Skype for Business vs Zoom comparison

Microsoft and Zoom Video Communications are both solutions in the Virtual Meetings category. Microsoft is ranked #3 with an average rating of 7.8, while Zoom Video Communications is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.3. Microsoft holds a 11.9% mindshare in VM, compared to Zoom Video Communications’s 11.0% mindshare. Additionally, 79% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Zoom Video Communications users who would recommend it.

Skype for Business

Read 62 Skype for Business reviews

2,322 Views
874 Comparison Views

79% willing to recommend

Zoom

Read 209 Zoom reviews

6,532 Views
1,158 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Skype for Business

Zoom

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

Skype for Business and Zoom are direct competitors in the video conferencing and communication software category. Zoom appears to have the upper hand due to its user-friendly interface, ease of use, and fewer technical requirements, making it more accessible for rapid deployment.

Features: Skype for Business offers comprehensive integration with Microsoft products, support for a variety of devices, and seamless scheduling through Microsoft Outlook. It is known for its VoIP and advanced conferencing capabilities. Zoom is praised for its intuitive high-quality video conferencing, screen sharing, and recording capabilities, making it suitable for both business and educational purposes.

Room for Improvement: Skype for Business struggles with high bandwidth use during video calls and limited third-party interoperability, requiring additional gateways for efficient collaboration. Improvement is needed in addressing connectivity issues and inconsistent audio quality. Zoom requires enhancements in security features, user interface improvements, and better collaboration tools. Users also hope for longer meeting durations in its free version and improved screen sharing for smoother meetings.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Skype for Business is typically deployed on-premises, although it supports hybrid and public cloud options. Users have reported configuration challenges across different locations. Microsoft provides effective technical support and account management. Zoom, primarily used in public cloud environments, is praised for simple deployment. While its technical support is generally rated well, users note areas for improvement, such as support for custom configurations and multi-user functionalities.

Pricing and ROI: Skype for Business, integrated with Office 365, offers cost-effective solutions for large enterprises through Microsoft's licensing efficiencies. ROI can be quickly realized with its diverse features. Zoom provides a free version with limited meeting times, drawing attention from personal users and small businesses. Its tiered pricing can be expensive for additional features but remains competitive compared to solutions like Cisco Webex, offering potential savings and robust collaborative capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed Skype for Business vs. Zoom Report (Updated: February 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Skype for Business vs. Zoom

February 2025

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Helped 842,296 peers since 2012

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

Skype for Business

Ranking in Virtual Meetings

3rd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

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

209

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of Skype for Business is 11.9%, up from 8.8% 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

Magdalena Teodorczuk

Senior at Krajowy Depozyt Papierów Wartosciowych S.A.

Offers great audio and video quality for virtual meetings

I like the instant messaging feature in the product since I prefer to use the chat functionalities provided by the solution. It is easy to integrate the product with some of the other solutions in the market. I rate the integration capabilities of the product a ten out of ten. The product's user interface is user-friendly. I use the product at a personal level, so I can't speak about the support it provides for the maintenance part. I rate the overall tool a ten out of ten.

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Kallol Chaudhuri

Principal Consultant at Oracle

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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"You can do meetings of up to two hundred people in a single conversation."

"The integration with Microsoft Outlook for creating and scheduling meetings is nice."

"The deployment is very fast."

"I have found Skype for Business to be stable."

"We like the tools our administrator can use to identify which calls had quality issues and why. This makes troubleshooting our user experience somewhat easier."

"I use the chat feature to communicate with my staff, which is very helpful."

"The calling features are most valuable, especially now as we are working remotely."

"We really like the screen sharing tool. The user experience is smooth, and user-friendly."

More Skype for Business pros

"The ability to record our online language lessons is great and helps our students"

"Zoom is easy to use and you can have a session with someone with a few mouse clicks. It is easier to use than Microsoft Teams."

"The ability to share graphics and visuals."

"The Zoom software is complete and effective, light and secure."

"Ability to record sessions."

"The product's most valuable features are chat and video streaming."

"I'm using it only for meetings, and it is good for me. It provides options for remote control and screen sharing."

"The grid view option is great, as you get to see everyone who is in the video conference at the same time."

More Zoom pros

Cons

"This service could be improved by adding some missing features. It lacks integration with Teams, which is a feature I would like to see in the next release."

"The solution has been discontinued by Microsoft."

"The group feature of Skype for Business needs improvement. It should also be improved for online lectures."

"The inability to integrate Skype with other products is an area of concern where improvements are required."

"We need a feature where you can virtually raise your hand to silently let the presenter know that you have a question."

"The stability could be improved."

"Whenever someone is using a messaging platform, the messages needs to be stored. In Skype for Business, the message will not be seen later on if you're not online. It isn't useful, in my opinion."

"Going forward, I would like to see better call quality and reliability."

More Skype for Business cons

"They could address the product's limitation of the free version, particularly the 40-minute time constraint on meetings."

"The security needs to be improved."

"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."

"I don't have any particular issues, but I think the user interface could be improved. Previously, I used Microsoft Teams, where the chat, video, and audio options were all easily accessible in one place, making the user experience smoother. In Zoom, it's a bit more manual. For example, we must use external chat options like Slack and manually send the Zoom URL link to initiate a chat. In MicrosoftTeams, you can directly call and chat with someone from the contact list simultaneously."

"I would like to see them develop end-to-end encryption, like WhatsApp. That would improve the security of the software."

"In some cases, I am not able to have a special background during the conversation. It could be because my device is not powerful enough, but I am not able to share a properly designed background. I am having problems setting up my virtual background. It is very easy to set up a virtual background during the conversation with Microsoft Teams, and that's why I like Microsoft Teams, but with Zoom, I find it difficult. I am not able to set up my virtual background very easily. They can look into this area and then see how to improve it."

"It takes time to acclimate end users to the product."

"Zoom could be more secure."

More Zoom cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is priced fairly."

"We are using the subscription-based version of Skype for Business. There is a free version of the solution."

"It may be considered costly for certain markets, such as in India."

"Previously, I did not use another solution."

"The pricing is really good. It is quite affordable because it came with our Office 365. It is on a per-user license, which is nice. I quite like that they have made it very granular with all of their licensing."

"The cost of Skype for Business is incorporated into our Office 365 licenses."

"We have been able to save money by moving our conferencing solution to Skype for Business Conferencing."

"To realize value from the purchase of Skype Business, you need to take advantage of all the important functions of the program."

More Skype for Business pricing and cost advice

"We are using the free version of the solution."

"For personal use, I use the free version of Zoom, so I haven't paid anything."

"Zoom is free."

"We pay a yearly licensing fee for Zoom, which is expensive in our part of the world."

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."

"I use Zoom's free version."

"There are paid and free personal accounts for Zoom."

"We do not incur a licensing fee."

More Zoom pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

93%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Government

Educational Organization

92%

University

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Skype for Business?

The solution’s video quality is fine.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Skype for Business?

Skype for Business is affordable and has decent pricing. The video quality is a bit lower than Teams or Zoom, but it remains a good solution overall.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Skype for Business?

The video quality could be improved, possibly due to internet connection issues. However, there is no significant weakness in Skype for Business.

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

What do you like most about Zoom?

The product is scalable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zoom?

There is a concern about the free version's forty-five-minute limit. For education use, having more affordable access through institutions would be beneficial.

See all answers

Comparisons

Webex vs Skype for Business

Compared 28% of the time

Cisco Unified Communications vs Skype for Business

Compared 27% of the time

TeamViewer vs Skype for Business

Compared 15% of the time

GoToMeeting vs Skype for Business

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Jabber vs Skype for Business

Compared 4% of the time

More Skype for Business Competitors

Webex vs Zoom

Compared 30% of the time

GoToMeeting vs Zoom

Compared 9% of the time

TeamViewer vs Zoom

Compared 8% of the time

ON24 Platform vs Zoom

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco TelePresence vs Zoom

Compared 5% of the time

More Zoom Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Skype for Business

March 2025

Download Skype for Business product report

Buyer's Guide

Zoom

March 2025

Download Zoom product report

Also Known As

Skype for Business Plan 1, Skype for Business Plan 2, Lync Server

No data available

Overview

Skype for Business offers features including presence, IM, voice and video calls, online meetings, conferencing, and telephony solutions that support enterprise-level collaboration requirements. Skype for Business Record meetings, share your screen, and annotate PowerPoint for real-time collaboration with up to 250 people and use whiteboard, polls, Q&A, and built-in IM during your business meetings to make them more productive. Skype for Business provides new client experience, Skype for Business Server provides several new features to improve manageability of on-premises servers and hybrid solutions. Skype for Business also supports the Lync client experience so that you can choose a phased upgrade approach to the new client experience for users. Skype for Business is also an integral part of Microsoft Office 365, providing PSTN Conferencing, Cloud PBX, PSTN Calling, and Skype Meeting Broadcast capabilities to Office 365 users.

Microsoft

Zoom helps businesses and organizations bring their teams together in a frictionless environment to get more done. Our easy, reliable cloud platform for video, phone, content sharing, and chat runs across mobile devices, desktops, telephones, and room systems. Message me to learn more about how Zoom can help your business or organization Visit zoom.com and follow @zoom_us.

Zoom Video Communications

Sample Customers

EmpireCLS Worldwide Chauffeured Services,LA Fitness, MedcoEnergi International, Tampa General Hospital, and HopewellHoldings Limited.

Fortinet, Veeva, Proofpoint, Box, Ticketmaster, Trend Micro, Caesars Entertainment, Santa Clara University, Pandora, Stanford Continuing Studies

Buyer's Guide

Skype for Business vs. Zoom

February 2025

Free Report: Skype for Business vs. Zoom

Find out what your peers are saying about Skype for Business vs. Zoom and other solutions. Updated: February 2025.

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