Microsoft is formally shutting down Skype (RIP). Even when you have not used the app in years, it is potential Skype was your introduction into fashionable video chats. The app made it straightforward to name family and friends by way of video regardless of the place on the planet you all had been. So long as you had a steady web connection, you would Skype.
As soon as Microsoft pulls the plug on Skype for good, legacy customers will want a brand new platform to show to. Microsoft will encourage you to change to Groups, and you’ll. However there are higher options on the market.
The objective (and problem) of selecting a video calling platform is to persuade different folks to hitch you. The very last thing you need is to select an app that nobody makes use of, then power everybody in your circle to undertake that selection. The much less friction, the higher. That is why platforms that work with folks’s present accounts and platforms are greatest right here: There are some nice choices on the market, from Viber to Sign, that supply good video calling options, however you will have much more luck calling your folks for those who meet them the place they’re. I’ve targeted this listing with that in thoughts.
Google Meet
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In case your objective is to seek out the simplest video name answer for the typical particular person in your contacts listing, my go-to can be Google Meet. In 2025, chances are high excessive the particular person you are making an attempt to succeed in has a Google Account—even when it is not their platform of selection.
As a result of many people have Google Accounts already, it would not actually matter what gadgets or platforms you are working from. Whether or not one in all you has a Mac, one other a PC, otherwise you’re on competing ends of the iOS versus Android debate, Google Meet works on nearly any system. It free, in fact, however you do get some perks for those who pay—together with greater high quality video.
My important situation with Google Meet, although, is it isn’t all that intuitive. The service appears designed extra for enterprise {and professional} use than informal dialog, so it is not essentially as perfect as Skype was in its heyday. (Simply the truth that Google calls the default possibility “conferences” on the internet app makes me really feel like I am working, as a substitute of calling a good friend or member of the family.) Plus, there is a 60 minute restrict on calls at a time without cost customers: That is tremendous for shorter calls, however for those who have a tendency to take a seat on video chats for hours, you will be choosing up the cellphone numerous occasions.
In case your good friend has their Google Account correctly arrange, although, calling them is as straightforward because it was on Skype—or about as straightforward as opening the standard cellphone app. Nevertheless, if their Google Account is not setup for calls, you might want to share the decision hyperlink with them as a substitute, which is okay, however provides some friction to what needs to be a easy expertise. Once more, although, you are not going to discover a good video name answer if the opposite particular person is not already utilizing that platform.
In case you’re in your laptop, you should use the Google Meet net app for many functions. In case you favor video chatting on cellular, there are apps for each iOS and Android—although Meet could already be put in in your Android system.
Google Meet helps video calls with as much as 100 individuals, as many as Skype did.
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Like Google, WhatsApp is insanely in style around the globe. In case you’re not utilizing WhatsApp, somebody is, which makes it an in depth second on this listing (if not tied for first).
WhatsApp’s standardization provides it the identical benefit as Google Meet: There’s a superb probability the particular person you need to video name has an account. I do not use WhatsApp, however I’ve a WhatsApp account. Higher but, the app would not have a time restrict for calls, so you possibly can discuss so long as you need.
Like Google Meet, WhatsApp is offered nearly in all places you entry the web. You should use it on an iPhone or Android system, or entry it by way of the net app. WhatsApp even has a desktop app, in contrast to Google Meet, which doubtlessly makes it the higher Skype alternative. I personally used Skype on my Mac again within the day, and the expertise of calling somebody on WhatsApp utilizing the app is a little more harking back to that have than Google Meet’s net app is.
WhatsApp would not help as many individuals as Skype did: The app will allow you to maintain calls with as much as 32 different folks, which, whereas far lower than 100, continues to be lots of people for video calls.
Fb Messenger
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If not one Meta app, why not one other? Messenger has been the go-to possibility for Fb customers for years, just because it is constructed proper into Meta’s flagship social community. However in recent times, the corporate’s efforts to spin the app right into a devoted messaging service have been profitable. I do not use many Fb account lately, however I do verify my Messenger app as a rule.
Once more, you may have the built-in person base right here. Fb is likely to be the most important community of the three talked about to this point. You might need so as to add your good friend earlier than giving them a hoop, however seeing because the social media platform comprises greater than 35% of the world’s inhabitants, you should not be shocked if the particular person you need to name is a member.
I fairly like Messenger’s video calling expertise, particularly on desktop. The Mac app undoubtedly gives a video chat interface that veteran Skype customers will take pleasure in. Nevertheless, it is just a little irritating you possibly can’t begin a video name with out already having a chat thread going first. If the particular person or group you need to name already has a dialog going, nice: simply hit the video name icon to begin a chat. Nevertheless, if not, you will must ship a message to your good friend or buddies first, then name them. I suppose it is good to present them a heads up, however, once more, friction!
Fb Messenger used to help video calls of as much as 50 folks by a characteristic referred to as “Rooms,” however Meta has since discontinued that possibility. There are not any deadlines on Messenger calls.
FaceTime
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In case you have an Apple account and the particular person you are making an attempt to talk with additionally has an Apple account, simply FaceTime them. The service is straightforward to make use of, end-to-end encrypted, and comes with numerous options you may count on from a extra business-facing platform than FaceTime—like display screen sharing and distant display screen controlling. There’s hardly something simpler than hitting the FaceTime button on an iMessage thread, or tapping your good friend’s identify within the FaceTime app: seconds later, you will be chatting.
Issues get trickier although when you think about the buddies who haven’t got iPhones—particularly those that reside exterior your nation. It is immediately not really easy whenever you attempt to name a good friend who would not have their worldwide quantity tied to their Apple Account.
Nonetheless, that does not imply you must depend out FaceTime totally. Apple enables you to create a FaceTime hyperlink that anybody can use to hitch a name—even these on Android or PC. It is provides an additional hurdle than for those who had been calling one other Apple person, however it nonetheless works, which makes this methodology maybe the simplest for these of us with iPhones or Macs: Neglect concerning the different apps, simply make a FaceTime hyperlink, ship it to your folks, and look ahead to them to hitch your name.
FaceTime helps the identical variety of callers as WhatsApp, 32, with no deadlines. Maybe its largest disadvantage is the dearth of a local textual content chat characteristic: Google Meet helps a local chat, like Skype, whereas WhatsApp and Messenger are constructed out of chat apps, so you possibly can ship messages there as properly. FaceTime, nonetheless, is its personal entity: In case you’re all on Apple gadgets, you possibly can proceed the dialog on iMessage, however it is not fairly the identical.
Groups
So work targeted.
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Microsoft, unsurprisingly, needs you to change from Skype to Groups. In some methods, that is sensible: The corporate owns each platforms, so shifting from Skype to Groups needs to be the straightforward reply. Nevertheless, Groups is so clearly constructed with work conferencing in thoughts (therefore the identify), that for those who’re on the lookout for a regular app for informal video calling, this one may very well be a bit overkill. (It isn’t like I would suggest to change to Slack for informal video calls, both.)
In case your callers are all Home windows customers with corresponding Microsoft Accounts, Groups may work. The app does help as much as 100 folks, and you’ll chat for 60 minutes at a time. (One-on-one chats can be found for 30 hours at a time.) You may also entry Groups on numerous totally different gadgets—not simply Home windows machines. In case your system has a digital camera, you possibly can most likely use Groups for video calls. The addition of a built-in chat operate is useful, as properly.
Nonetheless, personally, I would counsel making an attempt one of many different choices over Groups.
Zoom (not really helpful)
Many people within the working world (in addition to these of us who jumped on video chats through the pandemic) are fairly acquainted with Zoom. The app is probably one of many first you consider when you think about video calls, although it isn’t essentially one you decide up for informal use.
Zoom does provide giant video calls—as much as 100 individuals—without cost, however that comes with some limits. Whereas many free video calling platforms finish after 60 minutes, Zoom’s free calls finish at 40 minutes. Except you are already paying for the service, it actually is not a handy possibility for these occasions you need to meet up with buddies or household on video.