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 7.9, while Zoom Video Communications is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.3. Microsoft holds a 10.4% mindshare in VM, compared to Zoom Video Communications’s 11.9% 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

2,382 Views
871 Comparison Views

79% willing to recommend

Zoom

Read 207 Zoom reviews

6,822 Views
1,299 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Skype for Business

Zoom

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Skype for Business and Zoom based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Virtual Meetings solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Skype for Business vs. Zoom Report (Updated: December 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Skype for Business vs. Zoom

December 2024

Download the complete report

Helped 831,020 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

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Zoom

Ranking in Virtual Meetings

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Number of Reviews

207

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of Skype for Business is 10.4%, up from 8.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zoom is 11.9%, down from 15.2% 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

"It's a good product, we like using it."

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

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

"The most valuable features of Skype for Business include its persistent chat, Edge Server, Reverse Proxy, front-end server, back-end server, and business calling capabilities, among others."

"The most valuable feature of Skype for Business is that it has many other tools that you can be integrated with it. It makes the meetings more interactive."

"The Microsoft tech support are very good. They get back to you. I log a support call, and I usually have someone on the phone within a half an hour, so it is pretty good."

"Skype for Business is good for meetings and instant messaging."

"It's a good and stable product that fits my needs."

More Skype for Business pros

"The most valuable feature is that it's easy to use."

"I've been on a call with around a thousand students. So, it was quite scalable."

"The most valuable feature is the sharing capabilities. Whether it's a simple screen for PowerPoint or sharing videos, it works really well."

"The initial setup is straightforward as this is a cloud application. It only takes a few seconds."

"I rate Zoom as a seven out of ten. This is because it is much easier to use than Microsoft Teams."

"The video and audio quality are very good."

"I've been using Zoom since the pandemic started. It's actually been a life saving product under the circumstances that were thrust on everybody."

"It's popular. Many people use it not only personally, but also in businesses."

More Zoom pros

Cons

"Sometimes the connection crashes, which is understandable if you are traveling. But, it would be nice if this could be stabilized somehow."

"The video conferencing quality can be improved."

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

"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 requires deployment on a Microsoft server and its performance is heavy because it consumes too many resources from the RAM."

"The solution's functionality needs to be moved to Microsoft Teams. Its technology is outdated."

"Skype for Business could improve the interface. It could be easier to use. Additionally, it's hard to find the people or add people you want to communicate with."

"Skype for Business could improve by having a document channel or repository. Microsoft Teams has a better repository place for documents that you can share with your team. You can access it anywhere from any device."

More Skype for Business cons

"Zoom could be improved by making it easier to join meetings. It can be a bit confusing because sometimes you need meeting IDs and logins, sometimes you don't."

"The time limitations for the free version should be increased from 40 minutes."

"The inclusion of some more advanced security features would be an improvement."

"The solution’s stability could be improved."

"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."

"The paid version is quite expensive. There's no middle ground between free and paid."

"The interface requires some slight improvement in that it could better show the meeting attendees."

"The video quality of the free version might not be as good as the enterprise edition."

More Zoom cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Previously, I did not use another solution."

"I am using a corporate account for which I have not made any payments."

"Our company pays for a license for us to use the solution."

"We purchased an open license."

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

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

"I use the product's open-source version."

"It may be slightly costly, but the features are awesome."

More Skype for Business pricing and cost advice

"There is a free version of Zoom which allows you a certain limited amount of time usage and there is a corporate version of the solution where you have to pay."

"We are using the free version of Zoom."

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

"There is some basic functionality that's free but if you want to host longer meetings and have more participants, then there is a licensing fee."

"I use Zoom's free version."

"My organization has a yearly license for Zoom."

"There is a free version available with time limits."

"The pricing is too high. The cost of the license could be cheaper."

More Zoom pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Virtual Meetings solutions are best for your needs.

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831,020 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

92%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

Educational Organization

92%

University

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

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?

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.

See all answers

Comparisons

Webex vs Skype for Business

Compared 29% of the time

Cisco Unified Communications vs Skype for Business

Compared 23% of the time

TeamViewer vs Skype for Business

Compared 16% of the time

GoToMeeting vs Skype for Business

Compared 8% of the time

Cisco Jabber vs Skype for Business

Compared 5% of the time

More Skype for Business Competitors

Webex vs Zoom

Compared 29% of the time

TeamViewer vs Zoom

Compared 10% of the time

GoToMeeting vs Zoom

Compared 9% of the time

ON24 Platform vs Zoom

Compared 8% of the time

Cisco TelePresence vs Zoom

Compared 7% of the time

More Zoom Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Skype for Business

December 2024

Download Skype for Business product report

Buyer's Guide

Zoom

November 2024

Download Zoom product report

Also Known As

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

No data available

Learn More

Microsoft

Video not available

Zoom Video Communications

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.

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.

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

December 2024

Free Report: Skype for Business vs. Zoom

Find out what your peers are saying about Skype for Business vs. Zoom and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.

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We monitor all Virtual Meetings reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.