After the emergence of the pandemic and lockdown that followed, the need for video calling apps has become ever more prevalent. Aside from keeping in touch with loved ones in a distant location, the need for most of the labor force to resort to remote working has resulted in the popularity of video call and conferencing software.
While that’s the case, we’ve seen the consistent rollout of updates, adding more functionality to make video calling a more enjoyable experience. Seeing that their need has slowly transitioned from being mere platforms for chit-chats to serving a more professional purpose, it’s only reasonable to find the app developers add more features to suit its growing categories of users.
Meanwhile, the type of user you are will depend on the type of video calling app that’ll be best for you. It’ll be an overkill trying to use an app with extensive professional features for chit-chats only – conversely, it wouldn’t be wise to try to use a basic video calling app for professional work. In this article, we will highlight the best 10 video call apps and specify which category they fit in so you can get the best user experience when trying them out.
1. Zoom Meeting – Best all-around video call and conferencing app
Recently, we’ve seen many updates on the zoom conferencing app. Most of which we may consider as a need to accommodate more features, allowing it to serve professionals who need remote video conferencing to communicate with their colleagues or staff.
Without question, it’s one of the best video call apps that you can install on your device – compatible across all platforms and device types. Features like screen sharing, end-to-end encryption, and live annotations make it one of the best options for video call apps for official meetings.
2. Skype – Best multi-platform video calling app
Skype is one of the video calling apps that have not only been around for a long time but have also consistently kept up with advancing technology, bringing updates with more functionality. Unlike Zoom, they’re more tailored towards facilitating communication between family and friends.
In addition, they’re available on major platforms and compatible with the popular communication hardware and some less popular ones like Xbox. While they also offer the usual screen sharing, you can get live transcription and real-time translation for some popular languages.
3. Google Duo – Best video call app for Android
Although Goggle’s Duo is one of the unpopular projects by the tech giants, it is still one of the best video calling options that can deliver high-end functionality to its users. It’s Apple’s Facetime equivalent; only that other advanced features make it come first, high than Facetime on the list.
Duo takes its communication functionality a little further – it can serve as a mini chatting platform to send messages and multimedia files with friends. More so, it’s available on all platforms, provided you’ve got a Gmail registered on the device.
4. Discord – Best video call and streaming app for gamers
There are many video chat apps with screen-sharing capabilities. However, none does it like Discord, especially when it comes to sharing gaming screens. While that’s the case, only 25 people can be on a call at any time, which is slightly less than what other platforms above can offer their users.
Although Discord is quite popular among game streamers, people interested in other forms of entertainment don’t know about the video calling functionality on the platform. Perhaps this is why it’s not a popular social media app among non-techies.
5. Facetime – Best video call app for iOS devices
The Facetime app is part of iPhone’s in-built communication software package. Unlike Google’s Duo, it’s optimized for video calling only, which is understandable because they’ve also got iMessage which is for texts only.
Also, it’s equipped with less advanced features which streamline its functions – for communicating with friends and family. Perhaps the plus side to using the app on iPhones is its integration with iOS architecture, making it run smoothly without any hassle.
6. Telegram – Best all-around video call app for mobile devices
Telegram is one of the social media platforms that grew exponentially during the lockdown and late 2018s. The video chatting feature was added in April 2022, and over the last few months, the developers have rolled out a series of updates to make it one of the most competitive video chatting tools that’s available across all platforms – beating rivals like WhatsApp, Facebook, and WeChat.
Perhaps the plus side to using this platform is that they listen to user reviews and implement updates, showing that they’re taking note. It’s aside from the usual screen sharing and multi-user conferencing; it also allows communication for an unlimited amount of time – quite the deal breaker considering it’s also free.
7. Facebook Messenger – Best Duo and Facetime alternative
Video calling first came to Facebook in 2011 during its partnership with Skype. However, the collaboration stopped in 2014 when the tech giant made some changes to its system. Users could now access the video calling feature via Facebook Messenger – Facebook’s messaging app that served as an extension to the main social media app.
It’s often considered a Duo and Facetime alternative because its functions are just about what you’d expect to use from the two. There’s not much going on in terms of functionality, just basic video calling with people on your Facebook contact list.
8. WhatsApp – Best cross-platform video calling app
WhatsApp added the video calling feature to its app in 2016. Since then, we’ve seen consistent improvement in stability, making it one of the best picks for communicating across platforms. It doesn’t matter whether you’re using an Android device trying to communicate with a friend on iOS or vice versa; WhatsApp is one platform that can guarantee seamless communication. The only blemish is that the features are not as advanced as we have on Telegram, Zoom, or Duo.
9. Microsoft Teams – Best video calling app for provisionals
Microsoft Teams is one of the fastest-growing video calling apps we have today. Since its launch in 2017, Microsoft has made impressive make sure it delivers high-end functionality to its users. The tech company is well known for providing excellent tools to help professionals optimize their work processes, and the functions available in Teams also reflect that.
The premium communication software comes with Microsoft 365 package, but there’s also a free version if you’re interested in testing the waters before going all in. Although the app is available across all platforms (Android and iOS included), it’s somewhat overkill if you won’t be using it for professional purposes.
10. Slack – Best all-around video calling app for teams and professionals
Slack is another great video calling app that targets professionals. It has a more advanced and dynamic interface than Microsoft Teams, allowing users to create communication channels where team members can interact and share ideas.
Perhaps the only downside to using slack is that the free version only allows one-to-one calls, which is a lot lower than what other competitors are currently offering.
