Rainbow vs Zoom (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Rainbow if

• Fits if your company already runs Alcatel-Lucent phones and wants chat on top
• Works for organisations that need to choose where their data sits

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want a price on the page, as none is published
• Not for you if you are one person or a very small team, since it targets organisations
• Too light on detail for licences, because it is unclear which features come with which one
• Watch out: no trial or free plan is listed

Pick Zoom if

• Fits if you meet people outside your company, since guests join without an account
• Works for teams who want AI meeting notes, which are unlimited on Pro at $14.16 a person

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you're staying free, because meetings stop at 40 minutes, one-on-ones included, and recordings stay on your computer
• Pricey if your company already has Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, which include meetings
• Skip it if team chat is the main thing you need, since Zoom is a meetings app first
• Pricey if you need 300 people in a call, which starts on Business at $18.33 a person, or 500, which is a $50-a-month add-on
• Watch out: yearly plans are charged up front, and webinars, the phone system and Rooms need an Enterprise sales call

Rainbow

• No prices are published on the pages read; pricing is unverified and likely sold through Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise.
• The vendor describes an a la carte service, so which features come with which licence is not stated on the pages read.
• Rainbow is aimed at organizations, not individuals or very small teams.

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.

Rainbow

Chat and collaboration

Enterprise messaging and collaboration sit in the same app as business telephony and meetings.

AI services

The vendor lists transcription, summaries, real-time translation and an AI reception agent as included in the licence.

Flexible deployment

Runs as public cloud, on top of an existing PBX or as a private cloud, for 5 to 100,000 users according to the vendor.

Data location and certifications

The vendor lists 15 data centres worldwide and certifications including ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA and C5.

Microsoft Teams connector

A telephony connector pairs Rainbow with Microsoft Teams, and APIs and SDKs support custom integrations.

Apps for each platform

The vendor's pages list a web application plus apps for macOS, Windows, iOS and Android.

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.

Rainbow

Pricing could not be confirmed. See openrainbow.com.

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.

Rainbow

No public discounts listed.

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.