Zoom versus Microsoft Teams

Video conferencing tools have become essential for businesses with remote and distributed teams. With so many options available, two stand out as the most popular: Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

If you're confused about which one to use for your business, you've come to the right place. In this post, we compare Zoom and Teams in depth so you can decide which one is better for you.

Zoom: The David of video solutions

It's quite an achievement for a small upstart to become a tool of choice for a huge number of companies. Zoom was founded in 2011 in San Jose, and the team's first product came out in 2013. In just a few years, they have pushed for a video-first culture. Zoom is available across platforms — Web, Android, and iOS. The ease with which you can set up or join a meeting puts Zoom ahead of competitors in the video conferencing category.

The user experience and set of features are simply excellent. From changing background images to granular control over audio, Zoom has thought of and implemented some great ideas. The concept of creating a Zoom Room and inviting members with simply a link that works across platforms shows how focused their approach is towards a video-first culture.

Microsoft Teams: from Goliath's den

Microsoft Teams is a product the tech giant introduced in 2017. Ironically, it was introduced not to compete with Zoom but with Slack, a chat tool that enterprises across the globe had adopted in large numbers. But Microsoft soon realized that adding video calling was a logical progression that business users would want — and so it entered the same space as Zoom.

Just like Zoom, Microsoft wanted Teams to be a product for business use — and initially it was not available for free. However, a free version with limitations was rolled out in 2018.

Microsoft Teams is fairly easy to install. However, the UI is designed for a collaborative tool that includes chat, file sharing, screen sharing, instant messaging, and much more. This makes it a more complex product to navigate compared to Zoom. If all you want is a video conferencing solution, Zoom is the simpler and better option.

Comparing Zoom and Microsoft Teams

To make the comparison easier, we look at the most important elements that businesses evaluate when picking one over the other.

User experience

Zoom has the advantage of being a focused video product built with the idea of connecting people across various locations. Only one person in a group needs a Zoom account to create and share a meeting. Others can join at a predetermined date and time using the link shared by the host.

Participants don't need the client app installed to join, as Zoom allows users to join from a browser. Zoom Rooms provides simple plug-and-play technology that lets you set up a meeting room in minutes.

Microsoft Teams was built to be an instant messaging and collaboration product for business users. Since it's not a video-only solution, it has a steeper learning curve if you want to use all features and not just video calling. Rooms can be set up easily in Microsoft Teams too, but there are many endpoints like conference phones, cameras, and special integrations with dedicated Teams buttons.

Features and functionality

Zoom offers great features that allow users to choose whether to enable video and/or audio before they join a room. Users can mute or switch off either audio or video at any point during the meeting. If the host hasn't arrived, guests can chat and talk to each other.

Throughout the call, Zoom displays the connectivity status of participants. You can see videos of more than one person simultaneously along with a shared screen. Zoom also lets you pick a custom background or hide your background entirely. As a host, you can mute everyone else on the call so you can present in peace. You can record entire meetings and share them with participants who weren't able to attend.

Zoom's video and audio quality is generally better than Teams. If you want to do a call with a prospect or client, conduct a webinar, or run a training session, Zoom is the better option due to its superior video and audio quality.

Microsoft Teams has similar features when entering or leaving meetings — the flexibility to show or hide the camera and mute or unmute anytime. Participants can join as guests with display names or with their Microsoft 365 accounts.

This also makes it easy to launch a Teams video call from Calendar or Outlook. You can select a custom background or blur your background during a video call.

Teams also lets you record meetings, and new features continue to roll out, as Microsoft certainly has the expertise and the deep pockets to invest in the product.

Integrations

Zoom doesn't have an ecosystem of its own like Microsoft's technology stack. But that hasn't stopped Zoom from integrating with other services. For instance, you can integrate Zoom into your Slack directory of apps, making it easy to launch Zoom meetings within a particular channel.

Microsoft Teams can leverage the full Microsoft 365 technology stack when it comes to integrations. You can launch video meetings via Teams through any supported Microsoft 365 product without any extra configuration. There are additional integrations available in the Microsoft Store as well.

Security

Zoom was plagued with a security issue known as "Zoom-bombing," where uninvited users were able to join Zoom meetings and hijack the conversation. Zoom acted quickly to address the issue, and since then no major flaw has come forward. The company has even committed to prioritizing security over new features. Chats are protected by encryption, and role-based security is enforced.

Microsoft Teams provides end-to-end encryption for the entire communication stack, as well as multi-factor authentication and advanced auditing and reporting.

Price

Both Zoom and Microsoft Teams offer free and paid tiers with varying features.

Zoom

The free tier lets you host meetings with up to 100 participants (with a 40-minute limit on group meetings). There is no time limit on one-to-one meetings. Paid plans start at $13.33/month per user and remove the time limit. Higher-tier plans increase participant limits and add features like cloud recording.

Microsoft Teams

The free version lets you host meetings with up to 100 participants with a 60-minute time limit. If you're already using Microsoft 365, your subscription includes Teams with higher participant limits and additional features like meeting recordings, single sign-on, and enforced multi-factor authentication.

Since Teams is part of the Microsoft 365 suite, your existing subscription may already include it.

Which is the right choice for you?

Depending on the size of your organization and existing IT infrastructure, the decision may be straightforward.

Choose Zoom if:

• You're a smaller business without reliance on Microsoft 365
• You need the best video and audio quality for client calls, webinars, or training
• You want the simplest setup for participants to join meetings

Choose Microsoft Teams if:

• You already have a Microsoft 365 subscription
• You want an all-in-one collaboration tool that replaces multiple apps (video, chat, file sharing)
• You need deep integrations with the Microsoft Office suite

Many businesses use both — Teams for internal collaboration and Zoom for external calls where ease of joining and call quality matter most.