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Skype for Business vs Zoom comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

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

Skype for Business
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
4th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
62
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 Skype for Business is 12.5%, up from 8.2% 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

Magdalena Teodorczuk - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers great audio and video quality for virtual meetings
I like the instant messaging feature in the product since I prefer to use the chat functionalities provided by the solution. It is easy to integrate the product with some of the other solutions in the market. I rate the integration capabilities of the product a ten out of ten. The product's user interface is user-friendly. I use the product at a personal level, so I can't speak about the support it provides for the maintenance part. I rate the overall tool a ten out of ten.
Luiz Kazan - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The simplicity and ease of use are the most valuable features. It's so much easier and quicker than writing an email to someone and waiting for them to read it."
"The product's initial setup phase is very easy."
"I have found Skype for Business to be stable."
"Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"I think Skype for Business is scalable. However, I believe Microsoft is discontinuing the Skype platform altogether, so I don't think it's super-relevant."
"The integration with Microsoft Outlook for creating and scheduling meetings is nice."
"Our employees use this solution for a communal space to collaborate for organizational decision making."
"Using Skype allows us to connect with external agencies when a Skype call is set up and aids in sharing large files efficiently."
"You can have multiple connections so that everybody can interact. You can change your background. If you're in your home and you don't want people to know what it looks like, you can pretty much change the background to any background that you want."
"The most valuable features of Zoom for enhanced team collaboration are its high video quality, comprehensive meeting features, and reliable performance."
"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 most valuable features of Zoom are simplicity and reliability."
"The screen-sharing capabilities are very good."
"Zoom is easy to use and does not require much network bandwidth. Additionally, it does not require a lot of configuration which is very good."
"It always works, and they try to appeal to what the user wants. They added features like background music for those people who use Zoom for online church services. They try to make the solution more useful for the user. For example, I tried to sell WebEx to a church, but I also gave them Zoom for a trial. They were impressed with that because that was the feature they were looking for."
"Zoom is the priority because other applications for communication and meetings have tricky and not user-friendly interfaces."
 

Cons

"There are issues with the bandwidth, particularly for external meetings,"
"We overcame the audio quality issues by asking users to use the 'Call Me' feature with their desk phone."
"Skype for Business could improve the interface. It could be easier to use. Additionally, it's hard to find the people or add people you want to communicate with."
"Sometimes Skype is slow, and we cannot use other elements of our devices while using the Skype solution."
"I should be able to make a desktop phone call when I click a member of my Lync directory."
"Skype's overall connectivity functionality or ability is one area with room for improvement."
"The challenge we had with Skype for Business was with the signing in when a user signed out and when signing in back in again, there was a bit of a problem. We switched from Skype for Business to Teams, and Teams never had that sign-in problem once we did the switch."
"The solution should improve the chat and add more flexibility to make a call."
"It takes time to acclimate end users to the product."
"Zoom should introduce AI features that allow you to understand a person's emotions."
"In the next release, I would like to see an easily accessible bandwidth feature so that you can see how much data you've used on a particular call."
"Having easier access to recorded meetings, being able to download them fast, and playing them back would be helpful."
"I would like to be able to have multiple users open and collaborate on a document at the same time."
"Zoom could improve by increasing the time limitation in the free version."
"I did not see a Whiteboarding feature when using Zoom. They should add this in the next release."
"Excessive software updates can sometimes disrupt my experience."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing is billed on a yearly basis."
"Skype for Business' pricing is reasonable."
"To realize value from the purchase of Skype Business, you need to take advantage of all the important functions of the program."
"We are using the subscription-based version of Skype for Business. There is a free version of the solution."
"I use the product's open-source version."
"I am using a corporate account for which I have not made any payments."
"The solution is priced fairly."
"When it comes to the pricing of the solution, I rate it as a five out of ten. It falls somewhere in the middle between being cheap and expensive."
"I rate the product's pricing two or three on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."
"There is a free version of Zoom which allows you a certain limited amount of time usage and there is a corporate version of the solution where you have to pay."
"I am using the free version of the solution. However, it has a time limit of 45 minutes for meetings. We do not have meetings longer than 45 minutes, it is fine for us."
"I am not paying any licensing costs for the solution."
"Zoom is free."
"The price of Zoom is a bit expensive."
"There are no licensing fees required."
"In the basic version, there is a 40-minute time limit on group meetings."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
72%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Computer Software Company
3%
Manufacturing Company
3%
Educational Organization
77%
University
3%
Computer Software Company
3%
Financial Services Firm
3%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Skype for Business?
Skype for Business is affordable and has decent pricing. The video quality is a bit lower than Teams or Zoom, but it remains a good solution overall.
What needs improvement with Skype for Business?
The video quality could be improved, possibly due to internet connection issues. However, there is no significant weakness in Skype for Business.
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 ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zoom?
Zoom offers a free version for up to forty minutes.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Skype for Business Plan 1, Skype for Business Plan 2, Lync Server
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

EmpireCLS Worldwide Chauffeured Services,LA Fitness, MedcoEnergi International, Tampa General Hospital, and HopewellHoldings Limited.
Fortinet, Veeva, Proofpoint, Box, Ticketmaster, Trend Micro, Caesars Entertainment, Santa Clara University, Pandora, Stanford Continuing Studies
Find out what your peers are saying about Skype for Business vs. Zoom and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.