Whereby vs Zoom

Whereby

• Consultants, coaches and therapists who meet clients in one fixed room
• Guests who should join from a browser without an account or download
• Small teams that want simple per-host pricing
• Product teams adding video calls through the separate Embedded API

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

Whereby

• The Free plan allows 1 host, 4 attendees per meeting and 30-minute meetings; Business requires at least 3 hosts.
• There is an iOS app but no Android or desktop app; Android users join in Chrome, and screen sharing and recording work only on computers.
• End-to-end encryption is listed only for small peer-to-peer rooms.
• The about page says product and engineering have focused entirely on Whereby Embedded, the API product, since 2023.

Zoom

• Basic meetings end at 40 minutes, 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.

Whereby

Rooms that run in the browser

Calls run in desktop and mobile browsers over WebRTC with no download needed, and guests join a fixed room URL without creating an account.

Collaboration during calls

Screen sharing, live chat with reactions and file sharing, breakout groups, and embedded Miro boards and Google Docs for working together.

Recording

The Pro plan lists unlimited recording, and the Meetings plan comparison lists local recording, which saves a call to your own device.

Room controls

Rooms can be locked so the host decides who joins, with background effects and noise reduction in calls and a custom waiting room on the plan comparison.

Branding and shared rooms

Pro adds custom room colors, logos and backgrounds. Business adds a custom subdomain, shared rooms, and Flex rooms that run without a licensed host present.

Whereby Embedded API

A separately priced API and SDK for adding video calls to your own product: free to test, then $9.99 a month plus usage, with 2,000 participant minutes included.

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.

Whereby

• Free$0

  1 host, 1 room URL, 4 attendees per meeting and meetings of up to 30 minutes.

• Pro$10.99

  per month, billed monthly ($109.90 billed annually)

  For one host: 3 room URLs, 100 attendees per meeting, no time limit, custom branding and unlimited recording.

• Business$13.99

  per host / month, billed monthly ($139.90 billed annually)

  Minimum 3 hosts. Unlimited room URLs, 200 attendees per meeting, shared and Flex rooms, and a custom subdomain.

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.

Whereby

• Annual discount

  Save 17% with annual billing

  The pricing page lists a 17% saving on annual plans: Pro is $109.90 billed annually against $10.99 a month, and Business is $139.90 per host against $13.99 a month.

• Nonprofit

  20% off Pro and Business for nonprofits

  Registered nonprofits and charities can claim 20% off monthly or annual Whereby Meetings Pro and Business plans by emailing support, per a 2023 Whereby announcement.

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.