Meetings: Everyone hates them, and every business needs them.

One of the best services any business can invest in is a conference call system, which lets any employee call into a meeting from anywhere. Of course, a small business might not have much to invest, which is why we're taking a look at the best free conference call services out there.

Our top picks are RingCentral Glip and Zoom, for their overall functionality and robust feature catalog, but we've covered the top seven free services here to ensure a range of options.

Granted, any free service tends to be a bit of a trade-off. You won't pay with money, but you'll pay with a drop in quality, whether it's the depth of tech support, number of calls fielded, or general ease of use. For a small operation, that's likely a deal you can live with. As you grow, however, you'll save money with an upgrade to a paid service — we've ranked the top paid conference call services over here.

Until then, here's everything you need to know about the free side, from the top seven free conference call services available to the pros and cons you should consider when deciding which is best for you.

Best Free Conference Call Services Compared

You can scroll down a little farther for our full reviews of each service, but first, here's a quick comparison of all seven. Here, we stack up their biggest benefits, major disadvantages, and overall ratings.

✔ Very easy to use   ✗ Security issues due to popularity

If you haven't heard of Zoom, you must be living under a rock. The video conferencing service has become immensely popular since the coronavirus pandemic, primarily due to the incredible ease of use and the user friendly interface. From the seamless gallery view that allows you to see everyone to the simple screen-sharing functionality, Zoom is just a great option if you're looking for a comprehensive, free system.

Zoom isn't without its downfalls though. For one, the free plan limits all meetings to a 40-minute maximum, which means you risk getting kicked off if even a simple half-hour talk runs over time. Zoom used to offer a hefty 30-hour limit on 1:1 meetings, and this generous policy helped them grow rapidly during the early pandemic months of 2020, but they rolled that limit back in May 2022.

Additionally, because of Zoom's meteoric rise in popularity, the company has struggled to manage security concerns, resulting in “Zoom-bombing,” a trend in which hackers hijack a specific call and bombard it with offensive content to get it shutdown. Fortunately, the company is taking these concerns seriously and has been updating security protocols as fast as possible.

Zoom Features

• HD video and HD Voice
• 100 participant limit
• Gallery view
• Virtual backgrounds
• Waiting room
• Works with iOS and Android devices

RingCentral Glip

✔ Long meetings in free plan   ✗ Some features expire July 2021

Glip Pro is a new product from RingCentral: Glip has its sights aimed squarely at the likes of Zoom, offering a very generous free tier for video conference calls, as well as a paid-for tier for those looking for extras. The entry-level Glip Pro offering allows for 100 participants, and has a 24-hour time limit, blowing the free versions of its competitors out of the water. The paid for Glip Pro+ tier comes with analytics, customer support, and allows for larger meetings, up to 200.

It's worth nothing, however, that due to Glip's brand new arrival on the video conferencing scene, some of the more robust and impressive features in the free plan will likely be temporary. The 24-hour time limit for meetings, for example, has apparently already expired as of July 2021, yet as of May 2022, the website has yet to be updated with a more accurate limit.

Still, if you're interested right now, signing up will allow you to grandfather in some features, so get on it!

RingCentral Glip Features

• High quality video and audio
• 100-200 participant limit (depending on plan)
• Integrations with Google Workplace and Microsoft 365
• No app required, browser access
• Works with iOS and Android devices
• Team and direct messaging functionality

Google Meet

✔ Flexible interface    ✗ Poor connectivity

Google Meet is a great, flexible option for active users. You can easily jump from one device to another while staying in the same meeting. The big downside, however, is the connectivity, which gets worse the more users you add to a meeting – a clear red flag for a conference call application. And once again, you're limited to 100 users.

You won't have access to a few more advanced features, including video recording, unless you spring for the paid version. Still, it's definitely one of the more intuitive interfaces around, and pairs perfectly with plenty of other useful free services from Google, like Google Drive and Gmail.

Google Meet Features

• Gmail and Google Calendar compatibility
• HD Video
• 100 participant limit
• Easy-to-use chat
• Screen sharing
• Works with iOS and Android devices

FreeConferenceCall.com

✔ Robust features    ✗ No customization

FreeConferenceCall.com offers a great service, with a massive 1,000 users allowed at a time. It offers both phone conferencing and video conferencing, and even has a support team that'll respond to support tickets submitted through the website. Granted, it doesn't have the name recognition of Skype or Google, but who does? FreeConferenceCall.com provides a dependable service with the basic features you need, including screen sharing and recording capabilities.

Customization can help streamline video conferencing by giving users something to expect. FreeConferenceCall.com has plenty of customization options, including custom greetings and hold music, extra storage, and the ability to skip the access code before hopping into a meeting – but you'll need to pay for all of them. If you don't mind skipping those, the basic abilities – like recording and screen sharing – definitely do the trick.

FreeConferenceCall.com Features

• Supports international numbers
• Screen sharing
• 1,000 participant limit
• Conference recording
• Mobile app for Android and iOS

FreeConference.com

✔ Easy setup process    ✗ Doesn't support enough users

With FreeConference.com, you won't be able to call in with toll-free numbers, and you won't be able to record video or audio. At five users, the limit for online meetings is pretty heinous; however, that's not actually the full story, as FreeConference.com offers a very nice 400 user cap on phone-based conferences.

We'll be honest: This is a solid choice if your business falls into a very specific demographic – phone users who will never need to call in from a toll-free number. For everyone else, FreeConference.com illustrates one central fact in the search for the best free conference call software – you'll always have a trade-off to make.

FreeConference.com Features

• Supports toll numbers, but not toll-free ones
• Supports international numbers
• 5 participant limit for online conferences
• 400 participant limit for phone conferences
• Screen sharing
• Mobile app

Pros and Cons of Free Conference Call Software

Which features are essential when looking for the best free conference call service, and which should you give up on? Here's our handy pros and cons list.

Pro: Cost. You're saving money. Enough said.

Con: User limits. This common downside will quickly catch up to any mid-size business, or even some small ones. Expect to see a 10 or 25 user limit on group calls for most free services.

Pro: Simplicity. These services tend to come with stripped-down functionality, and are easy to learn as a result.

Con: Few features. Depending on the service, even basic functionality – like screen-sharing abilities and video recording – are not always guaranteed. Each free offering tends to pick a different handful of features to cut off, so consider which ones are important to you.

Con: Phone number limits. International calls might not be accepted. Toll-free ones are even less common.

Con: Call duration limits. This isn't as common, but remains one to look out for. For example, some providers limit free calls to 45 minutes, which could be a big problem if you're not prepared.

Adam is a writer at Tech.co and has worked as a tech writer, blogger and copy editor for more than a decade. He's also a Forbes Contributor on the publishing industry, for which he was named a Digital Book World 2018 award finalist. His work has appeared in publications including Popular Mechanics and IDG Connect, and he has an art history book on 1970s sci-fi coming out from Abrams Books in 2023. In the meantime, he's hunting own the latest news on VPNs, POS systems, and the future of tech.