Best Free Video Calling Apps by Group Size and Time Limit
WhatsApp and FaceTime take 32 people. Free group calls end at 60 minutes on Google Meet and Teams, 40 on Zoom. Skype, Hangouts and ICQ have closed.
The best free video calling app is usually the one the other person already has, because each of these needs both sides to be on it, or one side to send a link the other can open. Among family and friends that is often WhatsApp, or FaceTime where everyone has an iPhone. A group of people you do not know well is easier on a meeting link from Google Meet, or Zoom if they are expecting a Zoom link, since nobody has to collect phone numbers.
How many people, and for how long
| App | People on a video call | Time limit when free | What you need | Works on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | None stated | A phone number | Android, iPhone, desktop | |
| Google Meet | 100 | 60 minutes with three or more people, 24 hours one to one | A Google Account | Android, iPhone, web browser |
| FaceTime | 32 | None stated | An Apple device to start the call. Others can join from a link. | iPhone, iPad, Mac. Guests use Chrome or Edge on Android or Windows. |
| Zoom | 100 | 40 minutes | An account to host. Guests join without one. | Mobile app, desktop app, web |
| Microsoft Teams | 100 | 60 minutes | An account to create a meeting | Android, iPhone, Windows, Mac, web |
| Jitsi Meet | No fixed limit | None. Jitsi’s site says you can use it all day. | No account to join. On meet.jit.si the first person in signs in with Google, Facebook or GitHub. | Web browser, Android, iPhone |
| Signal | 50 | None stated | Signal installed on your phone | Android, iPhone, and Windows, Mac or Linux alongside the phone |
| Telegram | 200 | None stated | A phone number | Phones, tablets, computers |
| Viber | 60 | None stated | The other person on Viber too | Mobile and desktop |
| LINE | 500 | None stated | The other person on LINE too | Mobile and desktop |
“None stated” means the maker’s page gives no time limit. It is not a promise that calls can run for ever.
All ten are free to install. Of the nine on Google Play, only Viber and LINE carry an ads label, and only Google Meet and Jitsi Meet show no in-app purchases.
Apps your family is probably on
WhatsApp’s help page for Android is blunt: a video call takes 32 active people and no more. A phone number is all you need to sign up, and the listing says calls are end-to-end encrypted. The same help page warns that the quality of a group call depends on the person with the weakest connection, which matters when one of you is on a poor network.
FaceTime is Apple’s own app on the iPhone, iPad and Mac, and Apple’s guide gives a limit of 32 people on a Group FaceTime call. The other end no longer has to be an Apple device. Someone with an iPhone on iOS 15 or later creates a link. A person on Android or Windows opens it in Chrome or Edge, types a name and waits to be let in, with no login. Screen sharing and SharePlay do not work in the browser, and Apple says FaceTime links are not supported in mainland China. The steps are on Apple’s page for Android and Windows users.
Choose Signal when privacy comes first. It is run by a non-profit that says it is funded by donations, its Google Play page carries no ads label, and its listing says it cannot listen to your calls. Group calls take up to 50 people, and the desktop apps only work once Signal is set up on your phone.
Telegram’s FAQ says any call can be turned into a group call with up to 200 participants, protected by end-to-end encryption. Viber’s listing gives 60 people for a group video call, on mobile or desktop. LINE has the highest ceiling here: its help centre says up to 500 people can join a voice or video call, though a phone screen shows six of them at a time.
WeChat’s listing gives nine people for a group video call. Messenger’s help page says you can video call one person or a group and puts no number on it. On a computer, Meta now sends people to facebook.com/messages in a browser, because its Messenger desktop apps for Mac and Windows are no longer available.
Voice at the push of a button is a different job, one for walkie-talkie apps.
Meeting links for people outside your contacts
Google Meet is what Google Duo became: Google renamed the Duo app, and Duo’s Google Play page is now the Meet listing. A meeting on a personal Google account holds up to 100 people. Google’s help page says that without a subscription, a meeting hosted on a computer can run for 24 hours one to one, and for 60 minutes with three or more people. Everyone gets a warning at 50 minutes.
Zoom’s free plan allows as many meetings as you like with up to 100 people, each one capped at 40 minutes. The host signs in, and Zoom’s own page says participants can join without an account.
Microsoft Teams took over from Skype. In the free version for personal use, Microsoft’s support page says you can create meetings of up to 100 participants for up to 60 minutes. Its comparison of plans shows that recording a meeting is not part of the free version. Discord bots such as Craig will record a voice call for free.
Jitsi Meet is the answer when a group call has to run past an hour for free. It is open source, its own site says you can use it all day, every day, and its listing says there are no artificial limits on the number of people, with server power and bandwidth as the only ceiling. Guests need no account and no app: they open the link in a browser. There is one catch on the public site, meet.jit.si. Jitsi’s handbook says the first person into a room is asked to sign in with a Google, Facebook or GitHub account, or to wait for someone who has. Google Meet and Teams stop at 60 minutes and Zoom at 40, and the messaging apps above state no limit.
Calling from Android to iPhone
Every app in the table except FaceTime has an Android app and an iPhone app, so any of them works between the two. WhatsApp is the usual answer where both people have it. If the Android owner does not want another account, a FaceTime link from the iPhone owner opens in Chrome.
Joining with no account or phone number
Three of these let the other person join with no account at all: a FaceTime link, a Zoom meeting and a Jitsi Meet room. The person who starts the call still needs something. That is an Apple device for FaceTime, a Zoom account for Zoom, and a Google, Facebook or GitHub sign-in for the public Jitsi site.
When the problem is only the phone number, Messenger’s listing says it needs none, since it finds people through Facebook. Google Meet meetings run on a Google Account.
Skype, Hangouts and ICQ have closed
Microsoft announced that it would retire Skype in May 2025 in favour of Teams, and skype.com now forwards to the Teams site. The Teams listing says Skype chats and contacts carry over.
Google moved Hangouts users to Google Chat and said Hangouts would stop being accessible from November 2022. Its Google Play page is gone. ICQ’s website shows one notice, saying the service has stopped working.
Tango is still on Google Play, but as a live-streaming app for watching creators and chatting with strangers, rated Mature 17+. It is no longer a tool for calling your family.
