Zoom Meeting Cost Calculator
Calculate the true total cost of ownership for Zoom meetings. Includes plan costs, add-ons, salary expenses, and platform comparison—so you can optimize spending and choose the right plan.
A Zoom meeting cost calculator computes the total cost of ownership (TCO) for running meetings on Zoom by combining platform costs (subscription plan + add-ons + host licenses) with salary costs (attendee hourly rates x meeting duration). Zoom's total meeting cost typically ranges from $50-$2,000+ per meeting depending on team size, with platform costs representing 0.5-5% of total TCO. Eric Yuan, Zoom's CEO, noted the platform serves over 200,000 enterprise customers as of FY2025.
Team & Meeting
Enter your team and meeting details
Loaded hourly rate (1.4x): $57.21
52 meetings/year
Used to amortize Zoom platform cost across all meetings
Zoom Plan
Select your Zoom Workplace plan
Base plan cost: $66.65/mo
Zoom Add-ons
Include optional Zoom add-on costs (none selected)
Options
Zoom TCO Analysis
Total Cost Per Meeting
$634
$79.25 per attendee
Per-Meeting Breakdown
Projections
Monthly TCO
$2,810
Zoom: $67
Annual TCO
$33,723
Zoom: $800
Platform costs are minimal vs salary costs — focus on meeting efficiency.
Plan Optimized
Your current plan matches your usage pattern.
Recovery time: Gloria Mark, UC Irvine (2023). Loaded rate: BLS ECEC Data.
You're spending $34K/year on meetings
See this cost in real-time during every Zoom, Meet, and Teams call
Key Insight
Zoom platform costs are typically less than 3% of total meeting TCO. The remaining 97%+ is salary cost. This means optimizing meeting practices (shorter meetings, fewer attendees, async alternatives) delivers 10-50x more savings than switching platforms. Atlassian research found 71% of meetings are considered unproductive—fixing meeting culture matters far more than plan selection.
How to Calculate Zoom Meeting Costs
Enter Team Details
Select Zoom Plan
Add-ons & Options
Review TCO
Zoom Workplace Plans Comparison (2026)
| Feature | BasicFree | Pro$13.33/mo | Popular Business$18.33/mo | Enterprise~$30/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meeting duration | 40 min | 30 hrs | 30 hrs | 30 hrs |
| Participants | 100 | 100 | 300 | 1,000 |
| Cloud recording | 5 GB | 10 GB | Unlimited | |
| AI Companion | ||||
| Managed domains | ||||
| SSO | ||||
| Annual cost (5 hosts) | $0 | $800 | $1,100 | $1,800 |
* Prices shown are per host/month with annual billing (2026). Actual pricing may vary by region and contract terms. Enterprise pricing is estimated and requires sales contact.
Zoom Meeting TCO Formula
Zoom Meeting TCO = Salary Cost + Recovery Cost + Platform Cost
Where:
Salary Cost = Hourly Rate x Duration (hours) x Attendees
Recovery Cost = (23 min / 60) x Hourly Rate x Attendees
Platform Cost = Monthly Zoom Spend / Org Meetings per Month
Hourly Rate = (Annual Salary x Loaded Rate) / 2,080 hours
Monthly Zoom Spend = (Plan Cost x Hosts) + Add-on Costs
Annual TCO = (Salary + Recovery) x Annual Frequency + (Zoom Spend x 12)| Variable | Default | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Loaded Rate | 1.4x (40% overhead) | BLS ECEC Data |
| Annual Hours | 2,080 hours | 40 hrs x 52 weeks |
| Recovery Time | 23 min/person | Gloria Mark, UC Irvine |
| Zoom Pro | $13.33/host/mo | Zoom Pricing (annual billing) |
| Zoom Business | $18.33/host/mo | Zoom Pricing (annual billing) |
Zoom Meeting Cost Examples
| Scenario | Team | Zoom Plan | Meeting | Per Meeting | Annual TCO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Startup (10 people) | 10 attendees, $95K | Pro, 2 hosts | 60 min, weekly | $640 | $33,600 |
| Mid-size (50 people) | 15 attendees, $85K | Business, 10 hosts | 60 min, weekly | $858 | $46,816 |
| Enterprise (500+) | 50 attendees, $90K | Enterprise, 50 hosts | 60 min, monthly | $3,045 | $54,540 |
| Webinar-heavy | 100 attendees, $80K | Business + Webinar | 90 min, biweekly | $5,384 | $143,984 |
| Dev team (async-first) | 6 attendees, $120K | Pro, 2 hosts | 30 min, biweekly | $243 | $6,638 |
* Calculations include 1.4x loaded rate and 23-min recovery time. Annual TCO includes Zoom subscription. Your results will vary.
Zoom vs Google Meet vs Microsoft Teams (2026)
| Feature | Zoom | Google Meet | Microsoft Teams |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier limit | 40 min, 100 people | 60 min, 100 people | 60 min, 100 people |
| Pro/Starter price | $13.33/host/mo | $7.20/user/mo | $6.00/user/mo |
| Business price | $18.33/host/mo | $14.40/user/mo | $12.50/user/mo |
| Max participants | 1,000 (Enterprise) | 500 | 1,000 |
| Recording | Cloud (5-unlimited GB) | Google Drive | OneDrive/SharePoint |
| AI features | Zoom AI Companion | Gemini | Copilot |
| Bundled apps | Meetings, Chat, Whiteboard | Gmail, Drive, Docs, Calendar | Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint |
Platform switching insight: Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 bundle collaboration tools (email, storage, docs) with video conferencing. Zoom is video-first. If you already pay for Workspace or 365, adding Zoom creates overlapping costs. Cal Newport argues in A World Without Email that tool consolidation reduces context switching—a hidden cost that Gartner's TCO framework often misses.
6 Ways to Reduce Zoom Meeting Costs
Switch to annual billing
Zoom offers 15-20% savings with annual vs monthly billing. For 10 hosts on Business, that saves approximately $440/year.
Right-size your plan
Use the calculator's plan recommendation. Many teams on Business only need Pro (saving $60/host/year), since they rarely exceed 100 participants.
Consolidate host licenses
Audit who actually hosts meetings. Shared scheduling (one host delegates) can reduce licenses by 30-50% for many teams.
Audit add-ons quarterly
Unused Webinar ($79/mo) or Large Meeting ($50/mo) add-ons waste $600-950/year. Review usage every quarter—Shopify saved 12,000 hours weekly by auditing their meeting tools.
Apply Amazon's Two-Pizza Rule
Removing 3 unnecessary attendees from a weekly meeting saves more annually than your entire Zoom subscription. Focus on meeting efficiency, not platform cost.
Go async for status updates
Doodle research shows employees average 62.5 meetings per month. Convert status meetings to Slack/Loom updates—async alternatives cost 90% less per interaction.
Common Mistakes
Optimizing platform cost only
Platform cost is typically <3% of meeting TCO. Switching from Zoom to a $5/mo cheaper alternative saves less than shortening one meeting per week.
Over-licensing “just in case”
Enterprise plans for teams under 100 participants waste $200+/host/year. Size your plan to actual usage, not hypothetical peaks.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a Zoom meeting actually cost?
The true cost of a Zoom meeting includes both salary costs (attendee time) and platform costs (Zoom subscription amortized per meeting). A typical 1-hour meeting with 8 people at $85K average salary costs approximately $455 in salary alone, plus $0.83 in Zoom platform cost (Pro plan, 80 meetings/month). The platform cost is usually less than 1% of the total meeting cost.
Is Zoom Pro worth the cost?
Zoom Pro at $13.33/month per host eliminates the 40-minute meeting limit and adds 5GB cloud recording. If your team runs meetings longer than 40 minutes, the Pro plan pays for itself by eliminating the disruption of restarting meetings. For most teams, the salary cost of even one interrupted meeting exceeds the monthly Pro subscription.
How does Zoom pricing compare to Google Meet and Microsoft Teams?
Zoom Pro costs $13.33/host/month (annual billing). Google Meet through Workspace Business Starter costs $7.20/user/month. Microsoft Teams Essentials costs $6.00/user/month. However, direct price comparison is misleading—each platform bundles different features (storage, email, collaboration tools). Use the comparison toggle in the calculator for accurate side-by-side analysis.
What is Zoom Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)?
Zoom TCO goes beyond the subscription price. It includes the base plan cost, add-ons (Large Meetings, Webinars, Phone, extra storage), the salary cost of time spent in meetings, and the 23-minute recovery time after each meeting. According to Gartner, organizations often underestimate communication platform TCO by 30-40%.
How many Zoom hosts do I need?
You need one licensed host per person who needs to schedule and start meetings. Participants who only join meetings (not host) do not need licenses. Common sizing: 1 host per 5-10 team members for small teams, or 1 host per department for larger organizations.
Should I choose Zoom Business or Enterprise?
Zoom Business ($18.33/host/month) supports 300 participants and includes 10GB cloud recording. Enterprise (~$30/host/month) supports 1,000 participants with unlimited cloud storage. Choose Business unless you regularly exceed 300 participants or need unlimited recording storage. The calculator recommends the optimal plan based on your inputs.
How can I reduce Zoom meeting costs?
The biggest cost savings come from meeting efficiency, not platform optimization. Reducing a weekly 1-hour meeting by 15 minutes saves more annually than switching platforms. After optimizing meeting practices, audit your Zoom plan: right-size host licenses, review add-on utilization, and switch to annual billing for 15-20% savings.
What Zoom add-ons should I consider?
Only add what you actively use. Large Meetings ($50/month) is needed only if you regularly exceed your plan participant limit. Webinars ($79/month) are for broadcast-style events, not regular meetings. Extra Cloud Storage ($10/100GB/month) is only needed if you record extensively. Zoom Phone ($10/user/month) replaces a traditional phone system. Audit quarterly to remove unused add-ons.
Related Meeting Cost Tools
Teams Meeting Cost Calculator
Calculate M365 TCO including Teams Premium, Copilot, and cost attribution
Meeting Cost Calculator
Calculate the true cost of any meeting with recovery time
Remote Meeting Cost Calculator
Analyze Zoom fatigue and remote-specific meeting costs
Meeting ROI Calculator
Measure if your meetings generate positive return
Developer Time Calculator
Calculate engineering meeting costs with flow state impact
Meeting Overload Calculator
Assess if you have too many meetings per week
Meeting Costs Guide
Comprehensive guide to understanding meeting expenses
Track Zoom meeting costs automatically
See real-time meeting costs during every Zoom call with the MeetingToll Chrome extension. No manual calculations needed.
Sources & Methodology
- Zoom Communications — FY2025 earnings: 200,000+ enterprise customers, $4.6B annual revenue. Zoom Workplace pricing as of 2026.
- Gloria Mark, UC Irvine (2023) — "Attention Span" — 23-minute recovery time after interruptions including meetings
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — ECEC data for loaded rate calculations (1.4x multiplier)
- Atlassian State of Teams (2024) — 71% of meetings considered unproductive
- Doodle State of Meetings (2019) — Professionals average 62.5 meetings per month
- Gartner — Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) framework for communication platforms
- Amazon / Jeff Bezos — Two-Pizza Rule for meeting size optimization
- Cal Newport — "A World Without Email" — context switching and tool consolidation research
- Shopify (2023) — Eliminated 12,000 hours of meetings per week through meeting audit