If you haven't been involved in a Microsoft Teams vs. Zoom debate, where have you been the last few years? During the pandemic, the company I worked for made the shift from Zoom to Teams, and everyone and their dog had an opinion on which app was better. Years later, the jury's still out.
Teams and Zoom are both excellent video conferencing apps—but which software is the right choice for managing your remote meetings? I spent time diving deep into each of these tools, and based on my past experiences and my time testing them again for this article, here's my take on how they stack up.
Zoom vs. Teams: Which should you choose?
Choosing between Zoom and Microsoft Teams boils down to what your priorities are. Here's the main difference:
Zoom is primarily a video conferencing tool.
Teams is an all-in-one tool that combines video conferencing with team chat and other productivity features.
This Microsoft Teams vs. Zoom comparison table will give you a quick overview of how they stack up. Read on for details on some of the more notable differences between the two apps.
| Zoom | Teams |
|---|---|---|
Meeting collaboration and productivity features | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Screen sharing, remote control access, whiteboard and chat features | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Extensive collaboration features, including robust chat, whiteboard, action item lists, and a Wiki |
Customization | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Advanced, including noise reduction and light adjustment depending on your environment | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Noise reduction available, but device settings are slightly less customizable |
Ease of use | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Easy to join from any device, even without an account | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ App needed to join from mobile devices, but otherwise streamlined |
Video quality | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1080p at 30fps; handles slow internet better | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1080p at 30fps, but can slow down due to extra chat/collaboration features |
Participant capacity | 1,000 (on Enterprise package or with large meeting add-on), 300 otherwise | 300 participants |
Transcripts | Business plans only | Business plans only |
App integrations | Nearly 2,500 and Zapier | 700+, tightly integrated with Microsoft 365, and Zapier |
Cloud storage | Up to 10GB | Up to 1TB |
Microsoft Teams is better for maximizing meeting (and non-meeting) productivity
Because Teams is an all-in-one tool, it has a really robust set of features to help with productivity. Think of it like Zoom, Slack, and Google Docs all rolled into one. And then some, honestly.
For example, there's a Teams chat feature called loop components that allows you to create meeting action item lists in the chat window while you're in a meeting. You can add due dates and trigger notifications to the relevant people in the team chat, so everyone involved can see progress through the tasks.
As someone who hates it when meetings lose focus, I love this feature. And Zoom doesn't have any features that even hold a candle to it.
Zoom and Teams both offer video recording and transcripts (basic features for a video conferencing app), but once again, Teams has some built-in productivity features that take it up a level. For example, in Teams, the recording is emailed out to all invitees and is saved in the meeting chat window, so it's easily traceable without you having to do anything. With Zoom, you need to go out of your way to send the recording to whoever needs it (or chase down the host if you're a guest). Zapier helps with that, by automatically uploading Zoom recordings to Google Drive, or anywhere else, but Teams has it built in.
Because Teams is meant to integrate into the day-to-day of running an organization, it also includes above-and-beyond features like 1 TB of space—per user—to store company documentation and a Wiki for processes. (Zoom only offers 5-10 GB, depending on your plan.) We moved all our process documentation from shared folders to the Teams Wiki so that they were available to access anywhere. This just isn't the kind of thing Zoom is designed to do.
Teams has more advanced meeting collaboration features
Zoom has recently caught up when it comes to whiteboarding (it even has nice templates now like Teams)—but because Teams is an all-in-one collaboration tool, it makes sense that their meeting collaboration features are pretty advanced.
For starters, Teams offers a lot more than Zoom where chat functionality is concerned. It's clear from the screenshots below that Zoom chat, while totally passable, is a bit more basic when you compare it to Teams.
Zoom chat has emoji—great. But what if you want to send GIFs or stickers to your totally professional coworkers? In Teams, you can take it to the extreme, and personalize stickers to call people out (keep it nice!) or reference projects you're currently discussing.
The closest thing Zoom offers to this is its avatar feature, where you can create a customized avatar version of yourself and overlay your video picture with it. But honestly, I can't think of a situation where I'd want to use this feature during a meeting...it's a little creepy.
If, as a company, you're using the Microsoft Office suite, collaborating live on documents is totally seamless too. Because (unsurprisingly) Teams integrates with programs like Excel Live and PowerPoint Live, this means multiple people can collaborate on a spreadsheet or document live on a call, and it will update in real-time for everyone. You could do something similar in Zoom using Google Sheets or Google Docs, but it won't be as streamlined.
The screen sharing function in both Zoom and Teams is pretty sophisticated. They both even offer remote screen control, which is useful for collaborating on a whiteboard or if someone is struggling with tech issues during a meeting. We had a board member who was a bit scared of tech, so if she was ever presenting to the company, someone would dive in and give her a hand with slides if needed. It's a really nice touch that both apps offer.
Teams can better support international teams
Teams and Zoom are both great remote meeting tools for international teams. But if you're an international business that needs to communicate across a variety of different languages, Teams can be a real asset.
Both Zoom and Teams offer AI-powered real-time captioning, but Teams offers live translations in more than 40 languages (premium only, but only the organizer needs premium to enable the feature), whereas Zoom only currently supports 12 languages, and 3 of these are still in beta.
Teams has a language interpreter function, too, where you can assign a person to do live translation to selected international team members while the original speaker is muted (for those members). Language translation also stretches to the chat function: you can translate any messages that come through from team members in other languages just by right-clicking and selecting Translate.
I work with clients in Amsterdam, and sometimes a message will come through to a group channel in Dutch. I used to always copy/paste these messages into Google Translate to make sure I wasn't missing anything important, but now it's built right into Teams. As organizations become more international, this feature feels like a real game-changer.
Teams has more accessibility features
AI-powered live captioning is available on both tools, but Teams has an always-on captioning button. This means meeting attendees who require captions don't need to activate it every time they're in a meeting—it'll start captioning automatically.
Teams also has a sign language view for meetings, which Zoom doesn't. The meeting organizer can assign someone as a signer, and it will make their video appear enlarged and pinned for any attendees who require it.
And one more thing: Teams has an immersive reader button that translates text to speech—this is something that Zoom doesn't offer.
Zoom is better for external meetings; Teams is better for internal meetings
It's beyond easy for external participants to join a Zoom meeting from anywhere on any device—all you need is a link. This makes it a great option if you host a lot of meetings, large or small, with people outside your organization. The frictionless experience for the people you're inviting to chat will be a win for both of you.
With Teams, there are some chat features that don't work when you're communicating with someone outside of your organization. Same goes for meeting features too—you get a stripped-down version of the navigation menu for external calls.
You need the Teams app to access a meeting on your phone or tablet, and you need to be on Microsoft Edge or Chrome to join via the web. It's not the end of the world, but it's a little more restrictive. And let's be honest—when's the last time someone from another organization invited you to chat and sent you a Teams link? Didn't think so.
Zoom is also much stronger when it comes to using video conferencing for marketing and business growth. The ability to stream meetings to social media is available on the basic Zoom meeting package—that's indicative of where Zoom's strengths lie. It even has a whole separate package just for running webinars and events. While webinar hosting is available on Teams Business Standard, it's more of a side option. The focus of Teams is internal and isn't meant to attract a new audience.
Zoom copes better with larger remote meetings and slow internet
Both Zoom and Teams are powerful video conferencing software, and on paper, they're neck and neck when it comes to video resolution (both offer HD resolution of 1080p at 30fps, if that means anything to you).
But it's pretty well understood that Zoom tends to be better at coping with larger meetings, and at keeping people in the call even if they have a bad internet connection. And it makes sense: Zoom is 100% focused on video conferencing, so its streaming quality is naturally going to be better. Teams is juggling a load of other collaboration features, which means making sacrifices—though minor—where video quality or connection are concerned.
This is also probably why participant capacity on Teams is just 300, whereas Zoom allows for up to 1,000 participants (on Enterprise, or with the large meeting add-on). Zoom has a Focus mode feature that allows meeting organizers to choose whose videos appear during larger meetings to streamline what attendees can see on-screen and also preserve video quality. We actually used to switch over to Zoom from Teams whenever we had all-company updates because Teams couldn't cope so well with the large group.
Both Zoom and Teams have great integrations
Zoom and Teams are both solidly integrated with other apps, so you can connect each of them to your existing tech stack pretty easily.
Zoom natively integrates with way more apps than Teams (almost 2,500 vs. Teams' 700ish), but that number doesn't tell the whole story. For starters, both apps integrate with Zapier, which means you can connect them to several thousand other apps. Take a look:
Zapier is the leader in no-code automation—integrating with 5,000+ apps from partners like Google, Salesforce, and Microsoft. Build secure, automated systems for your business-critical workflows across your organization's technology stack. Learn more.
Plus, Teams has a really tight integration with other Microsoft 365 apps, so if you're a OneDrive or OneNote user, for example, those types of integrations will be more seamless and built in to the user experience for you in Teams. xxx
Teams vs. Zoom: The verdict
Barring a few details, Zoom and Teams are pretty comparable when it comes to video conferencing. But they're completely different tools that have been built to fill very different gaps.
If all you're looking for is super reliable, high-quality video conferencing software that's focused on getting people's faces on screen with their team, Zoom's the app to choose. Or you can take a look at any of the other best video conferencing apps. If you're looking for a Slack alternative or a more all-in-one tool, Teams is your best bet—particularly if you're an international team.
And as for the cost: both apps have free plans that get the job done, but when you go beyond that and start paying for these apps, it's really like comparing apples to oranges since they're designed to do totally different things.
Related reading:
Google Meet vs. Zoom: Which is better for video conferencing?
9 Microsoft Teams features you should be using for your meetings
This article was originally published in April 2022. The most recent update was in February 2023.
