Here are some alternatives to Zoom that I’ve found. Some are open source and some are commercial services (both free and paid). Most of them work in the browser so there’s nothing to download. The open source ones are great where privacy is more of a concern or you’re just hanging out, but at the moment I would recommend trying out paid commercial services if you want something more professional and refined. Another thing to consider is what features do you need? Recordings, screen sharing, whiteboards, phone call-ins, end to end encryption, very large groups, webinars, scheduling, etc. Zoom provides about a billion features so it’s important to really know which ones you can’t live without.

Jitsi #

Jitsi is open source software that can be self-hosted. Jitsi Meet is the main hosted instance of Jitsi. It requires the host to log in using a social media account, which is a downside if you’re concerned about privacy or don’t want your account linked to their social media login.

There are community run instances of Jitsi, which means you would trust who ever runs the server. Community-run instances and Jitsimeter are two lists of instances.

My favorite privacy oriented phone, the Above Phone, has a service called the Above Privacy Suite. The suite includes access to their hosted Jitsi instance, so I trust it more than the free community run Jitsi instances. I have been using this for months and I’m pretty satisfied with it. I’ve hosted Octopus Church with up to eight other people. A few people had technical difficulties but I haven’t pinpointed the issue yet.

Cal Video #

The open source Calendly alternative cal.com includes its own video platform based on daily.co but as far as I can tell you have to book your meetings in Cal. I couldn’t create impromptu call links. I’ve been using this solution for one on on one calls for a few months and so far I like it. I haven’t tried larger groups, and some features were buggy, but otherwise it works well. Meeting recordings are an extra cost but the basics are free. I haven’t thoroughly looked into the privacy situation with this platform.

Whereby Meetings #

I’ve been in one Whereby meeting with a few people and it seemed fine. I’m considering looking into this one more. Unlimited one on one meetings are free and the paid plans are very affordable. I’m planning on looking into this one more.

Others #

Cal.com (which I use for scheduling) has integrations for these other video platforms so I’m listing them to provide an idea of what’s out there. Some platforms serve a specific niche or have certain features.

• Mirotalk. This is open source and can be self-hosted.
• Telegram. I’ve had a handful of one one video calls and it works. I’m unsure about group calls.
• Signal. I rarely use Signal these days.
• Around
• Huddle01
• Riverside (podcast recording)
• 8×8. They develop Jitsi
• Tandem Video
• ping.gg. Zoom for streamers and creators.
• Campfire
• Sylaps
• Sirius Video. Meetings made for music.
• A list of open source platforms, including more Jitsi instances.