Video Conferencing Software: Zoom vs. Microsoft Teams vs. Google Meet (2026 Buyer's Guide)

Ask three business owners what video conferencing costs and you'll get three different answers, because none of them are really buying 'video conferencing' on its own.

By The StackMatch Research Team

Zoom sells video conferencing on its own — Google and Microsoft don't

$6-21.99Cost per user/mo across all three, entry tiers

0Standalone Teams licenses Microsoft sells to a small business

~40%Cheaper to pay Zoom annually vs. month-to-month

Zoom, Google, and Microsoft's own published list prices as of mid-2026 — confirm current numbers before signing, since all three revise tiers roughly annually.

Ask three business owners what they pay for video calls and you'll get three different answers, and it's not because one negotiated a better deal. It's because none of them are actually buying "video conferencing" as a standalone product — Google and Microsoft both fold it into a bigger productivity bundle, and Zoom is the only one of the three still selling it on its own. That distinction matters more than any feature checklist, because it changes what you're actually comparing.

Video calls are one feature inside a bigger productivity bundle — the price only makes sense next to what the rest of that bundle costs.

Zoom: the only one of the three actually selling video conferencing

Zoom Pro runs $13.33/user/mo billed annually — or $21.99/user/mo if you pay month-to-month — for 30-hour group meetings and a 100-participant cap. Business steps up to $18.33/user/mo annually for a 300-participant cap and single sign-on. The annual-vs-monthly gap is close to 40%, and it's the first line-item mistake we see: a business still paying Zoom month-to-month in year two is leaving real money on the table for a platform it's clearly not leaving.

40%

cheaper to pay Zoom annually vs. month-to-month

The single easiest cost cut in this entire comparison, and the one most overlooked-past-year-one businesses never make.

Google Meet and Microsoft Teams: bundled, not free

Google Workspace Business Starter runs about $7/user/mo and includes Meet with a participant and recording cap; Business Standard at $18/user/mo unlocks recording and a 150-participant limit. Microsoft doesn't sell Teams as its own product to a business your size at all — the cheapest way in is Microsoft 365 Business Basic at $6/user/mo, which bundles web and mobile Teams with Outlook and 1TB of storage, no desktop Office apps included.

All-in monthly cost, by bundle

Plan	Participant cap	Cost/user/mo
Zoom Pro (annual)	100	$13.33
Zoom Business (annual)	300	$18.33
Google Workspace Business Starter	100	$7
Google Workspace Business Standard	150	$18
Microsoft 365 Business Basic	300	$6

The mistake we see most often: a team buys Zoom Pro on top of a Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 subscription that already includes Meet or Teams at a usable tier — paying twice for the same job because nobody checked what was already bundled in.

The decision rule

Questions to ask before adding a video platform

Are you already paying for Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 seats? Check whether Meet or Teams at your current tier covers your meeting size before buying Zoom on top.
Do external participants — clients, vendors — join calls regularly? Zoom's guest experience across bad networks is still the most reliable of the three, and worth paying for if sales calls depend on it.
Are you still on Zoom's monthly billing past your first year? Locking in the annual rate is close to a 40% cut with no real switching risk.
Does your team actually hit the 100-participant cap on entry tiers? Most businesses under 50 employees never do — don't pre-pay for a cap you won't use.

Cost per user/month, entry tiers

There's no single 'best' platform here — there's only 'what you're already paying for and haven't noticed.' The most expensive mistake is buying a fourth bundle when you already own one of the first three.

Run the free audit to see whether your video conferencing spend is riding on top of a Workspace or Microsoft 365 bundle you already pay for.

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