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Microsoft Teams vs Webex 2026: Cost, Quality & Features

Microsoft Teams dominates enterprise adoption with 320+ million monthly active users and deeper Microsoft 365 integration, while Webex excels in meeting quality with superior video codecs and better performance on low-bandwidth networks. Teams is the market leader for organizations already invested in Microsoft, whereas Webex is preferred for pure video conferencing reliability.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams

Enterprise collaboration platform integrated with Microsoft 365 suite, offering messaging, video calls, and Office app integration.

Organizations with Microsoft 365 subscriptions, enterprises needing tight Office integration, teams prioritizing cost and scale

Score63%
VS
Cisco Webex

Cisco Webex

Enterprise video conferencing platform with AI features, deep integrations, and massive scalability.

Organizations prioritizing pure video quality, distributed teams on unreliable networks, companies avoiding Microsoft ecosystem lock-in

Score63%

Quick Answer

AI Summary

Microsoft Teams dominates enterprise adoption with 320+ million monthly active users and deeper Microsoft 365 integration, while Webex excels in meeting quality with superior video codecs and better performance on low-bandwidth networks. Teams is the market leader for organizations already invested in Microsoft, whereas Webex is preferred for pure video conferencing reliability.

Our Verdict

AI-assisted

Choose Microsoft Teams if your organization uses Microsoft 365, requires deep integration with Office applications, or prioritizes cost-effectiveness and unified communications. Choose Cisco Webex if you need superior video quality for bandwidth-constrained environments, work with multi-platform teams, or require best-in-class meeting reliability independent of email and productivity suites.

Community feedback

Was this verdict helpful?

Microsoft Teams
7.5/10
Cisco Webex
7.5/10

TIE — neck and neck

Microsoft Teams

Choose Microsoft Teams if

Organizations with Microsoft 365 subscriptions, enterprises needing tight Office integration, teams prioritizing cost and scale

Cisco Webex

Choose Cisco Webex if

Organizations prioritizing pure video quality, distributed teams on unreliable networks, companies avoiding Microsoft ecosystem lock-in

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Key Differences at a Glance

  • Monthly Active Users:Microsoft Teams wins(320 million vs 80 million)
  • Microsoft 365 Integration:Microsoft Teams wins(Native integration with all Microsoft apps vs Limited integration via plugins)
  • Video Codec Technology:Cisco Webex wins(H.265 HEVC (advanced) vs H.264 standard)
See all 7 differences

Key Facts & Figures

86 numeric metrics compared

MetricMicrosoft TeamsCisco WebexRatio
Daily Active Users(millions)320 million
App Integrations(count)~700
Paid Starting Price(USD/user/mo)Included with M365
Maximum Webinar Participants(participants)10,000
Free Meeting Duration Limit(minutes)60 minutes
Maximum Free Breakout Rooms(rooms)50 rooms
Starting Paid Plan Cost(USD/month)$6/month (Microsoft 365 bundle)
Standalone Monthly Pricing (Pro Tier)(USD per user per month)$6.00 (with Microsoft 365 Business Basic)
Annual Cost per User (Pro Tier)(USD)$72 (bundled pricing)
Third-Party App Integrations(integrations)1,000+
Video Meeting Capacity(participants)Up to 10,000
Mobile App Feature Parity(%)85%
Free Plan Monthly Cost(USD)$6 (Teams Essentials)
Maximum Free Tier Group Meeting Duration(hours)24 hours
Free Tier Participant Limit(participants)100 participants
Gartner Meeting Solutions Rating(stars)4.5 stars
Gartner Review Sample Size(reviews)3,669 reviews
Gartner Customer Rating(stars)4.5 stars
Customer Reviews Analyzed(count)3,668 reviews
Video Quality Rating(%)7.9% positive
Maximum Meeting Participants(participants)1,000+ participants40,000
Starting Monthly Price per User(USD)$4.50
Free Meeting Duration (3+ participants)(minutes)60 minutes
Real-Time Translation Languages(count)31 languages
Enterprise Deployment Adoption (500+ seat orgs)(percentage)67% of deployments
3-Year TCO Advantage for 1,000 Users with M365(percentage savings)47% lower cost
Base Pricing (Monthly)(USD)$7.00 (Business Basic 2026 price)
Maximum Video Meeting Participants(participants)300+ participants
Language Translation Support(languages)40+ languages (Teams Premium)
Registered Users Globally(millions)350+ million monthly active users
Monthly Active Users (MAU)(millions)320M220M
Free Plan Meeting Duration Limit(minutes)60 minutes (group calls)40 minutes (3+ participants)
Pro Plan Monthly Cost(USD)$6.50 or free with Microsoft 365$13.49
Meeting Recording Retention (Free)(days)Unlimited (OneDrive)30 days
Minimum Bandwidth for HD Video(Mbps)4.5 Mbps
Monthly Active Users (2024)(millions)320 million
Starting Price (Monthly)(USD)$0 (Free) or $6 (Standard)
Native third-party integrations(count)500+ apps
Maximum Video Conference Participants(participants)10,000 participants
Paid Plan Starting Price(USD/user/month)$6
Third-Party Integrations(count)500+
Max Video Conference Participants(people)10000
Voice Codec Quality Rating(score (1-10))8
Enterprise Security CertificationsSOC 2, HIPAA, FedRAMP, GDPR, DLP, eDiscovery
Time to Deploy(hours)1-3
Uptime Guarantee(percent)99.9%
Video Conference Max Participants(participants)300
Free Tier File Storage(GB per user)100 GB per user
Message Search History (Free Tier)(days)90 days
Annual Subscription Cost (Pro, 100 users)(USD)$7,800 or free with Microsoft 365
Desktop App Memory Usage(MB)450 MB
Voice Latency(ms)50-100ms
Free Tier Call Duration Limit(minutes)60 minutes (100 participants max)
Monthly Cost (1 Pro User)(USD)$6.00
Screen Sharing Maximum FPS(fps)30fps
Supported Language Captions(languages)60+ languages
Maximum Free Server Categories(categories)Limited (fixed structure)
Enterprise Fortune 500 Adoption Rate(percent)80%
Free Tier Meeting Duration for Group Calls(minutes)60 minutes (unlimited participants)
Pro Plan Annual Cost(USD)$70/year (via Microsoft 365 Business Basic)
Maximum Participants (Standard Meeting)(people)300 participants
Free Plan Cloud Storage(GB)5 GB (OneDrive)
Breakout Rooms Maximum Count(rooms)50 breakout rooms
Global Enterprise Video Conferencing Market Share (2024)(percent)28.2%
Monthly Subscription Cost (Pro/Standard)(USD)$0 (bundled) or $12.50 (standalone)
Message Delivery Latency(milliseconds)200-300ms
File Upload Limit(GB)250GB
G2 Ease of Use Rating (2024)(stars)4.0/5
Video Meeting Participant Limit(participants)300
Active Monthly Users(millions)300+ million users
Base Monthly Cost (Single User)(USD)$4.00 (Teams Essentials) - $12.50 (Teams Premium)
Maximum File Upload Size(GB)2 GB per file
Available Integrations(count)1,000+ native integrations200+ integrations
Annual TCO (1,000 users, 3-year average)(USD)$48,000-150,000
Pro Plan Monthly Cost Per User(USD)$6.00
File Storage Per User(GB)1000 (1TB OneDrive)
Free Group Video Call Duration Limit(minutes)60
Maximum Video Conference Participants (Free)(people)100
Native Integrations Available(count)1000+
G2 User Interface Rating(out of 5)4.1/5 (8,300 reviews)
Maximum Meeting Participants (Free)(participants)100 participants100 participants
Maximum Meeting Participants (Paid)(participants)40,000 participants40,000 participants
Pro Plan Monthly Cost (Annual Billing)(USD per user)$15.99$15.99
Free Plan Duration40 minutes unlimited users40 minutes unlimited users
Standard Plan Price(USD/user/month)$14.99$14.99
Global Market Share(%)16.5%16.5%

Sourced from publicly available data ·

Key Differences

7 attributes compared head-to-head

Microsoft Teams
4Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams leads1 tie
Cisco Webex
2Cisco Webex
  • Monthly Active Users

    Microsoft Teams

    320 million(winner)

    Cisco Webex

    80 million

  • Microsoft 365 Integration

    Microsoft Teams

    Native integration with all Microsoft apps(winner)

    Cisco Webex

    Limited integration via plugins

  • Video Codec Technology

    Microsoft Teams

    H.264 standard

    Cisco Webex

    H.265 HEVC (advanced)(winner)

  • Bandwidth Requirements (HD meeting)

    Microsoft Teams

    4.5 Mbps minimum

    Cisco Webex

    2.5 Mbps minimum(winner)

  • Base Plan Monthly Cost

    Microsoft Teams

    $6-12 per user(winner)

    Cisco Webex

    $13.49 per user

  • Meeting Participant Limit (free tier)

    Microsoft Teams

    100 participants (60 min limit)(winner)

    Cisco Webex

    100 participants (40 min limit)

  • Enterprise Security Certifications

    Microsoft Teams

    SOC 2, FedRAMP, HIPAA, GDPR

    Cisco Webex

    SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, FIPS 140-2

Full Comparison

Microsoft Teams
Cisco Webex
Daily Active Users(millions)
320 million
Monthly Active Users (2024)(millions)
320 million
App Integrations(count)
~700
Microsoft 365 Integration Depth(integration level)
8+ apps (Outlook, Excel, Word, OneDrive, SharePoint, Project, Planner, Power BI)
Native Microsoft Office Integration
Full (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)
Limited (manual upload required)
Native third-party integrations(count)
500+ apps
Microsoft 365 Ecosystem Integration(integration depth)
Native: Word, Excel, SharePoint, OneDrive, Outlook, Power BI
Show 1 more attribute
Native Microsoft 365 Integration(integration level)
Native (deep)
Paid Starting Price(USD/user/mo)
Included with M365
Free Cloud Recording Capability
No, paid only
Free Meeting Duration Limit(minutes)
60 minutes
Office 365 Native Integration
Full native integration
Browser Join Without App
Often requires app/account
Maximum Webinar Participants(participants)
10,000
Maximum Meeting Participants(participants)
1,000+ participants
40,000
Maximum Free Breakout Rooms(rooms)
50 rooms
Starting Paid Plan Cost(USD/month)
$6/month (Microsoft 365 bundle)
Standalone Monthly Pricing (Pro Tier)(USD per user per month)
$6.00 (with Microsoft 365 Business Basic)
Annual Cost per User (Pro Tier)(USD)
$72 (bundled pricing)
Free Plan Monthly Cost(USD)
$6 (Teams Essentials)
Starting Monthly Price per User(USD)
$4.50
Show 14 more attributes
Base Pricing (Monthly)(USD)
$7.00 (Business Basic 2026 price)
Free Plan Meeting Duration Limit(minutes)
60 minutes (group calls)
40 minutes (3+ participants)
Pro Plan Monthly Cost(USD)
$6.50 or free with Microsoft 365
$13.49
Starting Price (Monthly)(USD)
$0 (Free) or $6 (Standard)
Paid Plan Starting Price(USD/user/month)
$6
Annual Subscription Cost (Pro, 100 users)(USD)
$7,800 or free with Microsoft 365
Free Tier Call Duration Limit(minutes)
60 minutes (100 participants max)
Monthly Cost (1 Pro User)(USD)
$6.00
Pro Plan Annual Cost(USD)
$70/year (via Microsoft 365 Business Basic)
Monthly Subscription Cost (Pro/Standard)(USD)
$0 (bundled) or $12.50 (standalone)
Base Monthly Cost (Single User)(USD)
$4.00 (Teams Essentials) - $12.50 (Teams Premium)
Pro Plan Monthly Cost Per User(USD)
$6.00
Pro Plan Monthly Cost (Annual Billing)(USD per user)
$15.99
Standard Plan Price(USD/user/month)
$14.99
AI Translation Languages (2026)(languages)
Limited translation features
AI Meeting Assistant Cost(USD/month)
Copilot Pro required ($20+ per tenant)
Included free
AI Assistant Integration
Copilot with GPT-4, speech-to-text, real-time translation
AI Meeting Assistant
Webex Assistant (transcription, summary)
Third-Party App Integrations(integrations)
1,000+
Video Meeting Capacity(participants)
Up to 10,000
Native Office Integration
Native with SharePoint, OneDrive, Office Web Apps
AI Copilot Features
Microsoft Copilot Pro (enterprise AI, meeting insights)
Maximum Free Tier Group Meeting Duration(hours)
24 hours
AI Meeting Notes Availability
Premium only ($10/user/month)
Show 16 more attributes
AI Meeting Summaries
Basic transcription only
Yes, Business plan+
Free Meeting Duration (3+ participants)(minutes)
60 minutes
Real-Time Translation Languages(count)
31 languages
Maximum Video Meeting Participants(participants)
300+ participants
Language Translation Support(languages)
40+ languages (Teams Premium)
Maximum Video Conference Participants(participants)
10,000 participants
Max Video Conference Participants(people)
10000
Message History (Free Plan)(days)
unlimited
Video Conference Max Participants(participants)
300
Message Search History (Free Tier)(days)
90 days
Supported Language Captions(languages)
60+ languages
Breakout Rooms Maximum Count(rooms)
50 breakout rooms
Message Search Speed (Free Tier)(indexing scope)
Last 3 months only
Message History Retention (Free Tier)(days)
Unlimited
Video Meeting Participant Limit(participants)
300
Available Integrations(count)
1,000+ native integrations
200+ integrations
Message Search Speed(seconds)
2-4 seconds average
Minimum Bandwidth for HD Video(Mbps)
4.5 Mbps
Desktop App Memory Usage(MB)
450 MB
Voice Latency(ms)
50-100ms
Screen Sharing Maximum FPS(fps)
30fps
Show 1 more attribute
Message Delivery Latency(milliseconds)
200-300ms
Mobile App Feature Parity(%)
85%
Free Tier Participant Limit(participants)
100 participants
Maximum Participants (Standard Meeting)(people)
300 participants
Advanced Chat Features (Channels, Threading, Workflows)
Advanced (channels, nested threads, queues, connectors)
Gartner Meeting Solutions Rating(stars)
4.5 stars
Gartner Review Sample Size(reviews)
3,669 reviews
Gartner Customer Rating(stars)
4.5 stars
Customer Reviews Analyzed(count)
3,668 reviews
3-Year Total Cost of Ownership (1,000 users)(USD)
Lower (integrated M365)
Video Quality Rating(%)
7.9% positive
Real-Time Translation Support(null)
Limited to basic captions
Native Cisco Hardware Integration(null)
Third-party device support only
AI Features in Base Tier
Limited (Copilot requires E5)
Maximum Video Sharing Quality(fps at resolution)
4K at 30fps
Maximum Video Resolution(pixels)
1080p (1920x1080)
4K (3840x2160)
Enterprise Deployment Adoption (500+ seat orgs)(percentage)
67% of deployments
Global Enterprise Video Conferencing Market Share (2024)(percent)
28.2%
3-Year TCO Advantage for 1,000 Users with M365(percentage savings)
47% lower cost
Voice Chat Quality Rating(subjective score)
Excellent (optimized for reliability)
Voice Codec Quality Rating(score (1-10))
8
Video Resolution Support(maximum resolution)
4K (3840x2160)
User Learning Curve(difficulty rating)
Steep (enterprise-focused interface)
Registered Users Globally(millions)
350+ million monthly active users
Monthly Active Users (MAU)(millions)
320M
220M
Active Monthly Users(millions)
300+ million users
Enterprise Security Compliance(certifications)
ISO 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR
Enterprise Security Certifications
SOC 2, HIPAA, FedRAMP, GDPR, DLP, eDiscovery
End-to-End Encryption Available
Yes, all plans
Meeting Recording Retention (Free)(days)
Unlimited (OneDrive)
30 days
Free Tier File Storage(GB per user)
100 GB per user
Free Plan Cloud Storage(GB)
5 GB (OneDrive)
File Upload Limit(GB)
250GB
File Storage Per User(GB)
1000 (1TB OneDrive)
Supported Operating Systems(platforms)
Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Web
Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, Web
Cross-Platform Interoperability
Good (Slack, Teams, Google)
Deployment Options
Cloud-only (SaaS)
Source Code Availability
Proprietary (closed-source)
Data Residency Control
Microsoft-managed regional datacenters (limited control)
HIPAA Compliance Certified
Yes
FedRAMP Authorization(boolean)
Yes
Third-Party Integrations(count)
500+
Native Integrations Available(count)
1000+
Native Salesforce Integration
Yes, deep native integration
Time to Deploy(hours)
1-3
Learning Curve(hours to proficiency)
5
Uptime Guarantee(percent)
99.9%
Monthly Active Users(users)
360 million
80 million
Maximum Free Server Categories(categories)
Limited (fixed structure)
Enterprise Fortune 500 Adoption Rate(percent)
80%
Global Market Share(%)
16.5%
Free Tier Meeting Duration for Group Calls(minutes)
60 minutes (unlimited participants)
G2 Ease of Use Rating (2024)(stars)
4.0/5
G2 User Interface Rating(out of 5)
4.1/5 (8,300 reviews)
Maximum File Upload Size(GB)
2 GB per file
Open-Source Availability
Proprietary closed-source
Self-Hosted Deployment Option
Cloud-only SaaS
Annual TCO (1,000 users, 3-year average)(USD)
$48,000-150,000
Free Group Video Call Duration Limit(minutes)
60
Maximum Video Conference Participants (Free)(people)
100
Message Search Capability(text)
Basic keyword search (limited free tier)
Maximum Meeting Participants (Free)(participants)
100 participants
Maximum Meeting Participants (Paid)(participants)
40,000 participants
Free Plan Message History(months)
Unlimited
Free Plan Duration
40 minutes unlimited users

Pros & Cons

10 pros·6 cons across both

Microsoft Teams
Cisco Webex
Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams

+5-3

Pros

  • 320 million monthly active users creating network effect
  • Seamless integration with Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook within unified interface
  • Lower pricing at $6/month for basic plan vs competitors
  • 100-participant free tier with 60-minute limit (vs 40 minutes on Webex)
  • Built-in customer data platform for personalization

Cons

  • Requires higher bandwidth (4.5 Mbps for HD) limiting reliability on poor connections
  • Chat and meetings interface considered less intuitive than Webex by 34% of surveyed users
  • Video quality degrades more noticeably on networks under 2 Mbps
Cisco Webex

Cisco Webex

+5-3

Pros

  • H.265 HEVC codec reduces bandwidth needs to 2.5 Mbps for HD meetings
  • Superior video quality maintained on networks below 1.5 Mbps (vs Teams degradation)
  • Platform-agnostic compatibility across Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android without degradation
  • Dedicated meeting room controls and higher visual clarity for presentations
  • 98.99% uptime SLA with redundant data centers

Cons

  • Higher pricing at $13.49/month standard plan (124% more expensive than Teams basic)
  • 80 million monthly users creates smaller network effect vs Teams' 320 million
  • 40-minute free tier limit (20 minutes shorter than Teams)

Frequently Asked Questions

5 questions

  1. Microsoft Teams is significantly better for Microsoft 365 organizations. Teams integrates natively with Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint—allowing users to schedule meetings, share documents, and collaborate without leaving their productivity apps. Webex requires manual plugin installation and provides only basic integration, making Teams the clear choice for Microsoft-centric enterprises.

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