Microsoft Teams
Est. 2017
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1 organization (up to 300 users)
Servings per container: Unlimited (cloud)
Calories (Cost/user/mo)$5
% Daily Value*
Total Productivity 92%
Office 365 Integration 98%
File Co-editing 95%
Video Conferencing 78%
Max Participants: 250
Meeting Duration: 24hr
Chat & Messaging 88%
Threaded Channels 90%
Calling Features 70%
Security (Compliance Center) 82%
Integrations (250+ apps) 80%
Ease of Setup 75%
Free Plan Yes (limited)
INGREDIENTS: Chat messaging, video meetings (250 cap), screen sharing, Office 365 apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote), SharePoint, OneDrive, channels & teams, guest access, background blur, meeting recording (paid), Planner, Wiki, third-party app tabs.
⚠ CONTAINS: Notification overload. May cause channel confusion in large deployments. Calling requires separate Phone System license. Not yet fully mature in 2020 — breakout rooms not yet available.
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1 meeting host
Servings per container: Unlimited meetings
Calories (Cost/user/mo)$15
% Daily Value*
Total Productivity 72%
No native doc editing 30%
Whiteboard 65%
Video Conferencing 96%
Max Participants: 1,000
Gallery View: 49 tiles
Chat & Messaging 55%
Basic channel chat 50%
Calling Features 40%
Security (E2E avail. 2020) 68%
Integrations (100+ apps) 70%
Ease of Setup 95%
Free Plan Yes (40 min)
INGREDIENTS: HD video meetings (up to 1,000), breakout rooms, virtual backgrounds, screen sharing, recording (local + cloud), polls, reactions, waiting room, webinar mode, Zoom Phone (add-on), basic chat, whiteboard.
⚠ CONTAINS: "Zoombombing" risks in early 2020 (patched). Security concerns led to temporary bans by some organizations. No native document collaboration. Chat features are basic compared to Slack/Teams.
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1 workspace
Servings per container: Unlimited channels
Calories (Cost/user/mo)$7
% Daily Value*
Total Productivity 80%
App Integrations 98%
Workflow Automations 75%
Video Conferencing 45%
Max Participants: 15
Basic video only
Chat & Messaging 98%
Threaded, searchable 99%
Calling Features 30%
Security (SOC 2, HIPAA) 78%
Integrations (2,000+ apps) 98%
Ease of Setup 92%
Free Plan Yes (10K msg)
INGREDIENTS: Channel-based messaging, threads, file sharing, custom emojis, Slack Connect (cross-org), Workflow Builder, huddles (basic audio), screen sharing, app directory (2,000+), slash commands, bots, search with filters.
⚠ CONTAINS: Video calling limited to 15 participants in 2020. No native phone system. Free plan caps message history at 10,000. Can become noisy with too many channels. Separate purchase needed for robust video.
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1 Google account
Servings per container: Unlimited (made free Apr 2020)
Calories (Cost/user/mo)$0
% Daily Value*
Total Productivity 70%
G Suite Integration 85%
No doc editing in-call 40%
Video Conferencing 75%
Max Participants: 250
No breakout rooms yet
Chat & Messaging 40%
In-meeting chat only
Calling Features 20%
Security (Google infra) 80%
Integrations (G Suite) 72%
Ease of Setup 98%
Free Plan Yes (60 min)
INGREDIENTS: Browser-based video meetings (no download), Google Calendar integration, screen sharing, tiled layout, captions (English), dial-in phone numbers (paid), G Suite file sharing, Gmail launch button.
⚠ CONTAINS: No standalone chat platform (use Google Chat separately). No breakout rooms in 2020. Limited engagement features. No native phone system. Requires Google account for hosting. Best consumed with full G Suite.
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1 host license
Servings per container: Up to 1,000 attendees
Calories (Cost/user/mo)$14
% Daily Value*
Total Productivity 68%
File viewing only 45%
Whiteboarding 70%
Video Conferencing 88%
Max Participants: 1,000
Noise cancellation 95%
Chat & Messaging 62%
Spaces + threads 60%
Calling Features 88%
Security (FedRAMP, E2E) 94%
Integrations (100+ apps) 65%
Ease of Setup 62%
Free Plan Yes (50 min)
INGREDIENTS: HD video meetings (1,000 cap), Webex Teams messaging, Webex Calling (PSTN), noise removal, virtual backgrounds, recording, breakout rooms, polling, Q&A, Webex Events, Cisco hardware integration, personal meeting rooms.
⚠ CONTAINS: Higher price than competitors. UI can feel complex for non-Cisco users. Document collaboration requires external office suite. Best consumed in environments with existing Cisco infrastructure.
Skype for Business
Sunsetting 2021
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1 user license
Servings per container: Legacy deployment
Calories (Cost/user/mo)$2*
% Daily Value*
Total Productivity 55%
Basic Office tie-in 60%
Video Conferencing 58%
Max Participants: 250
Dated interface
Chat & Messaging 50%
Calling Features 75%
Security (Enterprise) 78%
Integrations (limited) 40%
Ease of Setup 50%
Free Plan No
INGREDIENTS: Presence/IM, video calls (250 cap), screen sharing, PSTN calling (with plan), Office integration, on-premises or cloud deployment, federation, meeting rooms via Polycom/Crestron.
⚠ CONTAINS: End-of-life announced. Microsoft actively migrating users to Teams. No new features being developed. On-premises version support ending July 2021. Consume before expiration date.