Cheaper Zoom Alternatives in 2026: What 10 Seats Cost on Each
For 10 seats, Zoom Pro costs $1,699.20 a year on its annual billing. Microsoft Teams Essentials covers the same team for $480 a year. Jitsi Meet has no per-user fee, and Webex Free costs nothing but caps each meeting at 40 minutes.
Toolradar data: Toolradar's video conferencing ranking evaluates 62 tools, and 68% of them are free, freemium or open source, as of October 24, 2026.
The scenario is a 10-person team that meets every working day, with some calls running past 40 minutes. Each total multiplies the printed per-user price by 10 seats and by 12 months.
The five alternatives at a glance
| Tool | Plan | Price per user | 10 seats, a year | Participants | Meeting length | Billing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoom (baseline) | Pro | $14.16 a month, billed annually | $1,699.20 | 100 | 30 hours | Annual only |
| Microsoft Teams | Essentials | $4 a month, paid yearly | $480 | 300 | 30 hours | Paid yearly |
| Microsoft 365 | Business Basic with Teams | $7 a month, paid yearly | $840 | 300 | 30 hours | Paid yearly |
| Google Workspace | Starter | $7 a month, billed monthly on a one-year commitment | $840 | 100 | 24 hours | Annual option, billed monthly |
| Webex | Free | Free | Free | 100 attendees | 40 minutes | Free plan |
| Jitsi Meet | Free | Free | Free | No cap printed | No cap printed | No account needed |
Key facts: 5 tools compared against Zoom Pro at 10 seats, with prices as read on October 25, 2026.
Zoom Pro is the baseline, and its monthly figure is an annual total
Zoom's pricing page lists Pro at $14.16 per user a month, billed annually. The page states that all plans are billed annually as a single upfront charge, and that its monthly rates are the annual total divided by 12. So $14.16 a user works out to $169.92 a user per year, and 10 seats cost $1,699.20 a year. Business is $18.33 on the same basis, or $2,199.60 for 10 seats, with up to 300 participants.
Zoom Basic is free, with 40-minute meetings for up to 100 participants. Pro lifts the meeting length to 30 hours and adds 10 GB of cloud storage per user, which matters if your team keeps recordings. Zoom's comparison table lists 1 to 99 licenses for Pro and 1 to 250 for Business.
Microsoft Teams Essentials: 300 participants at $4 a month
Microsoft's comparison page lists Teams Essentials at $4.00 per user a month, paid yearly on an annual subscription that auto-renews. Ten seats come to $480 a year, which is $1,219.20 less than Zoom Pro on the same count. The plan allows up to 300 participants, and the table's maximum meeting length is 30 hours. Each extra seat adds $48 a year, so an 11th person brings the bill to $528.
The trade-off is scope. Essentials is positioned as a meeting solution with video and audio calling, so a team that also wants Word and Excel in a browser will move up to the Microsoft 365 plan below.
Pick Teams Essentials when meetings are the requirement and the team is ready to work in Teams. Skip it if the team needs the Office apps as well.
Microsoft 365 Business Basic with Teams: Office in the browser for $840 a year
Microsoft's comparison page lists Business Basic at $7.00 per user a month, paid yearly, and includes Teams in that plan. Ten seats come to $840 a year, which is $360 more than Teams Essentials for the same participant cap and meeting length. Each extra seat adds $84 a year.
The catch is the install. The table lists Business Basic with web and mobile apps and no desktop programs. Microsoft 365 Business Standard, which the same table prices at $23.50 a user a month with Copilot, includes desktop apps for up to 5 PCs or Macs.
Pick Business Basic when the team wants Teams and Office in a browser for $360 a year more than Teams Essentials. Skip it if the team works in installed Office programs.
Google Workspace Starter: Meet at 100 participants at $7 a month
Google's pricing page lists Starter at $7 a user a month on its one-year commitment option, labelled "Save 16% with 1 year commitment," with all plans billed monthly. Ten seats come to the same yearly total as Business Basic. New customers pay $3.50 a user for their first 20 users for 12 months, after which the standard rate applies.
Starter allows 100 participants and meetings of up to 24 hours. Standard, at $14 a user a month, raises the cap to 150 participants, and the page's meeting length stays at 24 hours on every plan.
Pick Google Workspace when the team already runs mail and files on Google accounts and 100 participants covers the largest call.
Webex Free: no fee, with a 40-minute cap
Webex's pricing page prints Webex Free at $0, with unlimited meetings of up to 40 minutes and up to 100 attendees per meeting. Enterprise is sold through Contact Sales, and the page prints no paid-plan price.
A 40-minute cap suits short standups. Any call that runs longer ends at the limit, so a daily one-hour meeting does not fit.
Pick Webex Free for a team whose meetings end inside 40 minutes. Skip it for anything longer.
Jitsi Meet: no per-user fee and no account
Jitsi's site describes Jitsi Meet as a 100% open source video conferencing solution that you can use all day, every day, for free, with no account needed. Ten seats cost nothing a year on the free service. Running it on your own servers adds the hosting bill. Jitsi's site prints no participant or meeting-length cap, so the site states no limit for a daily meeting.
Pick Jitsi Meet when the team has someone who can run a server, or when a free route is the requirement. Skip it if the team needs a contracted support line.
What the seat count does to the bill
Per-user pricing means the bill moves with headcount, so the cost of a 10-person team is not the cost of an 11-person one. The printed prices give Teams Essentials at $480 for 10 seats and $528 for 11, Business Basic at $840 and $924, and Zoom Pro at $1,699.20 and $1,869.12. Each Zoom Pro seat adds $169.92 a year, which is the largest step in this table.
Caps matter as much as price. Teams Essentials and Business Basic both list 300 participants and 30-hour meetings, while Zoom Pro lists 100 participants. For a team that expects to grow past 100 people on one call, the Zoom Pro cap is the limit to plan around, and Business raises it to 300 for $2,199.60 a year at 10 seats.
How Zoom's app rates on the App Store
Zoom's iPhone app holds a 4.7 average from 3,257,319 ratings on the US App Store, as read on October 25, 2026. That rating says nothing about seat prices.
How to choose
- Keep Zoom Pro if the team depends on Zoom's cloud recording and the extra $1,219.20 a year is affordable. Zoom Business raises the participant cap to 300 and costs $2,199.60 for 10 seats.
- Move to Teams Essentials if meetings are the requirement and the team can switch apps.
- Choose Business Basic if the team wants Teams and browser Office on one bill.
- Try Webex Free or Jitsi Meet if every meeting ends inside the cap, or if the team can host the service.
For context on the meeting category, see our AI meeting assistants guide, the AI meeting summary tools list and the AI transcription tools roundup. The Dupple learning hub lists everything else.
Tool profiles are on Toolradar: Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Webex and Jitsi.
Methodology
Prices are US list prices read on each vendor's pricing page on October 25, 2026. Totals multiply the printed per-user price by 10 seats and 12 months. Participant and meeting caps are those printed in each plan row. Zoom bills Workplace plans annually, so its monthly figures are annual totals divided by 12.
FAQ
What is a cheaper alternative to Zoom for 10 people?
Microsoft Teams Essentials at $4 a user a month, paid yearly, comes to $480 a year for 10 seats. It allows 300 participants and meetings of up to 30 hours, against $1,699.20 a year for Zoom Pro.
Is there a free Zoom alternative?
Jitsi Meet is free with no account needed. Webex Free is also free, but it ends every meeting at 40 minutes. Zoom Basic is free too, with the same 40-minute limit.
Is Zoom Pro billed monthly?
No. Zoom states that all plans are billed annually as one upfront charge. The $14.16 figure is the annual total divided by 12, so it is not a monthly charge.
Does Google Workspace cost less than Zoom?
Google lists Starter at $7 a user a month on its one-year commitment, billed monthly. Ten seats cost less than Zoom Pro's $1,699.20, with 100 participants and meetings of up to 24 hours.
Which alternative fits a daily one-hour meeting?
Teams Essentials, Business Basic, Zoom Pro and Google Workspace Starter all allow meetings of at least 24 hours. Webex Free stops at 40 minutes, so it does not fit a one-hour call.
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