Polycom RealPresence Desktop vs Zoom comparison

Poly and Zoom Video Communications are both solutions in the Virtual Meetings category. Poly is ranked #16 with an average rating of 7.0, while Zoom Video Communications is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.4. Poly holds a 2.0% mindshare in VM, compared to Zoom Video Communications’s 10.7% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Poly users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Zoom Video Communications users who would recommend it.

Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Read 1 Polycom RealPresence Desktop review

288 Views
125 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Zoom

Read 225 Zoom reviews

3,099 Views
795 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Zoom

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Polycom RealPresence Desktop and Zoom based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Zoom Video Communications, Cisco, Microsoft and others in Virtual Meetings.

To learn more, read our detailed Virtual Meetings Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Virtual Meetings

June 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 860,168 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Ranking in Virtual Meetings

16th

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Zoom

Ranking in Virtual Meetings

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

225

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of Polycom RealPresence Desktop is 2.0%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zoom is 10.7%, down from 12.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Virtual Meetings

Featured Reviews

Norm Hubert

VTC Network manager at a government with 10,001+ employees

Regular use enables effective communication with room for improvement in interoperability

The most valuable part of the desktop is the ability to make voice and video calls. Without getting too technical or divulging too much due to the environment we are in, it allows us to further our reach, from a traditional video conferencing room. Scalability was easy. It was based on calls, not licenses.

Read full review

Luiz Kazan

Head of Digital Solutions at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Utilizing versatile features for efficient personal and work meetings

Zoom offers a number of interesting and valuable features. One of the most interesting is the ability to share only audio and provide ambient music without sharing a screen. The breakout room feature is much more developed than other solutions, allowing users to stay in the same meeting and move to different rooms and back to the main room. The sharing features are great for projecting people who should be in focus. Another valuable feature is the virtual entrance, which uses a username and password recognized by the Zoom system, showing the person's full name and ID. Additionally, the use of video and a good fixed background improves visibility compared to other applications. These features differentiate Zoom from others.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"It allows us to further our reach, from a traditional video conferencing room."

"One of the biggest features of Zoom is its stability."

"It's not a big deal to set up a meeting."

"Zoom is easy to use."

"The best thing about Zoom is that it is very easy to use."

"No interruptions occurred, and nothing changed even when we had 30 people; it wasn't laggy or interrupting."

"The most valuable features of Zoom are the very stable video and audio, the quality of the voice is good, and it is very easy to connect to the sessions. This is also the reason why we use Zoom."

"The product runs pretty smoothly so I haven't had to contact technical support."

"The video and audio quality are very good."

More Zoom pros

Cons

"There is probably room for improvement in interoperability."

"Lacks an indicator on chat to show that a message has been read."

"Compared to Skype and Teams, Zoom is missing one feature, and that's the ability to call people. In Teams, I can call anyone I want. It's like a telephone. I can do the same on Skype, but I have to send a link in Zoom."

"The solution needs to have a feature that allows you to take over another person's screen. right now, that's not possible. This is important for our purposes due to the act that we are often using the solution to troubleshoot issues for our clients. If we could just take over their screen and go in and fix issues, it would make troubleshooting infinitely easier."

"The tool could be more user-friendly, especially for finding options to present screens."

"It would be helpful if Zoom could integrate with our medical systems."

"Zoom's user interface could be improved. For example, it could have bigger buttons for elderly people."

"I do not like Zoom as much as Microsoft Teams. I am not sure what is better about Zoom."

"Zoom is an immature product that is not yet stable."

More Zoom cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"Zoom is licensed as a subscription model and it is available on a monthly or yearly basis."

"We are using the free version of the solution."

"As an organization, we are paying a license fee for Zoom. Personally, I use the free version."

"The price of Zoom is a bit expensive."

"I am not paying any licensing costs for the solution."

"We are on an annual license for the solution. The price of the solution could be less expensive."

"My company is using the paid version of Zoom."

"There are both free and paid versions available."

More Zoom pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Virtual Meetings solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Educational Organization

77%

University

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Polycom RealPresence Desktop?

The solution is built right into Clarity.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Polycom RealPresence Desktop?

There is probably room for improvement in interoperability.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Polycom RealPresence Desktop?

We use the desktop. It was used in the same case. We use it with our partners.

See all answers

LucidChart vs LucidSpark for brainstorming sessions over Zoom

Hi @Krista Thompson - Yes, LucidSpark is a much more nimble and, in some ways, user-friendly tool than LucidChart. LucidSpark is designed to do a better job managing multiple users participating ...

See all answers

What do you like most about Zoom?

The product is scalable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zoom?

Zoom offers a free version for up to forty minutes.

See all answers

Comparisons

TrueConf Server vs Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Compared 54% of the time

Cisco TelePresence vs Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Compared 46% of the time

More Polycom RealPresence Desktop Competitors

Skype for Business vs Zoom

Compared 30% of the time

Webex vs Zoom

Compared 29% of the time

TeamViewer vs Zoom

Compared 7% of the time

ON24 Platform vs Zoom

Compared 5% of the time

Adobe Connect vs Zoom

Compared 5% of the time

More Zoom Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Virtual Meetings

June 2025

Download Polycom RealPresence Desktop product report

Buyer's Guide

Zoom

June 2025

Download Zoom product report

Also Known As

RealPresence Desktop

No data available

Overview

Polycom RealPresence Desktop is a powerful, enterprise-grade video chat app for PC & Mac. The video conferencing software extends communications beyond the typical conference room setting to mobile professionals. RealPresence Desktop combines quality HD video, industry-leading interoperability, and security that is both cost effective and highly scalable.

When powered by Polycom's infrastructure, customers can extend desktop collaboration value with app management, interoperability, scalability, resiliency, and multi-point calling.

Poly

Zoom helps businesses and organizations bring their teams together in a frictionless environment to get more done. Our easy, reliable cloud platform for video, phone, content sharing, and chat runs across mobile devices, desktops, telephones, and room systems. Message me to learn more about how Zoom can help your business or organization Visit zoom.com and follow @zoom_us.

Zoom Video Communications

Sample Customers

John Laing, China Daily, Lincoln Fire and Rescue, NATO Communications and Information Agency, NHS Home Dialysis, Silver Chain, South Carolina Department of Mental Health, nimed

Fortinet, Veeva, Proofpoint, Box, Ticketmaster, Trend Micro, Caesars Entertainment, Santa Clara University, Pandora, Stanford Continuing Studies

Find out what your peers are saying about Zoom Video Communications, Cisco, Microsoft and others in Virtual Meetings. Updated: June 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our list of best Virtual Meetings vendors.

We monitor all Virtual Meetings reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.