Skype for Business vs Zoom comparison

Microsoft and Zoom Video Communications are both solutions in the Virtual Meetings category. Microsoft is ranked #3 with an average rating of 7.7, while Zoom Video Communications is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.3. Microsoft holds a 13.2% mindshare in VM, compared to Zoom Video Communications’s 11.2% mindshare. Additionally, 79% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Zoom Video Communications users who would recommend it.

Skype for Business

Read 62 Skype for Business reviews

2,218 Views
904 Comparison Views

79% willing to recommend

Zoom

Read 215 Zoom reviews

5,977 Views
1,083 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Skype for Business

Zoom

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

Skype for Business and Zoom are direct competitors in the video conferencing and communication software category. Zoom appears to have the upper hand due to its user-friendly interface, ease of use, and fewer technical requirements, making it more accessible for rapid deployment.

Features: Skype for Business offers comprehensive integration with Microsoft products, support for a variety of devices, and seamless scheduling through Microsoft Outlook. It is known for its VoIP and advanced conferencing capabilities. Zoom is praised for its intuitive high-quality video conferencing, screen sharing, and recording capabilities, making it suitable for both business and educational purposes.

Room for Improvement: Skype for Business struggles with high bandwidth use during video calls and limited third-party interoperability, requiring additional gateways for efficient collaboration. Improvement is needed in addressing connectivity issues and inconsistent audio quality. Zoom requires enhancements in security features, user interface improvements, and better collaboration tools. Users also hope for longer meeting durations in its free version and improved screen sharing for smoother meetings.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Skype for Business is typically deployed on-premises, although it supports hybrid and public cloud options. Users have reported configuration challenges across different locations. Microsoft provides effective technical support and account management. Zoom, primarily used in public cloud environments, is praised for simple deployment. While its technical support is generally rated well, users note areas for improvement, such as support for custom configurations and multi-user functionalities.

Pricing and ROI: Skype for Business, integrated with Office 365, offers cost-effective solutions for large enterprises through Microsoft's licensing efficiencies. ROI can be quickly realized with its diverse features. Zoom provides a free version with limited meeting times, drawing attention from personal users and small businesses. Its tiered pricing can be expensive for additional features but remains competitive compared to solutions like Cisco Webex, offering potential savings and robust collaborative capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed Skype for Business vs. Zoom Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Skype for Business vs. Zoom

April 2025

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Helped 849,686 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

Skype for Business

Ranking in Virtual Meetings

3rd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Zoom

Ranking in Virtual Meetings

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

215

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of Skype for Business is 13.2%, up from 8.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zoom is 11.2%, down from 13.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Virtual Meetings

Featured Reviews

Magdalena Teodorczuk

Senior at Krajowy Depozyt Papierów Wartosciowych S.A.

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.

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Kallol Chaudhuri

Principal Consultant at Oracle

Helped us tremendously in collaborating with each other and getting our work done and offers the breakout rooms feature.

We are a team located across various locations. Not in the same geographic location. We are distributed. And it's not possible to physically travel and meet people. Sometimes it's simply not possible. But Zoom has helped us tremendously in collaborating with each other and getting our work done. Without Zoom, it would have been very, very difficult. The breakout rooms feature is also helpful. For example, I have a meeting attended by hundreds of people and want to create subgroups. I typically use it for different role-play scenarios during training if we are trying to conduct some training on presentation skills. So there's a large group, which is initially trained by an instructor. Then you get instructions that the room will be split into smaller breakout rooms. I'll give you a topic, and you'll practice in these smaller groups. That's one way I use it. So it's like a simulation of a real brainstorming session I'd have in a physical space.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product helps me make international calls."

"The most valuable feature is how useful it has been for virtual meetings during the pandemic."

"We like the easy provisioning of Skype for Business Conferencing."

"People are now able to virtually collaborate with their staff and have a conference call. We don't need a phone line to make that conference call and we are saving on that. People are able to share their presentations. Also, they can chat using the Skype"

"The solution is easy to use and includes the ability to text message, video and voice chat, and transfer files."

"It's a good product, we like using it."

"The tool's most valuable features are its audio and chat functions. They help us save time and have good telephone integration."

"We chose Skype for Business after other colleagues suggested that we give it a try. It has served us well."

More Skype for Business pros

"Zoom did everything that we needed it to do."

"It's pretty easy to connect to anybody through a scheduled meeting."

"The most valuable feature of Zoom is user-friendliness."

"Zoom is interoperable and user-friendly."

"The product is quite secure and you can use it remotely. I've never heard of there being any security issues."

"The solution provides good video quality."

"I've been on a call with around a thousand students. So, it was quite scalable."

"Zoom has a security feature that allows only authorized participants to join the meeting."

More Zoom pros

Cons

"I don't recall coming across any big missing features."

"Skype for Business is good for the PCs with higher bandwidth, but an improvement is required for low bandwidth usage."

"We have found that there is a lag because it cannot integrate with the internal landline."

"We are looking for a more collaborative tool, not only in terms of virtual meetings but also for teams to collaborate, share a document, work together, and all those types of things."

"The group feature of Skype for Business needs improvement. It should also be improved for online lectures."

"The solution isn't connected to Microsoft Teams, and I feel like there is better communication on that particular solution. The group capabilities are a bit less than Teams."

"I am not familiar with all of the features or whether they can hold conferences because we use Zoom for that. But, in my opinion, if they can do something similar to what Zoom is doing, it will be a complete solution."

"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."

More Skype for Business cons

"The solution is not very useful for chat and lacks highlighting functionality."

"Considering the main function of Zoom, it should make the video functioning part a little bit more friendly."

"Zoom often does fixes or checks the vulnerability of their solution. However, they could increase security."

"The stability has been good but it could still improve. However, I have not found a better solution."

"They should consider increasing the time limits for free users."

"I'd like to see more integration with Google Calendaring. When meetings are scheduled they are added into a Google Calendar. For example, if I am driving my car there are often times I have to pull off the road to join into a meeting as opposed to being able to click the link and have it startup. Sometimes I can do that, sometimes I can't, it all depends on how the meeting was generated initially."

"If anything, the updates could be less frequent."

"The solution should include the integration of AI-based tools that could transcript or record the meetings."

More Zoom cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"To realize value from the purchase of Skype Business, you need to take advantage of all the important functions of the program."

"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."

"The cost of Skype for Business is incorporated into our Office 365 licenses."

"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."

"We negotiated a fair price with Microsoft. It is definitely worthwhile to negotiate with them for the best price for your solution."

"The licensing is billed on a yearly basis."

"It may be considered costly for certain markets, such as in India."

More Skype for Business pricing and cost advice

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

"We have subscribed to a package for Zoom and it is a monthly payment."

"I use the free version of Zoom that is available for download."

"I use the free version that is available, so I'm not sure what the licensing prices are."

"My organization has a yearly license for Zoom."

"I am making yearly payments. So, I am paying 250 USD a year."

"Zoom is free to use."

"We pay a yearly licensing fee."

More Zoom pricing and cost advice

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849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

91%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Government

Educational Organization

91%

University

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Skype for Business?

The solution’s video quality is fine.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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.

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?

There is a concern about the free version's forty-five-minute limit. For education use, having more affordable access through institutions would be beneficial.

See all answers

Comparisons

Webex vs Skype for Business

Compared 27% of the time

Cisco Unified Communications vs Skype for Business

Compared 26% of the time

TeamViewer vs Skype for Business

Compared 15% of the time

GoToMeeting vs Skype for Business

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Jabber vs Skype for Business

Compared 4% of the time

More Skype for Business Competitors

Webex vs Zoom

Compared 33% of the time

TeamViewer vs Zoom

Compared 8% of the time

ON24 Platform vs Zoom

Compared 6% of the time

GoToMeeting vs Zoom

Compared 5% of the time

Polycom RealPresence Desktop vs Zoom

Compared 5% of the time

More Zoom Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Skype for Business

April 2025

Download Skype for Business product report

Buyer's Guide

Zoom

April 2025

Download Zoom product report

Also Known As

Skype for Business Plan 1, Skype for Business Plan 2, Lync Server

No data available

Overview

Skype for Business offers features including presence, IM, voice and video calls, online meetings, conferencing, and telephony solutions that support enterprise-level collaboration requirements. Skype for Business Record meetings, share your screen, and annotate PowerPoint for real-time collaboration with up to 250 people and use whiteboard, polls, Q&A, and built-in IM during your business meetings to make them more productive. Skype for Business provides new client experience, Skype for Business Server provides several new features to improve manageability of on-premises servers and hybrid solutions. Skype for Business also supports the Lync client experience so that you can choose a phased upgrade approach to the new client experience for users. Skype for Business is also an integral part of Microsoft Office 365, providing PSTN Conferencing, Cloud PBX, PSTN Calling, and Skype Meeting Broadcast capabilities to Office 365 users.

Microsoft

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

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

Buyer's Guide

Skype for Business vs. Zoom

April 2025

Free Report: Skype for Business vs. Zoom

Find out what your peers are saying about Skype for Business vs. Zoom and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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