Microsoft officially switches off Skype (RIP). Even if you haven’t used the app for years, Skype was your introduction to modern video chats. The app simply made it to call friends and family via video, no matter where they were all in the world. As long as they had a stable internet connection, they could.
As soon as Microsoft has drawn the plug for good for good, Legacy users need a new platform that you can turn to. Microsoft encourages them to switch to teams and they can. But there are better alternatives out there.
The goal (and the challenge) The selection of a video call platform is to convince other people to join them. The last thing you want is to select an app that nobody uses, and then forcing everyone in your circle to take over this choice. The less friction, the better. For this reason, platforms that work with the existing accounts and platforms of people are best here: there are some great options, from Viber to signal that offer good functions for video calls, but you are much more lucky to call your friends if you meet where you are. I concentrated this list in the eye.
Google Meet
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If your goal is to find the simplest video resolution for the average person in your contact list, my go-to-google meeting would be. In 2025, the likelihood that the person you want to reach has a Google account – even if this is not your platform of choice.
Since many of us already have Google accounts, it does not matter which devices or platforms they work. Regardless of whether one of them has a Mac, another PC, or they are at competing destinations of the iOS against Android debate, Google Meet works on almost every device. Of course free of charge, but you will receive some advantages if you pay –including video with higher quality.
However, my main problem on Google Meet is not so intuitive. The service seems to be designed for business and professional use than for informal conversations, so it is not necessarily as ideal as Skype in its heyday. (Only the fact that Google calls the standard option “meetings” in the web app, I give the feeling that I work instead of calling a friend or a family member.) There is also a 60 -minute limit for calls for free users: This is fine for shorter calls.
However, if your friend has properly set up his Google account, it is as easy as with Skype -or about as easy as opening the traditional telephone app. However, if your Google account is not set up for calls, you have to share the call link with you, which is okay, but give a simple experience in friction. Here, too, you will not find a perfect video resolution if the other person does not already use this platform.
If you are on your computer, you can use them Google Meet Web App for most purposes. If you prefer video chat on cell phone, there are apps for both iOS And Android– Although a meeting can already be installed on your Android device.
Google Meet supports video calls With up to 100 participantsPresent As many as Skype did it.
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Like Google, WhatsApp is incredibly popular worldwide. If you don’t use WhatsApp, someone you know is on this list for just under a second (if not tied first).
The standardization of WhatsApp offers the same advantage as Google Meet: There is one very Good chance that the person you want to call video calls. I don’t use WhatsApp, but I have A WhatsApp account. Better, the app has no time limit for calls so that you can speak as long as you want.
Like Google Meet, WhatsApp is available almost everywhere where you access the Internet. You can use it on a iPhone or Android Device or access Web app. In contrast to Google Meet, WhatsApp even has a desktop app, which may make it a better Skype replacement. I personally used Skype on my Mac earlier, and the experience of calling someone on WhatsApp with the app reminds you of this experience than the Google Meet web app.
WhatsApp does not support as many participants as Skype: You can use the app to hold calls With up to 32 other peopleWhich is far fewer than 100, but are still many people for video calls.
Facebook Messenger
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If not a META app, why not another? Messenger has been the option for Facebook users for years, simply because it is built directly into the Meta flagship. In recent years, the company’s efforts to transform the app into a dedicated messaging service have been successful. I don’t use many Facebook account these days, but I check my messenger app more often than not.
Here, too, you have the integrated user base here. Facebook could be the largest network of the three previously mentioned. You may have to add your friend before you enter a ring, but see as a social media platform Contains more than 35% of the world’s populationYou shouldn’t be shocked if the person you want to call is a member.
I like Messenger’s Video Calling Experience, especially on the desktop. The Mac -app definitely offers a video chat interface that will enjoy experienced Skype users. However, it is a little frustrating that you cannot start a video call without already having a chat thread first. If the person or group you want to call you have a conversation: just click on the video call symbol to start a chat. If not, you first have to send a message to your friend or friends. Then Call them. I assume it’s nice to give you up a head, but again friction!
Formerly Facebook Messenger supported video calls of up to 50 people via a function called “rooms”, and supported “rooms” and supported video calls of up to 50 people. But Meta has set this option since then. There are no time restrictions for messenger calls.
Facetime
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If you have an Apple account and the person you want to talk to also have an Apple account, Facetime. The service is easy to use, encrypted by end-to-end and offers a number of functions that you may expect from a business platform as a facetime-such as screen release and long -distance screen control. It is hardly anything easier than pressing the FaceTime button in an iMessage thread or tapping your friend’s name in the Facetime -app: seconds later you will chat.
However, things are becoming more difficult when they look at the friends who not Do you have iPhones – especially those who live outside of your country. Suddenly it is not so easy when you try to call a friend who has not bound your international number with your Apple account.
But that doesn’t mean that you should count the Facetime completely. With Apple you can create a Facetime link that everyone can join a call – even that on Android or PC. It adds an additional hurdle as if you were calling another Apple user, but it still works what makes this method easiest for those of us with iPhones or Macs: forget the other apps, just create a Facetime link, send it to your friends and wait until you join your call.
FaceTime supports the same number of callers as WhatsApp. 32Without time limit. Perhaps the biggest disadvantage is the lack of a native text chat function: Google Meet supports a native chat like Skype, while WhatsApp and messenger are created from chat apps so that you can also send messages there. However, Facetime is a separate unit: If you all have on Apple devices, you can continue the conversation about imessage, but it’s not quite the same.
Team
So focuses.
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Microsoft doesn’t want you to switch from Skype to teams. In a way, this makes sense: the company has both platforms, so that the change from Skype to teams should be the simple answer. However, the teams are so obviously built with work conferences (hence the name) that if they are looking for a standard app for Casual Video Calling, they could be a bit exaggerated. (It is not as if I also recommend switching to slack for occasional video calls.)
If your callers are all Windows users with corresponding Microsoft accounts, the teams may work. The app supports up to 100 peopleAnd you can chat 60 minutes each. (One-to-one chats are available 30 hours At a time.) You can also access teams on a number of different devices – not just Windows machines. If your device has a camera, you can probably use teams for video calls. The addition of an integrated chat function is also helpful.
Nevertheless, I would personally recommend trying one of the other options towards teams.
Zoom (not recommended)
Many of us in the world of work (as well as those of us that jumped on video chats during the pandemic) are very familiar with zoom. The app is perhaps one of the first to think of when you take video calls into account, even though you do not necessarily receive a casual use.
Zoom offers large video calls – up to 100 participants – free of charge – but this is associated with some limits. While many free video call platforms end after 60 minutes, Zoom’s free calls end after 40 minutes. If you are not already paying for the service, this is not convenient for the times when you would like to inform friends or family on video with friends or family members.
