CrankWheel vs Zoom
We give CrankWheel a 2.4 GPA and Zoom a 2.6, out of 4.0. Zoom grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
CrankWheel
Screen sharing for sales calls that opens in the viewer's browser
Zoom
Video meetings bundled with team chat, phone and AI notes
How we grade them
| 2.4GPACrankWheelFair | 2.6GPAZoomGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CSolo is $29 a month for one user, with 48% off if you pay for 12 months at once. Against its listed rivals for showing a screen, Zoom's and Loom's paid plans cost less on monthly billing, and the yearly discount roughly closes that gap. Teams share 100 meetings for $99 a month. | CWorkplace Pro is $14.16 a user a month on yearly billing, double the $7 this category typically starts at, and it still tops out at 100 people. Single sign-on and 300-person meetings wait for Business at $18.33, and the year is taken in one payment up front. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free plan you'll outgrow fast: 1 user, 15 meetings a month and 3 viewers per meeting, with recordings kept a week. Someone on sales calls all day will use up 15 meetings in a few days. Solo has a free trial with no card. | CBasic gives you unlimited meetings for 100 people, instant messaging, 3 whiteboards and AI summaries for 3 meetings a month. Then the clock: nearly every meeting on a free account ends at 40 minutes, one-to-ones included, and recordings save only to your own computer. |
| Features | CIt does sales screen sharing fully: viewing with no download on any phone, recordings with tracked plays, Instant Demos callbacks and CRM connectors. But it's a smaller job than this category's. It can't reach anyone else's computer, and handing over control works for one viewer from Windows or Mac. | CThe meeting is excellent and the bundle around it is wide: team chat, whiteboards, clips, mail, calendar and a booking page. But the plan ladder is full of walls. 300 people needs Business, 500 is a $50-a-month add-on, and the phone system, webinars and Rooms come only with Enterprise through sales. |
| Ease of use | BNo App Store rating on record. The prospect taps a link and sees your screen in a browser, with no install and no sign-up, which is the whole point. Your side runs in the browser with an extension. | B4.66 on the App Store from about 3.2 million ratings, just under our top mark. The thing it's genuinely best at is joining: the person you're calling already knows what to do with the link, and guests need no account or plan. |
| Platforms and integrations | BIt runs in the browser with an extension, and viewers can join from any device, phone included. It connects to Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho CRM, HighLevel and Zapier, but there's no desktop app, so B is its ceiling. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, Android and a browser extension, which is the whole field. Gmail, Outlook, Google Calendar, Salesforce and ServiceNow connect. Commenters do say the browser version is the poor relation and that Zoom nudges you to download instead. |
| Best for | showing your screen on a sales call | video meetings anyone can join |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: CrankWheel and Zoom. How we grade
Where they differ
- CrankWheel starts at $29 per month (Solo, one user). Zoom starts at $14.16 per user / month, billed annually ($169.90 a year).
- Only Zoom lists macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android apps.
- CrankWheel also covers screen recording.
- Zoom also covers meeting notes, whiteboard, booking links and team chat.
At a glance
| CrankWheel | Zoom | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $29 per month (Solo, one user) | $14.16 per user / month, billed annually ($169.90 a year) |
| Free plan | 1 user, 15 meetings a month, 3 viewers per meeting and 1 week of cloud recording retention. Remote control, Projector and Instant Demos work; branding options do not. | Workplace Basic: meetings of up to 40 minutes and 100 participants, instant messaging, 3 editable whiteboards, 5 two-minute clips, and AI summaries for 3 hosted meetings a month. |
| Free trial | Free trial of the Solo plan, no credit card required; length not stated | Free trial of Workplace Pro when subscribing in the iOS app, per the App Store listing; its length is not stated |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | CrankWheel ehf. | Zoom Communications, Inc. |
| Price read from | crankwheel.com | zoom.us |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
CrankWheel
- Telesales and inside sales teams who show prospects a screen during a phone call
- Insurance, mortgage and home services agents selling to less technical customers
- Teams that want inbound website leads called back by a free agent at once
Zoom
- Teams whose main need is video meetings with chat alongside
- Occasional hosts who can work within 40-minute meetings
- People who want AI meeting notes built into the meeting app
- Companies that plan to add phone, webinars or rooms later
Worth knowing
CrankWheel
- It shares the presenter's own screen; it does not give you access to a customer's computer for support.
- Team plans are priced by meetings a month shared across the team, counted for any session with a viewer of 40 seconds or more.
- Removing CrankWheel branding is an add-on on Team and included only on Enterprise; single sign-on is Enterprise only.
- Handing remote control to a viewer works only for presenters on Windows or macOS, and only with one viewer at a time.
Zoom
- Basic meetings end at 40 minutes, one-to-one calls included, and the plan records locally only with no cloud storage.
- Meetings of 300 people need Business; beyond that the Large Meeting add-on starts at $50 a month for 500 participants.
- SSO and managed domains start at Business, and webinars, the phone PBX and Rooms are bundled only into Enterprise, which is sold by sales.
- Annual plans are charged as one upfront payment; the monthly figure shown is the annual total divided by 12.
Key features
CrankWheel
- No-download screen sharing
- Share the full screen, a window or a browser tab; viewers open a link on any device, phone included, and need no install or sign-up.
- Remote control for the viewer
- In a one-to-one session the presenter can hand a viewer control of part or all of the screen, for example to fill in a form. Presenters need Windows or macOS.
- Recordings and sales videos
- Record meetings or screencasts and send them as links or by email with an animated preview, then track who played them.
- Instant Demos
- A lead capture widget for your website that looks for an available agent to call the prospect back straight away, with leads passed on to your CRM.
- Video meetings
- Schedule web conferences with microphone and webcam: up to 10 participants on Solo, 25 on Team and 50 on Enterprise.
- CRM connectors
- Start sessions from a contact in Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho CRM, HighLevel and other CRMs and write meeting details and recording links back.
Zoom
- Video meetings
- Meetings run up to 40 minutes on Basic and 30 hours on paid plans, with 100 participants on Basic and Pro, 300 on Business and 1,000 on Enterprise.
- Team chat
- Instant messaging is part of every Workplace plan, including the free Basic plan, and sits in the same app as meetings and calling.
- AI notes and meeting summaries
- Basic includes AI note-taking 3 times a month and summaries for 3 hosted meetings. Pro makes both unlimited and takes notes in Zoom, third-party and in-person conversations.
- Whiteboard and Clips
- Basic allows 3 editable whiteboards and 5 two-minute clips. Clips become unlimited on Pro, and whiteboards become unlimited on Business.
- Mail, Calendar and Scheduler
- Basic connects Gmail or Outlook and syncs Google or Microsoft calendars. Pro adds Zoom Mail and Zoom Calendar, and Business adds unlimited Scheduler booking pages.
- Recording and cloud storage
- Basic records locally only. Pro adds 10 GB of cloud recording storage per license, and extra cloud storage is sold as an add-on from $10 a month for 30 GB.
Plans
CrankWheel
Free$0
What an account reverts to after the trial or a cancellation: 1 user, 15 meetings a month, 3 viewers per meeting, no branding.
Solo$29
per month for one user
One named user with unlimited meetings, up to 30 viewers, video meetings of up to 10 people and 6 months of recording retention.
Team 100$99
per month for up to 100 meetings
Unlimited users sharing 100 meetings a month; plans stack, so 200 meetings cost $194 a month and 1,000 cost $882. Up to 100 viewers.
Team 100 (Busy User discount)$59
per month for up to 100 meetings
For up to 3 users sharing 100 meetings a month; each stacked plan adds 3 users and 100 meetings, e.g. $117 for 6 users and 200 meetings.
EnterpriseCustom
Usage and features set per organization, including corporate single sign-on, an audit log, an SLA and dedicated training.
Zoom
Workplace Basic$0
Meetings of up to 40 minutes and 100 participants, instant messaging, 3 editable whiteboards, 5 two-minute clips and limited AI features.
Workplace Pro$14.16
per user / month, billed annually ($16.99 billed monthly)
30-hour meetings with 100 participants, unlimited AI note-taking and meeting summaries, unlimited clips, and 10 GB of cloud storage per user.
Workplace Business$18.33
per user / month, billed annually ($21.99 billed monthly)
300 participants per meeting, Scheduler with unlimited booking pages, unlimited whiteboards, SSO and managed domains.
Workplace EnterpriseCustom
1,000 participants per meeting, plus a full-featured phone PBX, webinars for 500 attendees, Rooms and translated captions.
Ways to pay less
CrankWheel
- Annual discount
48% off Solo when paying 12 months at a time
The pricing FAQ offers Solo users a 48% loyalty discount for paying for 12 months at once.
- Other savings
Busy User discount of up to 40% on Team
Teams with 3 or fewer user licences per stacked Team plan can buy the Busy User version, $59 a month instead of $99 for 100 meetings.
- Education
Special pricing for educational institutions
CrankWheel says it offers special pricing and benefits to educational institutions, arranged by emailing its sales team.
Zoom
- Annual discount
About 17% less with annual billing
Workplace Pro is $169.90 a year ($14.16 a month) against $16.99 billed monthly, and Business is $219.90 a year ($18.33 a month) against $21.99.
- Nonprofit
50% off for verified nonprofits
Zoom's pricing FAQ says verified nonprofit organizations worldwide get a 50% discount on Workplace Pro, Workplace Business, Webinars and Large Meetings.
