Zoom is hired to do one job: let people meet by video from a link. It is one of the most portable jobs in software, but the recurring links and recordings make it stickier than it looks. Below: what the vendor publishes, an open-source option we verified, and the checks before you end a plan.
A meeting link is printed in a thousand places: calendar invites, email signatures, customer onboarding pages. Changing the tool means changing every one of them, and nobody has a list.
Licenses are also assigned to people, and people leave. A plan billed per host keeps billing for accounts nobody uses until someone checks.
The software itself is the easy part to replace. The fixed links and the recordings are the work, which is why we inventory them before recommending anything.
Only alternatives we have checked. An open-source project is listed with the license its repository reports, on the date shown; one whose license could not be read as a single standard id is not offered as open source. Read the license guide before running any of them.
| Alternative | Kind | License | Read from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jitsi Meet | Open source | Apache-2.0 | Jitsi Meet repositoryChecked Oct 25, 2026 |
Each feature below is what the product's own page or README says, linked to where we read it on the date shown. Pros and cons are limited to what those pages state and to what the path itself changes. We do not rank products on quality.
| Plan | Price as published | Includes | Read from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoom Workplace Basic | Free | 1 user, meetings of up to 40 minutes and up to 100 participants, as listed | Zoom MeetingsChecked Oct 25, 2026 |
Only the free plan's printed terms are shown. The paid plans' amounts were not readable in the page text on the checked date, so we do not state them. Check the vendor's page for current prices.
Video calls are one of the more portable jobs: a meeting is a link and a time. What sticks is the recurring links, the recordings and the calendar integration that people never think about.
Many suites already include video. Check the chat and office suites you already pay for, such as Slack, before you add or keep a separate meeting subscription. Jitsi Meet is the open-source option we verified; running it well takes server and bandwidth planning.
Samples are made up and are not Zoom's prices. Type in the figures from your own invoice or order form.
The honest yearly cost of running open-source software yourself, set against the bill it replaces, with the seat count where it stops paying.
Paid seats against seats in use: what the idle ones cost a year, and what you save by right-sizing at renewal.
Arithmetic only, not tax, accounting or legal advice. Check the figures against your own order form.
Meetings move quickly once the links and recordings are sorted out. In outline:
List every host, the number of paid licenses, and who has hosted in the last 90 days. Seats with no hosting are the first saving to check.
List recurring meeting links used in calendars, signatures, websites and customer emails. Each needs a new link on cutover day.
Download recordings and transcripts the company needs, and store them where your retention rules require.
Pick the replacement and run a real meeting with the most demanding group, such as the largest recurring call. Check audio, screen sharing and the largest attendee count you actually use.
Update the calendar invites and links one team at a time, and send customers the new link before the old one stops working.
Keep the old plan through one full cycle of recurring meetings. End the plan inside the notice window and keep the confirmation.
Run the vendor report for QuickBooks Online or Xero, then open the free audit.
General information, not legal advice. See cancelling without penalties. Last reviewed Oct 25, 2026. Product names belong to their owners and are used only to identify them.
Send us the export and see which lines are worth a second look. A connected version is planned. Zoom is one of the lines worth a look.
Worked example. Type over it.
Result
| Self-hosting, per year | Amount |
|---|---|
| Hosting, backups, tooling | 720.00 |
| Admin and restore-test time | 2,640.00 |
| Total | 3,360.00 |
| One-off set-up (not in the yearly total) | 1,200.00 |
The saving holds only if the time is real. Price the admin hours at what that person's time costs the company, not at zero.
Worked example. Type over it.
Result
“In use” is your call: last sign-in in the past 30 or 90 days from the vendor's admin report. A seat for someone on leave is not idle.