

Slack, Teams and Zoom offer free versions with limited features and tiered pricing for paid ones. Video conferencing platforms offer video and audio calls, one-to-one meetings, group conferencing, collaboration and productivity apps, and a secure interface. Teams had 44 million users globally as of March 18, Microsoft said last month, more than double the 20 million daily active users it reported in November. "Second, Zoom has a freemium model, which allows companies to dip their toes in the water before committing to a large roll-out, and expansions come easy." "First, Zoom's big advantage, as far as software goes, is it's scalable, easy to use, and deployable across multiple devices," said DA Davidson analyst Rishi Jaluria.

Zoom has a huge following among schools and students, many of whom log in through internet browsers and home computers, and it has relaxed norms for schools by lifting its 40-minute meeting limit on free accounts to facilitate online classes. Brody Ford / Bloomberg: Apptopia: apps including Pinterest, YouTube, and Snapchat have seen sustained growth during the pandemic, while Zoom's DAUs hit a peak in US around Sept. Apptopia's data is based purely on usage of the application on smartphones and other mobile devices.
