There are a handful of reliable video conferencing software out there for the Apple ecosystem. And these apps are the cornerstone of a modern workplace—especially now that many organizations have members with remote working arrangements.
If you’re here, you must be looking for the best video conferencing apps to host important meetings. We’ve saved you some trouble and listed some of our favorite video conferencing apps for your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
1. Zoom: The Popular Option
Zoom took the world by storm at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Zoom replaced meeting rooms, board rooms, and classrooms across the world and became synonymous with remote meetings.
Zoom’s astounding popularity is not unfounded since it’s a truly cross-platform video calling app available on Windows, iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Android. So, if you’re looking for a video conferencing app that won’t discriminate against your colleagues or partners who use non-Apple devices, Zoom is your best bet.
Besides cross-platform support, Zoom has various features like screen-sharing, meeting recordings, custom backgrounds, and more. While Zoom is free, the basic plan only lets you host meetings 40 minutes long.
You should researchhow much Zoom costsbefore you decide on a subscription. The free version might work for quick and straight-to-the-point meetings, but the moment you need more, it can get very disruptive.
Download: Zoom foriOS|macOS(Free, subscription available)
2. Webex Meetings: Cisco’s Trusted Solution
Webex Meetings is quite similar to Zoom because it has cross-platform support and time limits on its free plan (40 minutes). It also displays a simple UI that you can navigate intuitively.
However, Webex’s Meet Plan (equivalent to Zoom’s Pro) allows up to 200 users to join—100 users more than Zoom’s paid subscription. Therefore, you should pay for Webex if you would like to host more people but still stay within Zoom’s budget. On top of that, Webex’s Meet Plan is $1.49 cheaper than Zoom’s Pro plan.
Download:Webex Meetings foriOS|macOS(Free, subscription available)
3. Slack: Huddle With Colleagues
Slack may not be the most obvious choice when you’re thinking of video conferencing, but it has become such a robust, versatile platform since its inception. You might know Slack as the backbone of many modern companies and the center of work-related announcements, communications, and app integrations.
However, Slack also has a feature called huddles, which you can use to make voice and video calls. You cantry Slack huddles out for yourselfand see how it works. It functions like a lightweight video conferencing app that also supports screen sharing.
While Slack is free, huddles isn’t, and you’ll have to pay for it with a Pro, Business, or Enterprise subscription. The price for Pro and Business will increase with more people, so you should watch out for that if you have a big team.
Download:Slack foriOS|macOS(Free, subscription available)
4. Microsoft Teams: Robust Collaboration Features
Microsoft Teams is similar to Slack in that it’s a really good virtual platform to host your team. It supports chats, file sharing, polling, task management, calendars, app integrations, and more. And, of course, it also has a video calling feature.
On the free Microsoft Teams plan, you can have one-on-one video calls lasting as long as 30 hours. But Microsoft limits free group meetings on Teams to only 60 minutes.
Microsoft Teams has a similar pricing structure as Slack; it will charge you per member of your enterprise. However, Teams is cheaper than Slack and has the edge in accessibility since it offers live captions in English for free.
Don’t confuse Microsoft Teams with Skype; the latter is a standalone instant messaging and video-calling app. However, Microsoft has now replaced Skype for Business with Teams.
Download: Microsoft Teams foriOS|macOS(Free, subscription available)
5. Google Meet: Versatile and Affordable
Once called Hangouts, Google revamped its chat and video call service and added it to the Google Workspace suite of apps. You can now use it for video and call conferencing for free or remove the limitations by paying for a Google Workspace plan.
While you may get Google Meet on your iPhone and iPad by downloading the app from the App Store, you can also access Google’s video calling service by tapping thecameraicon in the Gmail app.
And just like the rest of the apps on this list, the free plan has limitations. For instance, you can’t have a group call for more than 60 minutes, and you can’t host more than 100 participants at a time.
Still, Google Workspace’s paid plan starts at $6 per user, which is less than Slack’s, and it will let you have as many as 250 users on a call at a time. There’s no Google Meet app for macOS, but you may start a call by visitingmeet.google.comin your browser.
Download:Google Meet foriOS|Web(Free, subscription available)
6. Discord: Smaller, Casual Meetings
Discord is the quirky and fun option among all the apps we listed here. But that doesn’t make it any less effective. Discord has voice, video, and text channels capable of hosting your team and your meetings conveniently.
Paying for Discord Nitro, however, will increase the quality of your video and voice calls, but that’s pretty much all it does for calling. The rest of Discord Nitro’s perks lie in other areas, like custom emojis and profiles, raising the size limit for file uploads, etc.
Discord is definitely the most budget-friendly option for small teams who can navigate its complex and somewhat confusing UI.
Download:Discord foriOS|macOS
Apple Loyalists Have Many Options for Video Conferencing
People like to bash Apple devices because their app ecosystem is smaller than Windows and Android. However, it doesn’t matter in the realm of video conferencing because Apple device users have a great selection of cross-platform apps to choose from.
In any case, don’t make the mistake of looking for these apps on the Mac App Store because many of them aren’t available there. All the links we added here go directly to the publisher’s website, where you can get the installation file for the app.
