Overview

Zoom Workplace is still the name people use as a verb for video calls, and for good reason. The 2024 rebrand from "Zoom Meetings" to "Zoom Workplace" signaled a broader ambition — an AI-first collaboration platform — but at its core, this remains the most polished, reliable video conferencing tool available. AI Companion 3.0 brings genuinely useful intelligence to meetings without requiring a separate license, which is a meaningful differentiator against Microsoft's Copilot pricing strategy.

The integration marketplace (2,500+ apps) is the largest in the category, the interface remains the most intuitive, and the infrastructure handles scale effortlessly. Zoom's dominance isn't just brand inertia — the product genuinely earns its position.

Features Deep-Dive

AI Companion 3.0

Zoom's AI Companion is included on all paid plans at no extra cost, which is a significant advantage over Teams Copilot ($30/user/mo add-on). The feature set includes real-time meeting summaries with smart chapters, action item extraction, and the newer agentic workflows that can schedule follow-up meetings or draft messages based on meeting context. Summary quality is generally strong for structured meetings but can lose nuance in freeform brainstorming sessions. The smart chapters feature, which automatically segments long meetings into navigable sections, is genuinely useful for catching up on calls you missed.

Integration Ecosystem

With 2,500+ apps in the Zoom App Marketplace, no competitor comes close. Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, Asana, Monday.com, Notion — virtually every business tool has a native Zoom integration. Zoom Apps run directly inside the meeting window, so you can pull up a Miro board or take notes in Notion without leaving the call. For organizations using a diverse tool stack, this flexibility is hard to overstate.

Meeting Experience & Reliability

The core meeting experience remains best-in-class. Gallery view handles up to 49 participants, virtual backgrounds and studio effects are smooth, and the adaptive bandwidth optimization works remarkably well even on inconsistent connections. Zoom consistently delivers the lowest join-to-speaking latency of any platform we tested — you click the link and you're in the call within seconds. That reliability compound over thousands of meetings per year.

Collaboration Features

Breakout rooms support up to 50 sub-rooms with pre-assignment or auto-splitting, in-meeting polls and Q&A handle large audiences well, and the built-in whiteboard has improved significantly since its initial launch. Screen sharing includes annotation tools and the option to share specific app windows rather than full screens — a small detail that matters for privacy.

Pricing Analysis

Zoom's pricing starts at $13.33/user/month (billed annually) for the Pro plan, which covers meetings up to 30 hours and 100 participants. The Business plan at $21.99/user/month unlocks 300 participants, company branding, and managed domains. The free tier supports 100 participants for 40-minute group meetings, which remains frustrating for teams that exceed that window regularly.

The key value proposition: AI Companion is included on all paid plans. Compare this to Microsoft Teams, where equivalent AI features (Copilot) cost $30/user/month extra. For a 50-person team, that's $1,500/month saved on AI alone. When you factor in AI capabilities, Zoom's effective price-to-feature ratio is actually quite competitive.

Who Is This For?

• Teams with diverse tool stacks who need a meeting platform that integrates with everything — Zoom's marketplace breadth is unmatched
• Organizations that want AI without extra licensing costs — AI Companion included on all paid plans is a genuine differentiator
• Companies scaling rapidly who need a platform that just works from 5 to 5,000 employees without migration headaches
• Hybrid workplaces where meeting participants join from varied devices, networks, and locations — Zoom's adaptive quality handles this better than any competitor

Who Should NOT Use This

• Microsoft 365 shops already paying for Teams — adding Zoom creates tool overlap and additional cost for marginal benefit
• Budget-constrained small teams who need more than 40 minutes per meeting — the free tier limitation pushes you to paid plans quickly, and cheaper alternatives exist
• Organizations prioritizing EU data sovereignty — Zoom is US-headquartered with global infrastructure, and while it offers some data routing options, it's not GDPR-native in the way European platforms like Digital Samba are

Bottom Line

Zoom Workplace earns its position at the top through consistent execution across every dimension. The meeting experience is the most polished, the integration ecosystem is the deepest, and AI Companion 3.0 — included at no extra cost — makes it the best overall value for AI-powered meetings. The 40-minute free tier limit remains its most frustrating constraint.

FAQ

Is Zoom still the best video conferencing tool in 2026?

For most teams, yes. Microsoft Teams is a stronger choice if you're already embedded in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, and Google Meet wins on simplicity. But for the broadest feature set, best integrations, and included AI — Zoom remains the default recommendation.

How does Zoom AI Companion compare to Teams Copilot?

Both offer meeting summaries, action items, and intelligent search. The critical difference is pricing: AI Companion is included on all paid Zoom plans, while Teams Copilot requires a $30/user/month add-on. In terms of quality, Copilot edges ahead on integration with Microsoft 365 documents, while Zoom's summaries are more concise and actionable for standalone meetings.

Is the free plan actually usable?

For 1-on-1 meetings, absolutely — there's no time limit. For group meetings, the 40-minute cap is workable for standup-style calls but frustrating for anything longer. If you regularly exceed 40 minutes, budget for at least the Pro plan.

Can Zoom handle large events and webinars?

Yes, but it's a separate product. Zoom Events/Webinars support up to 50,000 attendees and include registration, Q&A, and analytics. It's a paid add-on starting around $79/month, so it's not included in the standard Workplace plans.