The best free conference call service offers a comprehensive suite of meeting and productivity features, such as high-definition (HD) audio and video conferencing, call recording, and cloud storage. It has a user-friendly interface and a high participant capacity for improved collaboration.
While advanced features unlock in paid plans, these solutions should be affordable enough to suit the limited budget of startups, solopreneurs, and small teams. Here’s a listing of the best conference call services on the market today as well as their best use cases:
- Zoom One: Best overall free conference call service
- RingCentral Video: Best for in-depth analytics
- Dialpad Meetings: Best for artificial intelligence (AI) tools
- Google Meet: Best for Google Workspace users
- Cisco Webex: Best for remote and hybrid team collaboration
- FreeConferenceCall.com: Best for flexible pricing
Best Free Conference Call Services Compared
Software | Monthly Starting Price (per user) | Key Features | Free Trial | FSB Rating out of 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
| N/A | 4.85 out of 5 | |
 |
| 14 days | 4.54 out of 5 | |
 |
| 7 days | 4.45 out of 5 | |
 |
| N/A | 4.26 out of 5 | |
 |
| 90 days | 4.23 out of 5 | |
 |
| 14 days | 4.05 out of 5 | |
When choosing a voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) phone system, carefully assess your needs, calling patterns, and projected growth. Identify your non-negotiable features and see which provider offers these tools at the best price.
Zoom One: Best Overall Free Conference Call Service
What We Liked
- User-friendly interface with little to no learning curve
- Robust video conferencing features
- Includes multi-screen sharing
Where It Falls Behind
- Free plan only comes with local recording
- AI companion only available in paid plans
- Free plan is a single-user subscription
Zoom One Monthly Pricing*
- Basic: Free for one user, 100 attendees, 40-minute meetings, local recording, team chat, three whiteboards, virtual background, team chat, and notes
- Pro: $15.99 per user for up to nine users, 30-hour meeting duration, local and 5GB cloud storage, toll-based telephone dial-in, and AI companion
- Business: $19.99 per user for 10-99 users, 300 attendees, unlimited whiteboards, recording transcripts, and language interpretations
- Business Plus: $25 per user for 10GB cloud storage, translated captions, unlimited internal calling, metered and unlimited outbound calling, auto-attendants and interactive voice response (IVR), and toll-free numbers
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for more than 250 users, 1,000 attendees, and unlimited cloud storage
*Save up to 21% when you opt for annual billing.
Zoom is the best free conference call service overall because of its generous plan inclusions, such as unlimited meetings for up to 100 attendees for up to 40 minutes, three boards, and shareable notes. Use this intuitive and easy-to-navigate platform across web browsers and desktop and mobile apps. Paid plans come with advanced tools, including unlimited cloud storage and live streaming across platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch.
Another standout feature of Zoom One is the cloud private branch exchange (PBX) phone system, available on the Business Plus and Enterprise plan. This cloud-based solution allows businesses to send and receive unlimited calls. Plans also include toll-free numbers and voicemail with transcription. Manage calls easily with features like automatic call distribution with queueing, call recording, and advanced call monitoring tools like barge and whisper.
One of the biggest drawbacks to Zoom’s free plan lies in its limited meeting duration and storage. Its Free plan has a 40-minute cap and doesn’t have cloud storage. For large-scale meetings, consider FreeConferenceCall.com. The platform supports up to 1,000 participants with no time restrictions. This is ideal if you don’t prioritize feature inclusions.
Zoom One Features
Use Zoom One’s whiteboard for real-time meeting collaboration. (Source: Zoom)
- Zoom whiteboard: Use the online whiteboards to collaborate with other Zoom account users. Brainstorm efficiently with sticky notes, drawing tools, smart connectors, and comments.
- Translated captions: Eliminate the need for interpreters and third-party integrations with Zoom One’s translated captions. The platform supports 12 languages, including German, Italian, and Japanese.
- Post-meeting survey: Send surveys to participants immediately after the meeting and simplify feedback collection. Lessen the need for manual response collection from participants and generate immediate insights from the survey reports.
RingCentral Video: Best for In-depth Analytics
What We Liked
- Rich collaboration features
- AI tools are available on the base plan
- Powerful mobile and browser interface
Where It Falls Behind
- Limited file storage
- End-to-end encryption is limited to paid users
- Lacks polling and Q&A
RingCentral Video Monthly Pricing*
- Pro: Free for up to 100 attendees, 50-minute meeting length, 10 hours video recording, waiting room, AI capabilities, and 500 included call me/call out minutes
- Pro+: $10 per user for 200 attendees, 24-hour meetings, 100 hours of video recording, advanced analytics, and single sign-on, and end-to-end encryption
- Rooms: $49 per room for one-tap to join meetings, voice-activated control, and dual screen support
*Save up to 20% by paying annually. Video Pro is for two to 100 participants and may not be used by a single meeting participant.
Our top pick for in-depth analytics is RingCentral Video because it offers users complete visibility into the conferencing solution’s performance and adoption. Use real-time reports and dashboards to see how the conferencing tools are used to identify the best way to improve team experiences. Information provided to administrators includes who is using video, department and individual-level usage data, trends and preferences, and app type and version used.
It’s our top video conferencing software for small businesses because its free plans have essential video meeting tools like unlimited meetings, whiteboards, content sharing, and AI-powered meeting transcription and insights. Up to 100 participants can meet for 24 hours for free. Unfortunately, RingCentral’s Free plan only has 10 hours and seven days of cloud recording retention. Try Google Meet’s Free plan, which comes with 15GB of cloud storage.
RingCentral Video Features
Get AI-generated meeting summaries of your video meeting. (Source: RingCentral)
- Auto-follow: Never worry about being out of focus; this feature lets your web camera track and keep you at the center of your video. Say goodbye to manual camera adjustments and ensure you’re the video’s focus.
- Advanced meeting insights: Generate video meeting summaries quickly that capture the highlights of the discussion. Meeting insights include highlight reels, keywords, transcripts, major topics, and meeting attendance.
- Team Huddle: This is great for quick meetings between teams and colleagues. It’s a constant audio or video call where team members come and go as they please. You can use this as an open channel for urgent matters, project updates, and casual conversations.
Dialpad Meetings: Best for Artificial Intelligence Tools
What We Liked
- Multiple video layouts on free and paid plans
- Unlimited encrypted audio and video recordings
- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Business Associate Agreement (BAA)-compliant
Where It Falls Behind
- Base plan is limited to 10 attendees
- Toll-free conference numbers cost an additional $20 per number, monthly, and is not available with the Free plan
- Maximum meeting duration is five hours
Dialpad Meetings Monthly Pricing*
- Free: Free for up to 10 participants for meetings up to 45 minutes, virtual backgrounds, and unlimited audio recordings
- Business: $20 per user for up to 150 participants, five-hour meetings, AI meeting transcriptions, unlimited video recordings, automated post-meeting summaries, and custom hold music
Paid Add-ons:
- Rooms license fee: $34 per room, paid monthly (annual pricing)
- Toll-free dial-in number: $20 per user, monthly
*Gain greater savings with annual billing.
Dialpad Meetings offers the most advanced AI tools of all the free conference call services on this list. Built-in AI features include automated post-meeting summaries, live meeting transcriptions, post-meeting transcriptions, and custom action items. All Dialpad Meeting plans have unlimited HD video and audio with screen sharing and unlimited audio and video recordings. You can easily schedule meetings from your Microsoft 365 or Google Calendar.
Unfortunately, Dialpad Meeting’s free plan only accommodates up to 10 participants, while its Business plan has a maximum of 150 attendees. To host large-scale meetings with access to AI meeting tools, give FreeConferenceCall.com a try. This free-to-use plan lets you host up to 1,000 attendees in one meeting and offers a flexible pay-what-you-can pricing structure with optional upgrades.
Dialpad Meetings Features
The Dialpad app gives you extensive call control, including volume adjustment, screen sharing, and start/ pause recording. (Source: Dialpad)
- Picture-in-picture: See your audience without needing to switch tabs. With picture-in-picture, hosts can view their presentation and see viewers simultaneously.
- Custom hold music: Keep meeting participants entertained while waiting for the meeting to start. Dialpad Meeting lets you choose from prerecorded music or upload your own hold tunes. The music plays for participants before the meeting begins.
- Spam prevention: Control what happens when an incoming spam call occurs during a meeting. You can block anonymous calls, callers with a high spam score, or those not included in your contacts.
Google Meet: Best for Google Workspace Users
What We Liked
- Seamless integration with other Google applications
- No meeting time limits
- Robust security measures
Where It Falls Behind
- Limited video meeting features
- No live customer support
- Free plan only accommodates 100 meeting participants
Google Meet Monthly Pricing
- Free: 100 video attendees, 60 minutes meeting duration, and whiteboarding
- Business Starter: $7.20 per user for 100 video attendees, 24-hour meeting duration, and whiteboarding
- Business Standard: $14.40 per user for 150 video attendees, noise cancellation, meeting recording, and polling and Q&A
- Business Plus: $21.60 per user for 500 video attendees and attendance tracking
- Enterprise: Contact sales for pricing and live streaming
Increase your team’s productivity by using Google Meet, which integrates seamlessly with Google Workspace applications like Gmail and Google Calendar. Its intuitive interface allows users to schedule meetings and send invitations directly from Google Calendar. Jump into a video call quickly from Google Chat or join a virtual meeting directly from Gmail. Collaborate with colleagues on Google Docs, Slides, or Sheets while having a face-to-face online meeting.
Unfortunately, Google Meet’s features are a bit more basic than those offered by other providers on this list. It lacks multi-screen sharing and automatic meeting summaries. If you’re looking for extensive productivity and collaboration features, including advanced AI tools, consider RingCentral Video or Dialpad Meetings. Both plans offer robust zero-payment and paid plans.
Google Meet Features
Create Google Calendar events with Google Meet links. (Source: Google)
- Live captions: Make your meetings inclusive and minimize misunderstandings by using live subtitles during a meeting. Google Meet’s translated captions are available in 20 languages and accents, including German, French, and Dutch.
- Adjustable layouts: Google Meet helps you see who’s speaking by automatically switching the video layout to display the most active participants and content. Layout options include auto, tiled, spotlight, and sidebar.
- Audio and video preview screen: Double-check everything is in order before entering your meeting. Google Meet has a preview screen where you can adjust your camera, add virtual backgrounds, and test your audio before entering a live meeting session. The preview screen also provides information about who is already in the meeting room.
Cisco Webex: Best for Remote & Hybrid Team Collaboration
What We Liked
- Up to 81 videos in grid view
- Virtual background available in all plans
- Offers real-time translation
Where It Falls Behind
- Voice command is limited to English
- Limited customer support for free plan users
- Toll dial-in locked behind paid plans
Cisco Webex Monthly Pricing*
- Basic: Free for 100 attendees with a 40-minute time limit, local recording storage, screen sharing, and unlimited whiteboards
- Meet: $14.50 per user for 200 attendees with a 24-hour time limit, 5GB cloud meetings storage, closed captions, live polling, and close captions
- Business: $20 per user and 10GB cloud meeting recording storage
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for 1,000 participants with a 24-hour time limit, unlimited cloud storage, simultaneous interpretations, and auto-attendant
*Save more by choosing annual billing.
Cisco Webex is the best free conference call service for remote collaboration because it equips teams with interactive whiteboards across all plans. Free plans include live reactions, private and public chat, and mobile screen sharing. Upgrading to paid plans unlocks advanced features like in-meeting file transfer, post-meeting highlights, and cloud storage. Use the Cisco Webex app to move between meetings and send messages seamlessly.
Webex’s Pollbot enhances the interaction between team members. Add the tool to existing group spaces, generate independent polls, and see real-time results. Unfortunately, Cisco Webex’s post-meeting highlights and transcripts are unavailable with the Free plan. As an alternative, check out RingCentral Video. Its free plan offers meeting summaries, transcripts, and captions without extra charges.
Cisco Webex Features
Use the whiteboard tool in meetings and events. (Source: Webex)
- Voice command: Your Webex assistant can help you carry out tasks, such as creating action items, taking notes, and setting up meetings. Accomplish a range of tasks using just your voice and select words.
- Interactive polls: Increase conference and meeting engagement by introducing interactive polls and seeking actions from their side. Use polls for quick pop quizzes, word clouds, and prioritization (ranking).
- Interactive whiteboarding: Brainstorm with colleagues using the Webex whiteboard. It features a pointer, pen tool, magic pen, eraser, and stickers, all of which can make sessions more collaborative.
FreeConferenceCall.com: Best for Flexible Pricing
What We Liked
- Unlimited voicemail storage and built-in transcription
- Large-scale conferencing with up to 1,000 participants
- Full-featured free-to-use plan
Where It Falls Behind
- Cloud storage is limited to 1GB
- Clunky, outdated user interface
- Limited mobile app functionality
FreeConferenceCall.com Monthly Pricing*
- Pay What You Can: 1,000 attendees, 1GB cloud recording, screen sharing, whiteboarding, audio recording, and automatic transcriptions
Innovative Pricing:
- Suggested amount: $4
- Average amount (the amount most people choose): $8.21
- Market rate (what other providers charge): $15
*The provider’s Pay What You Can plan is contribution-based. Users receive complimentary virtual backgrounds if they spend $1 or more.
FreeConferenceCall.com leads for budget-based pricing because its pay-what-you-can plans let you pay what you think is fair or use the service for free. Host HD audio conferences for 1,000 participants using local or domestic in-country dial-in numbers or VoIP. This payment structure lets FreeConferenceCall.com offer free communication tools to nonprofits, charities, business owners, and students. Add a virtual phone with unlimited inbound calls for a monthly fee.
All FreeConferenceCall.com accounts have robust features like call detail reports, history and recordings, calendars, and drawing tools. While the solution is free, the interface is outdated and lacks a modern aesthetic. This increases a user’s learning curve and can negatively affect the conferencing experience. For a user-friendly platform with an intuitive interface, Zoom One is best. It has a clean design, and meeting controls are easy to find.
FreeConferenceCall.com Features
FreeConferenceCall.com lets you share everything on your screen or share specific applications only. (Source: FreeConferenceCall.com)
- Meeting wall: This webpage acts as your personal meeting room. Share your profile photo, company logo, recordings, and custom meeting link, making everything accessible.
- Studio presentation: Record your presentation beforehand or an interview that can be played during a conference call. You can also share a link to the recording on your Meeting Wall.
- Broadcaster: Revisit previous discussions and events by replaying previous videos, audio, and presentation recordings. You can also display files and documents during live meetings.
How We Evaluated the Best Free Conference Call Services
We reviewed industry-leading free conference call services to find the best solution for small businesses. Key considerations included subscription cost, general and niche features, user-friendliness, and customer support. Our evaluation includes our expert evaluation of the different platforms, and from there, we picked the top six based on ranking.
Learn how we determined what is the best free conference call service by clicking on the tabs below:
15% of Overall Score
When it comes to the best free conference call service, we looked at the prices of different plans and gave more points to those platforms charging less than $30. Higher points were given to providers with free plans and discounts for bulk users or annual billing.
25% of Overall Score
When comparing different conference call providers, key features we looked at include the availability of video conferencing in the free plan and whether there’s a service level agreement (SLA) uptime guarantee. Screen sharing is a crucial conferencing component, so we prioritized platforms allowing desktop and mobile screen sharing.
20% of Overall Score
When it comes to niche features, we looked at whether providers offer meeting recording and third-party integrations for increased productivity. We also considered whether solutions have simultaneous screen sharing and virtual backgrounds in their list of offerings.
10% of Overall Score
To determine overall ease of use, we determined the expertise required to set up and operate the platform. Higher points were given if its interface is intuitive and easy for beginners and non-tech-savvy users.
10% of Overall Score
Small businesses using third-party conference call services rely on software providers to provide reliable and timely support. We favored providers with 24/7 customer service options and those offering multiple communication channels, such as phone, email, and live chat.
20% of Overall Score
We assessed the different free conference calling services’ value for money by taking into account each provider’s key features, popularity, ease of use, and use cases. To verify our findings, we reviewed customer feedback on third-party review sites to confirm our findings.
Want to know more? Check out our best conference call service providers guide to explore the different available options.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The best conference call services offer robust security solutions, but it’s important to note that the security capabilities of VoIP conference call services vary for each provider. Essential security tools to look out for include end-to-end encryption and two-step verification.
Yes, platforms like Zoom One allow conference co-hosting, but it largely depends on your conference call package. You can do this on most platforms by opening the participant panel and right-clicking on the attendee’s name. A drop-down will appear and select a co-host to allow that person more control over the meeting.
The difference between a call and a conference call lies in the participants. A standard call involves two people, while a conference call has more than two people participating. When choosing the best free conference call service for your business, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. You need to assess your operations, calling needs, budget, and team size to determine the best option for your company.
Bottom Line
The best free conference call service supports solopreneurs, small teams, and businesses to communicate effectively and collaborate efficiently. Key built-in conference call features to look out for include cloud recordings, transcriptions, screen sharing, breakout rooms, and whiteboards.
Based on our review, Zoom One ranked first among our list of free conference call service providers because of its generous free plan and user-friendly interface. It’s a multi-channel solution that facilitates team chat, video conferencing, and unlimited calling. Sign up for a Zoom One account today to see if it fits your conferencing needs.
