Whereby
Zoom
| Feature | Whereby | Zoom |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $8.99/mo | Free / from $13.33/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.2 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | small-teams, consultants, telehealth-providers, embedded-video-apps | remote-teams, enterprise, educators, event-organizers, sales-teams |
| Founded | 2013 | 2011 |
| Browser Based | ✓ | ✗ |
| Permanent Rooms | ✓ | ✗ |
| Screen Sharing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Recording | ✓ | ✓ |
| Breakout Groups | ✓ | ✗ |
| Embeddable Api | ✓ | ✗ |
| Custom Branding | ✓ | ✗ |
| Video Meetings | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ai Companion | ✗ | ✓ |
| Webinars | ✗ | ✓ |
| Breakout Rooms | ✗ | ✓ |
| Whiteboard | ✗ | ✓ |
| Phone | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Whereby Pros
- No downloads or plugins required for anyone
- Permanent meeting room URLs
- Embeddable video API for custom integrations
- Clean and minimal interface
✗ Whereby Cons
- Limited to 200 participants on highest plan
- Fewer features than Zoom or Teams
- Recording only available on paid plans
✓ 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
Whereby is built for small teams and consultants, with a focus on browser-based and permanent-rooms. Zoom targets remote teams and enterprise and leads with video-meetings and ai-companion.
Pricing is close: Whereby starts at $8.99/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.
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.
