I Examined Webex vs. Zoom: My 2026 Verdict

I knew Zoom from the pandemic days. It was the verb all of us lived by. Webex? Not likely. Then I stepped into the enterprise world, and Webex was all over the place, prefer it had been quietly operating company conferences this complete time. Now in 2025, the query isn’t whether or not you want a video conferencing device; it’s which one is your subscription.

So I examined Webex vs. Zoom aspect by aspect utilizing the identical real-world duties: high-stakes consumer conferences, scheduling, 1:1s, display screen sharing, chat and collaboration options, recording, and primary admin/safety settings to see what issues in apply.

TL;DR: If you need the best, most acquainted assembly expertise, Zoom normally wins. Webex tends to shine when enterprise controls and IT-friendly setup matter extra.

• Admin and safety depth: Webex provides extra granular, policy-driven controls fitted to regulated environments; Zoom focuses on robust safety with easier, sooner setup.
• Collaboration strategy: Webex facilities collaboration round persistent areas, messaging, and calling; Zoom expands collaboration with Docs, Duties, Clips, and async work instruments.
• Consumer expertise: Zoom feels lighter and extra intuitive out of the field; Webex can really feel extra advanced however extra configurable as soon as arrange.
• Ecosystem focus and {hardware} integrations: Webex is owned by Cisco, a {hardware} big. In case your workplace is already filled with Cisco desk telephones, telepresence screens, and good whiteboards, Webex is the native OS for that {hardware}. It’s a seamless “walk-in and be a part of” expertise. It integrates deeply with Cisco’s broader enterprise stack in addition to with third-party apps. Zoom is software-first. Whereas “Zoom Rooms” are wonderful, they depend on third-party {hardware}. It really works nice, too, and Zoom additionally has a variety of integrations with many different third-party apps.
• Unified communication: Webex is positioned as a broader communications suite that features enterprise calling (cloud PBX/telephony) by way of Webex Calling alongside conferences and messaging. Zoom provides a comparable enterprise calling product by way of Zoom Telephone, however it’s a definite product line inside Zoom’s platform reasonably than a part of conferences itself.
• Consumer base: Webex is extra enterprise-first, with deeper governance and admin controls, whereas Zoom skews towards ease of use and sooner adoption for smaller and mixed-size groups.

Webex vs. Zoom: The similarities

Variations apart, each platforms nail the fundamentals. In the event you simply have to see faces, share a display screen, and report the dialog with out a headache, you truthfully cannot go incorrect with both one.

• Dependable video conferences: Each ship secure, high-quality video and audio throughout units and community circumstances.
• Core assembly options: Display screen sharing, in-meeting chat, recordings, dwell captions, and breakout-style collaboration can be found on each.
• AI-powered help: Webex AI Assistant and Zoom AI Companion each help assembly summaries, highlights, and productiveness options on paid plans.
• Scheduling: Each help scheduling by way of desktop, net, and calendar integrations, with choices to create recurring conferences and generate shareable be a part of hyperlinks.
• Free tiers: Each supply free plans with core assembly performance, participant limits, and time caps, making it simple to get began with out an instantaneous dedication.
• Platform help: Each can be found throughout main platforms, together with net browsers, desktop apps (Home windows and macOS), and cell apps (iOS and Android).

At a primary stage, getting a assembly on the calendar is equally easy in each instruments. However variations present up rapidly. Webex was useful sufficient to warn me that on a free account, it would not electronic mail my visitors for me. Zoom stayed quiet, however the end result was the identical: I in the end needed to copy-paste the invite particulars myself.

The actual improve occurs if you join your calendar (Google Workspace/Outlook). And the guide labor is not there. You’ll be able to guide a gathering, add visitors, and ship invitations in a single circulation with out ever opening the video apps.

Past simply selecting a time, each instruments let me play gatekeeper for the conferences I arrange, however the friction ranges differ. In Webex, I needed to click on into Superior Choices to essentially customise the surroundings like setting particular reminder occasions, muting contributors on entry, or configuring the foyer. It feels highly effective, however it’s tucked away in a separate menu.

Zoom handles most of those identical controls (like mute-on-entry) however presents them proper on the primary display screen as easy checkboxes below choices. I did not should navigate a second or third tab to seek out them; I simply ticked the containers as I scrolled down. It’s a small UI alternative, however it made organising a safe name really feel considerably sooner.

And when it comes to becoming a member of any calls, I might be a part of each Webex and Zoom calls from the browser itself, although downloading the app provides extra performance, and in case you’re going to be an everyday consumer of both of the instruments, it’s higher to obtain and use the respective app.

So, whereas scheduling is a tie, setup management feels a little bit totally different. Zoom makes assembly guidelines faster to regulate as a result of most choices are proper there on the identical web page, whereas Webex organizes extra of them inside Superior Choices throughout just a few tabs, nonetheless simple to configure, simply barely much less scan-and-set within the second.

Winner: Zoom

2. Name consistency and audio, video high quality

Name consistency and audio, video high quality have been robust on each instruments in my week of testing, and I didn’t run into something that felt like a dealbreaker. More often than not, each gave me secure video and clear audio, particularly on regular Wi-Fi and workplace networks. The place I began noticing persona variations was within the quality control every device provides you.

Webex truly stunned me on the audio entrance. Its good audio settings felt genuinely helpful reasonably than simply ornamental. I might toggle between noise removing, optimizing for simply my voice, or perhaps a particular music mode, and in apply, that noise removing was the standout. It’s the type of characteristic you do not take into consideration till you might be in a gathering with background chaos, and out of the blue you might be very glad it exists to create that bubble of silence round you.

Zoom additionally does a stable job on audio. It has auto noise suppression, and I appreciated that it didn’t deal with it as a one-size-fits-all setting — I might truly select the extent of suppression I needed, relying on whether or not I used to be coping with mild background noise or one thing extra chaotic. 

On the video aspect, each instruments cowl the fundamentals: just a few built-in digital backgrounds, a easy blur choice, and the flexibility so as to add your personal background in case you don’t just like the defaults. Webex retains issues easy, however it doesn’t really feel barebones. I might contact up my look, right lighting, and manually regulate brightness, distinction, and sharpness, plus explicitly select my digicam decision (360p, 720p, or 1080p). I appreciated that these controls made video high quality really feel intentional and predictable, particularly in additional skilled settings.

Zoom provides you many of the identical fundamentals, however with a little bit extra room to play. I appreciated that issues like auto-framing and portrait lighting could make you look put along with virtually zero effort, after which there’s the additional layer of filters, studio results, and AI avatars. These add-ons are genuinely enjoyable (and excellent for icebreakers or low-stakes group periods), however they’re not the deciding issue for me in a strictly skilled setup.

And in case you actually need that stage of visible experimentation on Webex, you’ll be able to nonetheless get there with third-party instruments, you’re simply not getting it baked into the product the identical manner.

Total, each platforms dealt with reliability nicely, so it is a tie for me.

Winner: Cut up

3. Display screen sharing and collaboration

Display screen sharing and collaboration are the place these apps cease being simply video telephones and begin being workspaces. Whether or not I used to be demoing a product or redlining a doc, I needed to see if I might collaborate naturally, or if the assembly would devolve into the dreaded technical fumble of “Can everybody see my display screen?”.

Webex gave me lots of flexibility immediately. Past the same old share an app circulation, I might share a selected utility, a bit of my display screen, and even add a file. It additionally let me get extra superior after I wanted it: I might share pc audio, content material from a second digicam, a whiteboard, a regionally saved video, and even mirror an iPhone/iPad display screen utilizing a cable.

I additionally appreciated that I might fine-tune how the share behaved — adjusting decision and body charge relying on whether or not I used to be sharing one thing text-heavy (like a doc) versus one thing with movement (like a video).

And the sensible stuff labored nicely too: the cease/pause management exhibiting precisely what I used to be sharing made it simple to remain in management mid-call. And the characteristic to superimpose myself whereas sharing a display screen is super-helpful, particularly if livestreaming.

The one factor I genuinely missed right here was the flexibility to share a single browser tab, as a result of if you’re somebody who has 50 tabs and a number of home windows open, “share the entire browser window” is a dangerous ask.

Zoom’s display screen sharing felt a bit extra meticulous in the easiest way. I might share apps, recordsdata, my browser, or any open window, and after I had 1,000,000 home windows open, Zoom made it simpler to select the correct one by exhibiting the home windows clearly as I made my choice.

It additionally expanded past primary sharing into extra collaborative choices: paperwork, whiteboards, and cloud recordsdata from locations like Google Drive and Dropbox, plus the same old extras like video recordsdata, a second digicam, slides as a digital background, a portion of the display screen, and iPhone/iPad sharing (by way of AirPlay or cable).

Each instruments additionally nailed the little collaboration element that issues mid-call: annotation. In each Webex and Zoom, I might mark up what I used to be sharing in actual time — highlighting sections, drawing fast callouts, and guiding somebody’s consideration with out always saying “take a look at the top-right nook.” It’s a small characteristic, however if you’re doing walkthroughs or opinions, it makes display screen sharing really feel far more interactive.

What actually stood out to me in Zoom, although, was Presenter Layouts. It included “content material on display screen + tiny speaking head,” too. However I had extra choices. As a presenter, I might select precisely how I confirmed up subsequent to what I used to be sharing — side-by-side, over-the-shoulder, or content-only.

So, each are robust for display screen sharing and real-time collaboration (particularly annotation), however Zoom edges forward for presentation polish and management.

Winner: Zoom

4. In-meeting chat

For in-meeting chat, I used to be on the lookout for one factor: can I share hyperlinks, notes, and fast callouts with out derailing the assembly or switching to a different group chat app?

Webex’s in-meeting chat was genuinely stable. I might message everybody or begin personal chats, and the editor felt extra succesful than I anticipated — textual content formatting, bullet or numbered lists, hyperlinks, even heading-style choices (H1/H2). I might additionally drop in GIFs and emojis, @point out particular folks, and preserve the dialog organized with out it feeling like a bare-bones chat field.

Reactions have been restricted general, however Webex did have just a few that made me smile, just like the “Pace up” (hare) and “Decelerate” (tortoise). I additionally appreciated the Step away and Again to assembly status-style reactions, although I did should dig right into a menu to get these two choices. My one actual limitation: I couldn’t add a file instantly from my pc or a cloud storage into the assembly chat.

Zoom’s in-meeting chat coated the whole lot Webex did after which went a step additional. I might @point out folks, add recordsdata, and even drop screenshots proper into the chat with out considering too laborious. The formatting additionally felt extra “power-user,” with choices like quotes and indentation that made it simpler to share structured notes mid-call. It couldn’t ship GIFs natively as I did on Webex, however there are third-party app integrations that might assist with that.

On the entire, each chats do the job at a excessive stage, however Zoom felt extra full and frictionless, so it will get the sting for me right here.

Winner: Zoom

5. AI assembly notes

For AI assembly notes, I needed one thing easy: can the assistant assist me sustain through the assembly and depart me with a clear abstract afterward, with out me turning into the designated AI note-taker?

On the Zoom free model, I might get a style of Zoom AI Companion in a manner that felt instantly helpful, particularly for catching up mid-meeting and turning a fast-moving dialog into one thing I might scan later. The summaries have been clear sufficient that I didn’t really feel like I needed to rewatch your entire name simply to drag out choices or subsequent steps. The transcripts and different AI options can be found on a paid plan.

With Webex, I wasn’t in a position to check the AI assembly assistant hands-on in the identical manner in my setup. Even so, after I checked out what different customers describe on G2 and the way Cisco positions the assistant, the intent is evident: it’s designed to assist with assembly productiveness by way of issues like summaries, highlights, motion gadgets, and language/communication help as soon as these options are enabled in your surroundings.

There’s additionally a model of AI-generated recaps tied to recordings that may produce chapters, notes, and motion gadgets, relying in your Webex platform and settings. And in case your group already lives inside Cisco for messaging, conferences, and calling, the AI assistant is positioned as a connective layer throughout these workflows, serving to you make sense of conversations after the actual fact, reasonably than simply through the assembly itself.

So, primarily based on the capabilities and have set I noticed, I’d name this a tie. Each Webex and Zoom supply AI options aimed on the identical core outcomes like assembly summaries, key highlights, motion gadgets, and sooner catch-up so the distinction is much less about what they’ll do and extra about how these options present up throughout plans and workflows.

Winner: Cut up

6. Safety and host management

Safety and host controls are one of many few areas the place I can confidently say that each Zoom and Webex test the enterprise-ready field, however they really feel very totally different in how they ship it.

On the pure safety baseline, these two are successfully an identical. Each platforms use robust encryption by default to guard your knowledge in transit, and each supply end-to-end encryption (E2EE) choices.

The place issues obtained actual for me was the host controls through the assembly. On Zoom, safety felt like a useful toolkit I might attain immediately. The Safety protect is all the time seen within the management bar, and I appreciated how rapidly I might react if one thing felt off: lock the assembly, handle the ready room, or hit “Droop participant actions,” which mainly acts like a panic button to pause the room.

With Webex, I truly appreciated how clearly it spelled out participant controls as soon as I dug into Assembly choices. It gave me a easy guidelines of what attendees might and couldn’t do — activate video, use chat, ship reactions (and even present names with reactions), elevate fingers, view the participant listing, share content material, request distant management, annotate, and even begin Slido for polling and Q&A.

As an alternative of feeling buried, it felt structured: an easy option to form how interactive or locked-down I needed the assembly to be, with out having to micromanage permissions within the second.

On the finish, each safety and host management have been truly a tie, in response to me. Zoom makes fast, in-the-moment safety actions really feel easy, whereas Webex makes participant permissions really feel extra structured and deliberate, particularly if you wish to outline precisely what attendees can do from the beginning.

Winner: Cut up

7. Pricing and worth

Sooner or later, all of the characteristic speak runs right into a easy query: “Okay, however what am I truly paying for?” For me, the reply appears a little bit totally different for Webex and Zoom, as a result of neither of them can be a standalone conferences product anymore.

Zoom is promoting a software program suite designed to make your group transfer sooner throughout conferences and async work, whereas Webex feels extra like an enterprise communications stack — conferences plus messaging, plus calling, plus the type of room and {hardware} story huge places of work care about. In different phrases, Zoom’s worth pitch is “the whole lot your group must collaborate in a single place,” and Webex’s is “the whole lot your enterprise wants to speak — on calls, in conferences, and in rooms.”

Check out the pricing choices each supply:

On the free plan, the expertise is actually a draw. Each Webex and Zoom let me run limitless conferences with as much as 100 contributors and a 40-minute cap per assembly. For fast check-ins or light-weight group calls, neither felt meaningfully restrictive.

As you progress into paid tiers, the story diverges extra in what you unlock. Zoom’s paid plans bump up participant capability, prolong assembly durations (as much as 30 hours in my testing), and usher in collaboration perks like Zoom Docs, Duties, and Clips alongside conferences. Webex’s tiering additionally will increase capability (as much as 1,000 for enterprise), extends assembly durations (24 hours on paid plans), and provides suite options like calling, messaging, and extra admin controls.

And worth, in fact, is dependent upon your wants. In the event you’re primarily utilizing conferences and some collaboration add-ons, Zoom’s bundled productiveness options can really feel like additional with out a huge value bounce. Zoom additionally provides bundles that pair Office with Zoom Telephone (for groups that need conferences and cloud calling collectively), which is value maintaining in thoughts as you examine general worth.

On the Webex aspect, the mixed suite appears like extra of an all-in-one communication and collaboration platform, so in case you already want messaging, calling, and assembly instruments in a single place, like a UCaaS platform, Webex’s pricing begins to really feel environment friendly reasonably than simply costly.

Total, there isn’t a transparent winner on price alone. Zoom tends to really feel extra cost-efficient in case your main use case is conferences plus light-weight collaboration. Webex begins to make extra sense in case you’re conferences as one piece of a broader enterprise communication stack. The worth actually is dependent upon whether or not you’re paying for simply conferences or for a extra all-in-one suite.

Winner: Cut up

Webex vs. Zoom: My analysis scorecard

Right here’s a desk exhibiting all my evaluations with the winner and the rationale.

Zoom Office and Webex Suite are in #3 and #4 positions on the G2 Grid for Video Conferencing software program on the premise of G2 rating. I additionally reviewed knowledge on G2 to see how actual customers charge Webex Suite and Zoom Office. Right here’s what stood out:

Satisfaction scores

• Zoom Office persistently outperforms Webex Suite throughout most satisfaction metrics. Zoom scores particularly excessive for meets necessities (93%), ease of doing enterprise with (93%), ease of setup (92%), and ease of use (92%), signaling a smoother general expertise for finish customers and admins alike.
• Webex Suite trails barely however stays aggressive, with its strongest areas in meets necessities (90%) and ease of use (89%). Nevertheless, its ease of setup (86%) and ease of admin (87%) scores recommend extra friction throughout deployment and ongoing administration in comparison with Zoom.

High industries represented

• Zoom Office exhibits broader and deeper market adoption, notably in data know-how and providers, pc software program, advertising and marketing and promoting, and schooling (each schooling administration and better schooling).
• Webex Suite’s footprint is extra concentrated, led by data know-how and providers and pc software program with notable illustration in monetary providers and healthcare. This factors to stronger traction in regulated and enterprise-heavy environments.

Highest-rated options

• Zoom’s highest-rated options heart on on a regular basis collaboration, with display screen sharing (93%), desktop utility (93%), and dwell chat (92%) standing out. These are core, high-frequency actions, which assist clarify Zoom’s robust ease-of-use scores.
• Webex shines in structured assembly interactions, incomes high marks for shows (92%), hand elevating (92%), and display screen sharing (92%), options that matter most in formal conferences, coaching periods, and lecture rooms.

Lowest-rated options

• Zoom’s lowest-rated options embody autonomous activity execution (80%), proactive help (80%), and resolution making (80%), indicating room for enchancment in superior automation and intelligence.
• Webex follows an analogous sample, with autonomous activity execution (82%), resolution making (82%), and proactive help (82%) rating lowest. This means that whereas each instruments are robust collaboration platforms, AI help continues to be evolving for every.

Nonetheless weighing your choices? Evaluate Webex and Zoom towards different high choices in G2’s finest video conferencing software program information.