of the pandemic.
It’s known for being easy to use and only takes a few clicks to host your own Zoom meeting with bundled instant messaging.
Plus, it’s cross-platform compatible. You can host video chats across desktop, tablet, and mobile devices no matter if you’re using an Android phone, Apple (iOS), Windows, Mac, or Linux.
Their primary focus is helping teams collaborate by holding video meetings quickly and easily. It also allows you to enable two-factor authentication to ensure your online meetings are kept secure and private.
In addition, you’ll find other unique features like the ability to run live polls, annotate your videos, add whiteboarding, screen sharing, collaborative note-taking, searchable transcripts, and more.
Note: Our team uses Zoom for our internal team meetings and video calls, where our team can join via video or audio only. Our team leads have Pro plans, which extends the length of meetings beyond 40 minutes.
Pricing: Zoom has a free version available for up to 100 participants with a 40-minute time limit. Paid plans start at $13.32 per month, and offers support for up to 100 members, 30 hour meeting duration, and additional collaboration tools.
3. GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting is a popular video conference app for small businesses on the go. It’s very versatile and offers video chat, video conferencing, and even screen sharing.
One main standout feature is the user-friendly mobile apps for Android and Apple devices. Both of these mobile apps let you start and create virtual meetings on the go with ease.
Video call quality is very high, no matter how your team chooses to connect to the call.
Beyond the mobile features there’s support for meeting recording and transcription, end to end encryption, integrated scheduling, and HIPAA compliance support for businesses in the medical space.
GoToMeeting also has a family of other products like GoToWebinar for running live webinars, and GoToConnect for your business phone.
Pricing: GoToMeeting starts at $12 per month, for up to 150 meeting participants. Plans scale up depending on how many users you need to support. Higher-level plans increase the number of participants to 250 and give you more admin features.
4. Nextiva
Nextiva is one of the best business phone system providers in the market. They’ve recently added video conference software to their list of offerings.
The platform is fully cloud-based and includes a desktop and mobile app. The audio and video quality is incredibly high, so there is no glitching or lag during important meetings.
It’s not the most feature rich video chat software, but it does include useful features like screen sharing, file sharing, live streaming, and webinar support.
If you’re already using the Nextiva as your business VoIP phone, then it’s easy to add video conferencing and screen-sharing features to the way your business communicates. To learn more, see our complete Nextiva review.
Pricing: Nextiva video conferencing starts at $30 per month per user, billed annually. This allows you to have unlimited meeting time and up to 250 participants.
5. Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is a popular video conferencing app for businesses that use the Microsoft Office 365 ecosystem of apps.
You can easily host virtual face-to-face video meetings in a couple of clicks from the application, from anywhere with an internet connection.
It’s also well suited for large businesses, since you’ll find additional features that let you set up video meetings for up to 10,000 members, and host webinars for your team or the public.
This tool has a wide range of features to enhance your video meetings, including screen sharing, call recording, live captioning, and live group chat during video calls.
Mobile, desktop, and Bluetooth conferencing headsets can be used to join in on any call.
Pricing: Microsoft Teams starts at $4 per user per month, which gives you support for unlimited group calls for up to 30 hours and up to 300 participants.
6. Google Meet / Google Workspace
Google Meet is video chat software that’s part of the Google Workspace platform (formerly G Suite).
If you already have a Google account, then this will integrate seamlessly with your other tools like Google Calendar, Chrome, Google Forms, Gmail, and more.
It’s designed specifically for small business owners and is an enhanced version of Google Hangouts. The goal of this high quality video chat software is to help you interact with third-party clients and customers simply.
It has a fully web-based interface, so there’s no external third-party software to install. It includes a dial-in phone number, so team members can join in via voice call if necessary.
Pricing: Google Meet is entirely free to use. You can sign up for Google Workspace Business Starter, which starts at $6 per month per user and gives you access to additional video chat features.
7. Ooma Meetings
Ooma is a popular business VOIP phone provider that offers high quality one to one and team video conferencing solutions.
It offers standard features like live HD video chat, host muting, and a meet now link for instant virtual meetings.
One unique feature of this tool is that two or more people can share their screens at the same time. This lets your virtual teams collaborate easily and share information faster.
You can have up to 25 users on the same video call across mobile, desktop, and within their browsers.
There’s also an in-depth virtual meeting manager, so you can easily plan and manage your video calls across your entire business.
Pricing: Ooma Meetings is available with the Ooma Office Pro plan that starts at $24.95 per month.
8. Skype
Skype is one of the longest-running video chat software in the market today. It’s entirely free to use and install, and you can use it across nearly all modern operating systems and browsers.
It also integrates with devices like Amazon Echo to launch video chats hands-free.
The free tier supports video calling for up to 50 users. It has simple features like screen sharing, the ability to blur screen backgrounds, live subtitling, a basic chat feature, and more.
Overall, it doesn’t pack the same level of features as other video messaging apps on this list. But, it’s a great free choice for simple video chat needs.
Pricing: Skype has a forever free plan, while paid business plans start at $4 per month.
Disclaimer: We also looked at solutions like Zoho Meeting, Cisco Webex, Jitsi, Dialpad Meetings, and others. But, we decided not to include them in this list to make it easier for you to choose from only the top options.
Which is the Best Video Chat Software (Expert Pick)?
All of the popular video chat software mentioned above will help you hold interactive video chats with your team members and clients. However, you still need the best tool for your needs.
If you want video chat software that can manage all of your digital and business communication needs, then RingCentral is a great choice.
If you’re looking for a standalone video chat service that’s simple to use and can be scaled, then Zoom is a great choice.
GoToMeeting and Microsoft Teams are both great options too, and allow for video chatting across multiple different platforms and devices.
Video Chat Software FAQs
We’ve helped thousands of small business owners find the best video chat software for their needs. Based on our experience, here are some of the answers to the most frequently asked questions about video chat apps.
What do you need for video chats?
To host or join a video chat, you need the following basic requirements:
- A desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet, or mobile phone.
- A webcam, microphone, and speakers, which already come with most modern laptops and mobile devices.
- A high-speed internet connection.
- An account with a video chat platform.
What is the most used video chat app?
According to Statista, Zoom is the leading video conference software with 57.24% of the market share worldwide. Zoom is followed by Microsoft Teams (24.57%) and GoToMeeting (9.31%).
What’s the best free video calling app?
In our opinion, RingCentral is the best free video calling app. You can host unlimited 50 minute video meetings for up to 100 participants. Plus, it comes with professional features like whiteboard, collaborative notes, AI-powered meeting transcriptions, and more.
If you’re looking for an alternative, Zoom is another great free video calling app. You can have up to 100 participants and 40-minute meeting durations.
We hope this article has helped you find the best video chat apps for your small business. You may also want to read our list of the best live chat software and the best push notification software for WordPress.
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Moinuddin Waheed
There used to be a time when Skype was the market player. Then came the era of work from home and remote work culture.
Many new softwares started taking the centerstage.
I have used zoom, Google meets and Skype.
They are quite good and popular.
Microsoft team is very popular amongst corporate world.
I have also used Amazon chime the exclusive chat software for Amazon employees while working at Amazon.
Really appreciate the efforts to make the detailed guide.