12 Zoom Alternatives

11th June 2020 ‧ By Simon Bell ‧ Category: General Cyber Security

6 min read

There are numerous alternative apps to Zoom. Some have a more solid history when it comes to privacy and security. Not all of these apps offer video conferencing (such as Slack and Telegram) but can provide additional / alternative ways for groups to communicate.

Skype

Founded in 2003, and bought by Microsoft in 2011, Skype is one of the original video conferencing apps. It supports multiple operating systems, it's easy to use, and is free for one-on-one of group calls. Skype is limited to 50 participants per call, which might not work for larger organisations.

Microsoft Teams

Launched in 2017, Teams is Microsoft's all-in-one communication and collaboration platform. It integrates with the Office 360 suite for ease of use. Teams allows up to 250 participants in a video call or up to 10,000 viewers on its presentation mode.

FaceTime

Released in 2010, FaceTime is Apple's solution to video and conference calling. It's free and comes built-in as standard on all macOS and iOS devices - so it doesn't require downloading. Apple's a strong advocate for privacy and security and boasts strong encryption practices - so the company can't snoop on you.

However, FaceTime is only available to users on Apple devices. It's limited to 32 participants per call and doesn't allow joining via link.

Slack

Initially released in 2013, Slack is a business communication platform that focuses primarily on chat-style communications (similar to traditional IRC). The app doesn't offer video or conference calls, but it's a great way for teams to communicate asynchronously (and research suggests that asynchronous communication can be good for productivity and decision making).

Slack integrates with a range of third-party services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, GitHub, etc. Slack also has a feature-rich API that's been noted for its compatibility with other apps and frameworks.

Signal

Launched in 2014, Signal is a secure messaging app with a good reputation when it comes to encryption practices. All communications to other Signal users are end-to-end encrypted and the keys are generated and stored at the end points (i.e. on the users' phone - not the server).

It's a free and open-source app - so it's code can be viewed by anyone and it's regularly scrutinised by security experts. Unfortunately Signal doesn't offer group video calls but it does offer secure one-to-one messaging and video calling.

Starleaf

Founded in 2008, Starleaf offers secure video conferencing and collaboration tools. They take security pretty seriously - they're ISO/IEC 27001 certified (a highly regarded international information security and compliance standard). They also have strong privacy principals that allow customers to choose where their data is stored. Starleaf target their services to larger organisations (with 500+ employees).

Google Hangouts

Released in 2013, Hangouts is Google's solution to a communications suite. Originally a feature of Google+ (which shut down in 2019), Hangouts seamlessly integrates into Gmail and other Google services. Hangouts allows up to 150 participants in a chat or 25 participants in a video call. It's a free solution, but it does mean giving Google access to yet more data.

BlueJeans

Founded in 2009, BlueJeans offers a secure video conferencing solution for the digital workplace. All videos are encrypted by default and participants can join via a web browser without requiring an account or downloading any software.

BlueJeans don't offer a free version but starts at $9.99 per month to host up to 50 participants.

Jitsi Meet

Founded in 2003 by a French student, Jitsi Meet is a secure video conferencing service that makes a good Zoom alternative. Jitsi Meet is part of the Jitsi collection of free and open-source multiplatform communication solutions - so its code is publicly visible and gets scrutinised by security experts. Jitsi Meet is a web-based application, so participants don't need to downland and extra software. One-to-one calls are encrypted with end-to-end encryption.

Houseparty

And now for something a little bit different - compared to the other apps we've looked at. Released in 2016, Houseparty is a social networking service that offers video chatting. It's a fun video-conferencing app that features various games, trivia, and drawing challenges within the app.

However, Houseparty might not be the best solution if you need solid privacy and security. When you create a "house party" anyone on your contacts list can join until you "lock" the room. There have also been concerns about the privacy ethics of Houseparty. Notably, its privacy policy which hadn't been updated since GDPR regulations came into effect in 2018.

Houseparty did update and simplify its privacy policy in April 2020 - although it still collects a lot of data such as location, "certain social media account information", device info (including "what site you came from", "what site you visit when you leave us", "your operating system",  "your mobile carrier"), etc.

Under the list of reasons why they collect this data, such as to improve their products and protect their company and users, their updated privacy policy states that they "also use information as otherwise permitted by law". Which, to me, sounds like an ambiguous way of saying they sell your data to the highest bidder. Yes, it's legal, but is it ethical to hide that behind a catch-all clause?

Telegram

Okay, so like a few of the other apps, this one can't actually do conference video calls. Launched in 2013, Telegram is a cloud-based messaging and VoIP app. Telegram has one of the smoothest integrations across multiple operating systems and clients (in my personal opinion). The client-side code is open-source - although the server-side code is closed-source.

Telegram provides both client-server encryption as well as end-to-end encryption on calls and "secret chats" (with the exception of desktop clients other than macOS). As of April 2020, Telegram has over 400 million monthly users. Making it the 5th most popular mobile messaging app (after WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, WeChat, and QQMobile).