Best Video Conferencing for UK Small Business Without Microsoft 365
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You Do Not Need Microsoft to Run a Good Meeting
Most video conferencing guides assume you are on Microsoft 365. Plenty of small businesses are not, and do not want to be.
The alternatives are strong. The difficulty is knowing where each free tier stops being practical, because the caps moved in the last couple of years and a lot of published advice still describes plans that no longer exist.
This guide covers what each platform actually gives you now, what it withholds, and when paying is worth it.
What Matters for a Small Business
- Meeting length, since free tiers cap group calls at 30, 40 or 60 minutes
- Participant caps, which on some free plans are now as low as four
- Recording, and whether it is local or cloud
- UK dial-in, for clients who cannot use the app
- Guest experience, meaning whether clients need to download anything
- Paid tier value, priced at the tier you would actually need
1. Google Meet: Best if You Use Google Workspace
If your business runs on Gmail, Drive and Calendar, Meet is already there. Schedule in Calendar and the link appears.
Free, with a personal Google account: up to 100 participants, group calls capped at 60 minutes, no recording, no UK dial-in. One-to-one calls run considerably longer than group ones, which makes it usable for client calls.
Google Workspace, excluding VAT: Starter is £5.90 per user per month, Standard £11.80, Plus £18.40. Recording saved to Drive comes with the paid plans, dial-in numbers appear from Standard upwards, and participant caps rise as you climb.
Verdict: the free tier handles short calls. The step from Starter to Standard is what buys dial-in, and that is only worth £5.90 a head more if clients regularly struggle to join by app.
2. Zoom: The Name Clients Recognise
Zoom is standalone, which suits businesses that want meetings without buying into a wider suite.
Free: up to 100 participants, local recording only, no UK dial-in, and a 40-minute limit that applies to every meeting including one-to-one calls. That last point catches people out, because it used to be group calls only.
Paid, excluding VAT on annual billing: Pro is £11.66 per user per month and Business is £14.58. Pro gives you 30-hour meetings, cloud recording and 100 participants. Business raises the participant cap and includes more administrative control. UK dial-in is not part of Pro; it is an add-on, and it is bundled at the higher tier.
Verdict: the 40-minute cap on everything is the reason most businesses upgrade. If Zoom is your only meetings tool, Pro is a fair spend. Check the dial-in position before assuming it is included.
3. Whereby: Simple, But the Free Plan Has Changed
Whereby gives you a permanent room URL that guests click without downloading anything, which removes a real friction point for client calls.
Free: one room, four participants, and a 30-minute limit on meetings. This is the part most comparisons get wrong, including plenty published this year: the old free plan allowed 100 participants and 45 minutes, and it no longer does.
Paid: Whereby prices in US dollars. Pro is around $10.99 a month for one host, lifting the cap to 100 participants with no time limit, three room URLs, unlimited recording and custom branding. Business starts around $13.99 per host with a three-host minimum, adding 200 participants and a custom subdomain.
Verdict: still excellent for client-facing calls, and the permanent URL in your email signature is genuinely useful. But it is no longer a free option for anything beyond a quick one-to-one, and the price is in dollars.
4. Jitsi Meet: The Genuinely Free One
Jitsi Meet is open source. The public instance at meet.jit.si needs no account, has no time limit, and 8×8 runs it for up to about 100 participants, though performance drops well before that on a busy call.
Recording on the public instance works through a Dropbox connection rather than saving locally, which is worth testing before you rely on it. There is a paid API product for developers, but no consumer plan to upgrade to.
Verdict: if cost is the deciding factor and you do not need dial-in or reliable recording, this is the strongest free option on the list. The trade-off is polish and familiarity: some clients will not recognise the name, and call quality on the public server is not guaranteed.
5. Webex Free: The Corporate Fallback
Cisco’s free tier is better than its enterprise reputation suggests: around 100 participants, a 40-minute cap, local recording, whiteboarding and end-to-end encryption.
Paid Webex plans remove the duration limit and add cloud recording and dial-in, though you should confirm current UK pricing directly, as it is not consistently published in sterling.
Verdict: a reasonable fallback if brand familiarity matters for formal client presentations. The interface feels more corporate than the others here.
Where Free Tiers Stop Working
Free is fine if: your meetings run under the cap that applies to your chosen tool, you do not need recording, clients join by browser without fuss, and nobody needs to dial in by phone.
Pay when: you run consultations, training or workshops past the limit, you need recording for notes, delivery or compliance, clients have poor broadband and need a phone number, or you want branding.
The caps are not equivalent, which is the practical point. Sixty minutes on Google Meet, 40 on Zoom and Webex, 30 and four people on Whereby, and no limit at all on Jitsi.
Which to Choose
| Situation | Choice |
|---|---|
| Sole trader, occasional client calls, no budget | Jitsi Meet, or Google Meet free if calls stay under an hour |
| Already on Google Workspace | Google Meet, already paid for |
| Small team, daily meetings, needs recording | Google Workspace Starter at £5.90, or Zoom Pro at £11.66 |
| Client-facing business wanting no-download joining | Whereby Pro, budgeting in dollars |
| Clients who need to dial in by phone | Google Workspace Standard at £11.80, or Zoom Business at £14.58 |
FAQ
Do I need to pay for video conferencing?
Not necessarily. Jitsi Meet has no time limit and no account requirement, and the free tiers of Google Meet and Zoom cover short calls. You are paying for meeting length, recording and dial-in, and paid plans start at around £5.90 per user per month.
Can UK clients dial in by phone?
That is generally a paid feature. Google Meet includes it from Workspace Standard, Zoom sells it as an add-on for Pro or bundles it higher up, and Webex includes it on paid tiers. Whereby and Jitsi do not offer traditional dial-in.
Is Zoom’s 40-minute limit really on one-to-one calls too?
Yes. It applies to all meetings on the free plan, which is a change from how it used to work and the single most common misconception about Zoom’s free tier.
Does any of this affect Making Tax Digital?
No. Video conferencing is a communication tool. If you deliver billable services over it, keep the usual records; your accounting software handles MTD.
Which is easiest for non-technical clients?
Whereby, because guests click a link and join in the browser with no account or app, though the free plan now caps that experience at four people for 30 minutes. Google Meet is also straightforward in a browser. Zoom is familiar but often pushes people toward the app.
Video Conferencing for UK Small Business: The Bottom Line
Match the tool to how you actually meet, not to the longest feature list.
If you are on Google Workspace, use Meet and stop shopping. If you are not, and your calls are short, Jitsi Meet costs nothing and limits nothing. If you run long calls or need recording, Google Workspace Starter at £5.90 excluding VAT is the cheapest credible paid route, with Zoom Pro at £11.66 the choice when client familiarity matters more than price.
And check the free plan you are relying on before you build a habit around it. Whereby’s used to allow 100 people for 45 minutes and now allows four for 30, which is exactly the kind of change that catches a business out mid-call.
Pricing and features correct at time of writing. Plans and capabilities are subject to change, so always confirm current details on the provider’s website before purchasing. Google Workspace and Zoom prices exclude VAT; Whereby prices in US dollars, so check the converted cost at checkout.