Around
Zoom
| Feature | Around | Zoom |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $10.99/mo | Free / from $13.33/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.2 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | remote-teams, quick-standups, pair-programming, distributed-teams | remote-teams, enterprise, educators, event-organizers, sales-teams |
| Founded | 2020 | 2011 |
| Floating Video | ✓ | ✗ |
| Auto Leveling | ✓ | ✗ |
| Noise Cancellation | ✓ | ✗ |
| Screen Sharing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Reactions | ✓ | ✗ |
| Virtual Backgrounds | ✓ | ✗ |
| Video Meetings | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ai Companion | ✗ | ✓ |
| Webinars | ✗ | ✓ |
| Breakout Rooms | ✗ | ✓ |
| Recording | ✗ | ✓ |
| Whiteboard | ✗ | ✓ |
| Phone | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Around Pros
- Lightweight and fast
- Minimal floating interface
- Good noise cancellation
- Reduces meeting fatigue
✗ Around Cons
- Limited features vs Zoom
- Smaller user base
- No recording on free
✓ Zoom Pros
- Reliable video quality even on poor connections
- AI Companion for meeting summaries
- Breakout rooms for workshops
- Up to 1000 participants
✗ Zoom Cons
- 40-minute limit on free plan
- Zoom fatigue is a real thing
- Privacy concerns from past incidents
The Verdict
Around is built for remote teams and quick standups, with a focus on floating-video and auto-leveling. Zoom targets remote teams and enterprise and leads with video-meetings and ai-companion.
Pricing is close: Around starts at $10.99/mo versus $13.33/mo for Zoom — not a deciding factor on its own.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Feature-wise, Zoom offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Around takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
Both tools are a solid fit for remote teams — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.
