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Blackboard Collaborate vs Zoom comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Blackboard Collaborate
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
28th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zoom
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
208
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of Blackboard Collaborate is 0.5%, down from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zoom is 11.0%, down from 14.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

YN
Useful in webinars, meetings and online classrooms
One of the features that people enjoy is the whiteboard, providing opportunities for academics to present content and for students to contribute. The platform also allows for the creating of different rooms, enabling large classes to break into smaller groups for discussions. Students can then return to the main classroom to share their opinions. It integrates with LMS.
Kallol Chaudhuri - PeerSpot reviewer
Helped us tremendously in collaborating with each other and getting our work done and offers the breakout rooms feature.
We are a team located across various locations. Not in the same geographic location. We are distributed. And it's not possible to physically travel and meet people. Sometimes it's simply not possible. But Zoom has helped us tremendously in collaborating with each other and getting our work done. Without Zoom, it would have been very, very difficult. The breakout rooms feature is also helpful. For example, I have a meeting attended by hundreds of people and want to create subgroups. I typically use it for different role-play scenarios during training if we are trying to conduct some training on presentation skills. So there's a large group, which is initially trained by an instructor. Then you get instructions that the room will be split into smaller breakout rooms. I'll give you a topic, and you'll practice in these smaller groups. That's one way I use it. So it's like a simulation of a real brainstorming session I'd have in a physical space.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Document loading and annotation."
"One of the features that people enjoy is the whiteboard, providing opportunities for academics to present content and for students to contribute. The platform also allows for the creating of different rooms, enabling large classes to break into smaller groups for discussions. Students can then return to the main classroom to share their opinions. It integrates with LMS."
"The solution allows me to connect and collaborate with my classes."
"The interface makes it simple to use."
"The main benefit is that it allows us to easily connect and collaborate, even in areas with less reliable internet."
"Zoom is stable and easy to use."
"Zoom is incredibly easy to install. You can download it immediately on a mobile phone or go to the website. You don't need a lot of IT skills to get it running."
"Screen sharing is valuable. It is very easy to install, and there are 45 minutes free of charge."
"The most valuable feature is the sharing capabilities. Whether it's a simple screen for PowerPoint or sharing videos, it works really well."
"Zoom is very easy to set up. You simply download it and use it."
"There are lots of great features available to every user."
 

Cons

"We faced outages when the user limit went over a certain number."
"If there were maybe more tutorials outside of what I'm aware the university is suggesting, I would take more tutorials on effective ways to deliver content. I come from the industry and content was always needed when people that were observing were smart and involved and decision-makers instead of so passively just trying to pass the course. In my imagination, the tutorials would be a tool where the learners themselves can have much more hands-on learning during a Collaborate session."
"The system can overload when too many try logging in."
"There must be an option to ask permission from the host to record the Zoom meeting."
"The updating feature of Zoom needs to be improved."
"Zoom could improve by extending the one-hour maximum session time in the free version."
"The interface requires some slight improvement in that it could better show the meeting attendees."
"Sound is not an issue, however, with video I've always had issues when using the free service."
"Variable sound quality."
"My company uses the Zoom security setting that requires the host to admit users. The host often forgets to do that, so you sometimes have a lot of people sitting out there. It would be nice if Zoom made it obvious that somebody is in the waiting room."
"When you are connected to one device and you're going to log into another one, Zoom should ask you to transfer without having to disconnect you."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"A licensing fee is required."
"Zoom is a very cheaply priced video conferencing solution, and using this product has saved our business a lot of expense."
"We purchased a license for Zoom."
"I use the free version of Zoom."
"For personal use, I use the free version of Zoom, so I haven't paid anything."
"We do not incur any licensing costs, as we use the free version."
"It is reasonable. It has a monthly license."
"We do not incur a licensing fee."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Educational Organization
92%
University
1%
Financial Services Firm
1%
Computer Software Company
1%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Blackboard Collaborate?
One of the features that people enjoy is the whiteboard, providing opportunities for academics to present content and for students to contribute. The platform also allows for the creating of differ...
What needs improvement with Blackboard Collaborate?
We faced outages when the user limit went over a certain number.
What is your primary use case for Blackboard Collaborate?
We use the solution in web seminars, online classrooms, and meetings.
LucidChart vs LucidSpark for brainstorming sessions over Zoom
Hi @Krista Thompson ​ - Yes, LucidSpark is a much more nimble and, in some ways, user-friendly tool than LucidChart. LucidSpark is designed to do a better job managing multiple users participating ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zoom?
I use the free version of Zoom and have not encountered significant issues in its use. I also use the free version of Google Meet.
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Also Known As

Blackboard Mobile
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

University of Derby Online, Universty of Warwick, University of Liverpool, City College Norwich, Northumberland College, Mid-Kent College, Watson Pharmaceutials, Capella University, Shore Tel Sky, Lincoln PD, City of Somerville MA, Somerset County Council
Fortinet, Veeva, Proofpoint, Box, Ticketmaster, Trend Micro, Caesars Entertainment, Santa Clara University, Pandora, Stanford Continuing Studies
Find out what your peers are saying about Blackboard Collaborate vs. Zoom and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
839,422 professionals have used our research since 2012.