Which Video Conferencing Platform is Best for Large Group Meetings?

There is no shortage of web conferencing tools out there, but not all are suited for large meetings. A virtual meeting app may work well for chatting with a client, but struggles with group meetings of 10 people or more. Thankfully, TrustRadius has thousands of user reviews for different web conferencing options, complete with information about use cases and pros and cons, to help you make this decision.

In this post, we walk through the answers to two important questions to ask when looking for a new web conferencing software: what factors you should consider before investing in a web conferencing platform, and which enterprise web conferencing products are recommended for large meetings.

Factors to Consider for Web Conferencing Software

If you need a video meeting app for large conferences, you most likely either manage a large client-facing team or work with a remote workforce. Either way, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. You’ll want to be sure you invest in a web conferencing tool that fits your needs.

These are a few factors to consider when choosing a web conferencing platform:

Take time to understand the real cost of each solution

Some software pricing depends on how the software is hosted, other solutions base pricing on the number of users, and still others have a per-minute rate. Even web conferencing platforms with premium packages sometimes have additional charges for supplementary features like video recording or dial-in options. Understanding your web conferencing needs helps to make sure you’re asking vendors the right questions about total cost – whether it be per user, minute, month, or year.

Consider the implementation process and available integrations

Let’s say you already have collaboration and communication tools in place — all you need is a virtual meeting space to video conference with your larger team. There are several considerations you should make regarding software implementation. Will the software you choose be easy to install? Does it require installation at all? Will it integrate with any other collaboration and communication tools you already have in place? Knowing the integrations available and the implementation process ahead of time will help you determine which video conferencing apps can meet the needs of your business.

Prepare a list of your specific feature needs

Will you need to use particular devices or spaces for your web conferences? Do your meetings typically run longer than an hour? Will you have people joining from both web browsers and mobile phones? Is call recording a necessity? Since web conferencing vendors vary in both their focus and limitations (e.g., call length), knowing this information will streamline the decision-making process.

Webinars

Another factor to consider is whether you truly need “web conferencing”. Webinar software offers huge video projection to an audience, often for a fraction of the cost of Web Conferencing. The big difference here is the limited interactivity. Webinar capabilities tend to fall short of web conferencing. If you only need simple whiteboard capabilities and need your audience to listen rather than participate, consider webinar options.

If you’re still confused, you’re in luck, because talking about the differences between software is what we do at TrustRadius. Below you will find a comprehensive overview of the differences between a webinar and web conferencing software.

Don’t forget about quality

Finally, don’t forget to examine the audio and video quality promised by each video conferencing platform you’re considering. Be careful not to take marketing claims at face value, because all platforms claim to have buffer-free, crystal clear quality. Reading through customer reviews is a great way to confirm whether or not a product actually has high-quality video and audio.

The Best Web Conferencing Tools for Large Group Meetings

To be included in the list below, products must have met these requirements:

• The product must have multiple comments from reviewers regarding large group meetings, indicating that the tool makes sense for this context.
• The product’s pricing should be friendly to a higher number of users — meaning that either the low-tier option allows a high number of participants or the cost of entry per user is relatively low. Consideration was given to video conference apps that offer a free pricing tier.

Top 3 Free Video Conferencing Tools 

No matter your budget, free is the best possible price point. Below are some of the best no-cost options for video conferencing. If you can work within the limitations that most free tools have, these are a great way to save your organization money.

Zoom Workplace – Free High Quality Video Conferencing

Can any conversation about video conferencing exclude this juggernaut? Zoom Workplace is one of the most used web conferencing tools. The tool features video and audio calling through a desktop app, web app, and dial-in numbers.

Both Android and iOS operating systems run Zoom wonderfully. Users can easily toggle cameras and audio, allowing for life to get in the way. When a cat runs across your screen, you can switch from a video chat to a simple participant for a few moments. 

Zoom features tools like calendar integrations and video recording, and many reviews point to the usefulness and cost-effectiveness of the platform for large groups. Integration with software like Google Calendar allows for more easily organized face-to-face meetings, no matter an employee’s busy schedule. Zoom also includes high-quality video and audio, as well as a chat feature.

Zoom does offer free meetings for up to 100 users for up to 40 minutes. Zoom pricing runs from free/freemium with paid add-ons. The most basic plan allows for up to 100 participants per meeting and includes all essential features for hosting large conferences.

The software is extremely easy to use, reliable, and addresses issues people have had with web conferencing for years. For many, this will simply be the best video conferencing software. If you are looking for a reliable, popular, affordable tool, the current king of the category is a solid option.

GoTo Meeting – Lightweight and Affordable

GoTo Meeting is another popular web conferencing tool on TrustRadius, with over 1,900 ratings and reviews.  

With a dial-in option, meeting rooms, and desktop and mobile apps, GoTo Meeting works well for large group meetings with participants joining remotely or from group offices. The video conferencing app also allows for screen sharing that performs well even in large meetings with many users.

For those with marathon meetings, none of the paid tiers have limits on meeting duration.

GoTo Meeting is priced by user and feature – the professional is $12.00 on-cloud per organizer per month for 150 participants [billed annually]. Pricing scales up to enterprise-level, with the cost varying by need. The most popular option also includes screen sharing, unlimited meetings, and meeting recording. GoTo Meeting also includes a free version, though it is not suitable for large meetings. Using the free version is still a good way to get a feel for the product and its features.

Microsoft Teams – Video Conferencing and Team Collaboration

Microsoft Teams is a great choice for businesses that can benefit from its integrations with other Microsoft apps. Microsoft Teams integrates video conferencing with robust collaboration features, enabling Microsoft Office users to host conference calls, share files through SharePoint, and seamlessly participate in group chats. The pricing starts from $4.80 per month (paid yearly) and goes up to $40 per month (paid yearly) with various add-ons.

Top 2 Premium Video Conferencing Software

These tools offer additional features in the way of both software and hardware for your video conferencing needs.

Lifesize Video Conferencing – Level Up With Hardware

Lifesize offers HD video conferencing for businesses that need a more permanent system for web conferencing. 

Along with their core video conferencing solution, Lifesize also offers meeting room hardware like the Lifesize Icon 400. The Icon 400 is a webcam made for smaller conference rooms and teams, but higher-grade plans include additional phones, larger video systems, wireless sharing, and more. This hardware helps provide higher-quality calls, but can also be limiting for larger remote teams.  Pricing-wise, Lifesize offers a mini bundle starting at $12.95 per user per month for up to $16.95 per user per month.

Webex Meetings – Built for Enterprises

Part of a larger suite of conferencing and collaboration tools from Cisco, Webex Meetings focuses on the video element of the suite.

Webex offers a host of devices for their meetings tool — including boards, room devices, and tablets. This hardware makes Webex Meetings well-suited to large teams across multiple offices. Webex Meetings enable users to record meetings, share screens, and host large numbers of participants.  Additionally, document sharing features make Webex Meetings a good choice for meetings where information needs to be distributed to participants.

Webex Meetings is an enterprise-level tool, with pricing available from free to Webex Suite Meet + Call for $270 per user per year.

Next Steps in Web Conferencing

The products listed above all provide essential web conferencing features along with their own unique features that set them apart from each other. Based on their popularity in the marketplace as well as their consistently high reviews on TrustRadius, we recommend all of them. Many of the products offer a free trial or a free version, so you can try them and see which one is right for you before making a purchase.

Beyond the detailed information in this article about the Top-Rated Web and Video Conferencing Software available in the market today, TrustRadius talks about many other video conferencing products’ pricing as per your needs. To continue your research on different products, read verified reviews, and find the solutions that best fit your needs, keep exploring TrustRadius.