Video conferencing has become essential, but mainstream platforms like Zoom raise serious concerns—data leaks, expensive subscriptions, and lack of true privacy. Many users are now seeking alternatives that prioritize security and user control. After testing various options, I discovered decentralized solutions that offer a compelling shift away from centralized surveillance and hidden costs. TOP 5 Decentralized Zoom Alternatives TOP 5 Decentralized Zoom Alternatives dMeet - for high-quality video meetups with AI real-time translation, AI-agent features, and SDK customization. dMeet Mediasoup - for developers & custom solutions, hybrid SFU/Mesh architecture, WebRTC framework. Mediasoup Nextcloud Talk - best for self-hosted privacy, end-to-end encryption, file-sharing integration. Nextcloud Talk Matrix (Element) - an encrypted messenger with built-in video conferencing capabilities. Matrix (Element) Jami - for secure video meetings and screen sharing with peer-to-peer encryption. Jami Why Consider Alternatives to Zoom? Zoom's convenience comes at a cost: recurring security scandals, mandatory account registrations, and opaque data practices. Governments and corporations have even banned Zoom over vulnerabilities and backdoor risks. Meanwhile, its "free" plan restricts call duration, pushing users toward costly subscriptions. If you care about privacy, ownership of your meetings, or avoiding vendor lock-in, decentralized platforms provide a way out—without sacrificing functionality. Unlike traditional services, decentralized platforms eliminate single points of failure, encrypt calls end-to-end, and often operate on open-source frameworks. Some even integrate blockchain for enhanced transparency. While they may not yet match Zoom’s polish, their focus on privacy and censorship resistance makes them a game-changer for businesses, remote teams, and privacy-conscious users. In this breakdown, I’ll share the top decentralized video conferencing tools available today—highlighting their strengths, trade-offs, and why they might be the future of online communication. Zoom Decentralized Alternatives: Quick Comparison Zoom Decentralized Alternatives: Quick Comparison Zoom Decentralized Alternatives: Quick Comparison Zoom Decentralized Alternatives: Quick Comparison Zoom Decentralized Alternatives: Quick Comparison Zoom Decentralized Alternatives: Quick Comparison Platform Decentralization Key Features Scalability Security Unique Selling Point Price dMeet Fully Decentralized. 15+ nodes worldwide AI Voice Translation, AI - Agents, Reward Points, WebRTC-based, SDK Up to 100,000 participants Blockchain-based, End-to-End Encryption. WalletConnect auth Real-time AI Translation and Token Rewards. Free (only for corporate solutions separately) Free Jami Fully Decentralized Peer-to-Peer, End-to-End Encryption, No Central Server Limited by Peer-to-Peer Connections End-to-End Encryption, SIP Protocol No Central Server, Complete Decentralization Free Matrix (Element) Federated Network Federated Chat/VoIP, End-to-End Encryption, Open APIs Scalable with Federated Servers End-to-End Encryption, Cryptographic Sync Federated Model with Open APIs From €10 per user Mediasoup Semi-Decentralized Hybrid MESH-SFU, Strong Privacy, WebRTC-based Scalable with SuperPeers Strong Privacy, Zero Data Retention Hybrid Architecture for Off-Grid Capabilities Free Nextcloud Talk Self-Hosted Integrated with Nextcloud, File Sharing, High Privacy Limited by Self-Hosting Capacity High Privacy, Encrypted Communications Seamless Integration with Nextcloud Ecosystem From 37,49 € per user annual Platform Decentralization Key Features Scalability Security Unique Selling Point Price dMeet Fully Decentralized. 15+ nodes worldwide AI Voice Translation, AI - Agents, Reward Points, WebRTC-based, SDK Up to 100,000 participants Blockchain-based, End-to-End Encryption. WalletConnect auth Real-time AI Translation and Token Rewards. Free (only for corporate solutions separately) Free Jami Fully Decentralized Peer-to-Peer, End-to-End Encryption, No Central Server Limited by Peer-to-Peer Connections End-to-End Encryption, SIP Protocol No Central Server, Complete Decentralization Free Matrix (Element) Federated Network Federated Chat/VoIP, End-to-End Encryption, Open APIs Scalable with Federated Servers End-to-End Encryption, Cryptographic Sync Federated Model with Open APIs From €10 per user Mediasoup Semi-Decentralized Hybrid MESH-SFU, Strong Privacy, WebRTC-based Scalable with SuperPeers Strong Privacy, Zero Data Retention Hybrid Architecture for Off-Grid Capabilities Free Nextcloud Talk Self-Hosted Integrated with Nextcloud, File Sharing, High Privacy Limited by Self-Hosting Capacity High Privacy, Encrypted Communications Seamless Integration with Nextcloud Ecosystem From 37,49 € per user annual Platform Decentralization Key Features Scalability Security Unique Selling Point Price Platform Platform Decentralization Decentralization Key Features Key Features Scalability Scalability Security Security Unique Selling Point Unique Selling Point Price Price dMeet Fully Decentralized. 15+ nodes worldwide AI Voice Translation, AI - Agents, Reward Points, WebRTC-based, SDK Up to 100,000 participants Blockchain-based, End-to-End Encryption. WalletConnect auth Real-time AI Translation and Token Rewards. Free (only for corporate solutions separately) Free dMeet dMeet dMeet dMeet Fully Decentralized. 15+ nodes worldwide Fully Decentralized. 15+ nodes worldwide AI Voice Translation, AI - Agents, Reward Points, WebRTC-based, SDK AI Voice Translation, AI - Agents, Reward Points, WebRTC-based, SDK Up to 100,000 participants Up to 100,000 participants Blockchain-based, End-to-End Encryption. WalletConnect auth Blockchain-based, End-to-End Encryption. WalletConnect auth Real-time AI Translation and Token Rewards. Free (only for corporate solutions separately) Real-time AI Translation and Token Rewards. Free (only for corporate solutions separately) Free Free Jami Fully Decentralized Peer-to-Peer, End-to-End Encryption, No Central Server Limited by Peer-to-Peer Connections End-to-End Encryption, SIP Protocol No Central Server, Complete Decentralization Free Jami Jami Jami Jami Fully Decentralized Fully Decentralized Peer-to-Peer, End-to-End Encryption, No Central Server Peer-to-Peer, End-to-End Encryption, No Central Server Limited by Peer-to-Peer Connections Limited by Peer-to-Peer Connections End-to-End Encryption, SIP Protocol End-to-End Encryption, SIP Protocol No Central Server, Complete Decentralization No Central Server, Complete Decentralization Free Free Matrix (Element) Federated Network Federated Chat/VoIP, End-to-End Encryption, Open APIs Scalable with Federated Servers End-to-End Encryption, Cryptographic Sync Federated Model with Open APIs From €10 per user Matrix (Element) Matrix (Element) Matrix (Element) Matrix (Element) Federated Network Federated Network Federated Chat/VoIP, End-to-End Encryption, Open APIs Federated Chat/VoIP, End-to-End Encryption, Open APIs Scalable with Federated Servers Scalable with Federated Servers End-to-End Encryption, Cryptographic Sync End-to-End Encryption, Cryptographic Sync Federated Model with Open APIs Federated Model with Open APIs From €10 per user From €10 per user Mediasoup Semi-Decentralized Hybrid MESH-SFU, Strong Privacy, WebRTC-based Scalable with SuperPeers Strong Privacy, Zero Data Retention Hybrid Architecture for Off-Grid Capabilities Free Mediasoup Mediasoup Mediasoup Mediasoup Semi-Decentralized Semi-Decentralized Hybrid MESH-SFU, Strong Privacy, WebRTC-based Hybrid MESH-SFU, Strong Privacy, WebRTC-based Scalable with SuperPeers Scalable with SuperPeers Strong Privacy, Zero Data Retention Strong Privacy, Zero Data Retention Hybrid Architecture for Off-Grid Capabilities Hybrid Architecture for Off-Grid Capabilities Free Free Nextcloud Talk Self-Hosted Integrated with Nextcloud, File Sharing, High Privacy Limited by Self-Hosting Capacity High Privacy, Encrypted Communications Seamless Integration with Nextcloud Ecosystem From 37,49 € per user annual Nextcloud Talk Nextcloud Talk Nextcloud Talk Nextcloud Talk Self-Hosted Self-Hosted Integrated with Nextcloud, File Sharing, High Privacy Integrated with Nextcloud, File Sharing, High Privacy Limited by Self-Hosting Capacity Limited by Self-Hosting Capacity High Privacy, Encrypted Communications High Privacy, Encrypted Communications Seamless Integration with Nextcloud Ecosystem Seamless Integration with Nextcloud Ecosystem From 37,49 € per user annual From 37,49 € per user annual Secure Zoom alternative with crystal-clear video and zero data leaks Secure Zoom alternative with crystal-clear video and zero data leaks dMeet (Web/iOS/Android/Mac/Your Own Server) dMeet (Web/iOS/Android/Mac/Your Own Server) dMeet is a decentralized video conferencing application built on dTelecom Cloud, offering a free and open-source solution for secure and seamless communication. One of its interesting features is the AI-powered voice translator, which provides real-time translation in multiple languages, thus helping to overcome the language barrier. This can be especially helpful in business meetings or when traveling around the world. dTelecom Cloud Key Features of dMeet: Key Features of dMeet: AI Real-Time Voice Translation: Real-time translation into 30 languages, displayed in a group chat for all participants to follow. AI agents and avatars: Smart meeting assistants & moderators, customizable avatars, privacy-focused participants. Reward Points System: Users earn points for participating in meetings, which can be converted into tokens, providing a tangible incentive for engagement. Decentralized Infrastructure: Built on dTelecom’s blockchain-based network, ensuring transparency, security, and resistance to censorship. Low Latency: dTelecom Network supports 100,000 participants with< 100ms latency AI Real-Time Voice Translation: Real-time translation into 30 languages, displayed in a group chat for all participants to follow. AI Real-Time Voice Translation: Real-time translation into 30 languages, displayed in a group chat for all participants to follow. AI Real-Time Voice Translation: AI agents and avatars: Smart meeting assistants & moderators, customizable avatars, privacy-focused participants. AI agents and avatars: Smart meeting assistants & moderators, customizable avatars, privacy-focused participants. AI agents and avatars: Reward Points System: Users earn points for participating in meetings, which can be converted into tokens, providing a tangible incentive for engagement. Reward Points System: Users earn points for participating in meetings, which can be converted into tokens, providing a tangible incentive for engagement. Reward Points System: Decentralized Infrastructure: Built on dTelecom’s blockchain-based network, ensuring transparency, security, and resistance to censorship. Decentralized Infrastructure: Built on dTelecom’s blockchain-based network, ensuring transparency, security, and resistance to censorship. Decentralized Infrastructure: Low Latency: dTelecom Network supports 100,000 participants with< 100ms latency Low Latency: dTelecom Network supports 100,000 participants with< 100ms latency Low Latency: Upon joining a meeting on dMeet, the quality of video and audio becomes immediately apparent. This platform offers superior image and sound quality, combined with stability that surpasses traditional video conferencing tools. dMeet.org integrates several notable collaboration tools, including a virtual whiteboard with sticky notes, text and drawing tools, and a "magic pen" that automatically refines rough sketches. Users can share documents and annotate files in real-time without needing to share their entire screen, making it an ideal solution for remote brainstorming sessions or use Spatial Meetings feature. dMeet.org One of the standout features of dMeet is its AI-powered assistant, which can generate real-time translations in over 100 languages, similar to Zoom. Additionally, users can create personalized avatars that can represent them during meetings, allowing them to step away without interrupting the session. Upon returning, users can quickly catch up on what they missed. dMeet also offers a range of communication tools, including chat, broadcast streaming, and livestreaming capabilities. The platform is designed to be user-friendly and accessible. dMeet offers a completely free plan that includes basic video conferencing features such as screen sharing and local video recording. dMeet's decentralized infrastructure ensures that all communications are secure and private, operating on a blockchain-based network. This approach eliminates the need for centralized servers, reducing the risk of data breaches and ensuring that communications are end-to-end encrypted. With its innovative features and secure infrastructure, dMeet is poised to revolutionize the video conferencing landscape by providing a decentralized, user-centric alternative to traditional platforms like Zoom. As the platform continues to evolve, it will integrate more AI-driven tools, further enhancing its capabilities and user experience. Jami (Web/iOS/Android/Mac/Windows) Jami Jami The Decentralized Peer-to-Peer Solution Jami is a decentralized communication platform that operates without central servers, using peer-to-peer technology to connect users directly. It offers end-to-end encryption, ensuring that only the sender and recipient can access messages or calls. Jami supports virtual backgrounds, subtitles, and screen sharing, making it a robust alternative for secure video conferencing. Key Features: Key Features: Peer-to-Peer Connections: No reliance on central servers. End-to-End Encryption: Ensures secure communication. Virtual Backgrounds and Subtitles: Enhances user experience. Peer-to-Peer Connections: No reliance on central servers. Peer-to-Peer Connections: End-to-End Encryption: Ensures secure communication. End-to-End Encryption: Virtual Backgrounds and Subtitles: Enhances user experience. Virtual Backgrounds and Subtitles: Among its competitors, Jami may stand out for its great resilience, as it ensures that communication will remain uninterrupted even if the developers stop working, making it a solid choice for proponents of decentralization and open-source solutions. Compared to popular video conferencing tools like Zoom, Jami offers unlimited participants in group chats and no time limits on calls, making it suitable for long meetings or large-scale collaboration. However, Jami does not have built-in support for recording and transcription of meetings, which may be a drawback for some users. Despite this, its focus on privacy and decentralized architecture positions it as a solid alternative for those looking for secure and private communication solutions. Matrix (Element) (Web/iOS/Android/Mac/Windows/Linux) Matrix (Element) Matrix (Element) (Web/iOS/Android/Mac/Windows/Linux) Matrix is a decentralized chat and VoIP server that allows users to create their own deployments that operate on a federated network, where no single organization controls conversations. This approach ensures users have complete sovereignty over their data, making it an attractive solution for businesses and communities looking to control their communications infrastructure. Matrix supports end-to-end encryption, ensuring that only conversation participants can access messaging. Key Features: Key Features: Federated Network: No central control over conversations. End-to-End Encryption: Ensures secure communication. Open APIs: Highly customizable. Federated Network: No central control over conversations. Federated Network: End-to-End Encryption: Ensures secure communication. End-to-End Encryption: Open APIs: Highly customizable. Open APIs: Matrix has gained significant traction among organizations that require secure and decentralized communication solutions. Notably, the German Bundeswehr and NATO have adopted Matrix for their communication needs, highlighting its reliability and security features. The platform's ability to self-host and federate servers ensures that data remains under the control of the hosting organization, which is particularly important for sensitive government communications. As Matrix continues to evolve, it remains committed to its core principles of decentralization, security, and interoperability. With over 115 million users and more than 80,000 deployments worldwide, Matrix is becoming a standard for secure and decentralized communication. Its open architecture and customizable nature make it an ideal choice for both personal and professional use, offering a robust alternative to centralized communication platforms. Mediasoup (Node.js/Android/iOS/Web) Mediasoup Mediasoup Mediasoup is a powerful open-source media server designed specifically for real-time communication applications using WebRTC. The application is more targeted at developers and advanced users. It acts as a Selective Forwarding Unit (SFU), optimizing the video and audio communication process by receiving media streams from all participants and forwarding only the necessary data to each of them. This approach significantly reduces bandwidth usage and improves overall performance, especially in multi-participant scenarios. Key Features: Key Features: Scalability: Mediasoup efficiently manages multiple participants by forwarding only relevant media streams. It allows for adding more workers or spreading rooms across several hosts to ensure smooth media flow, making it ideal for large-scale broadcasts. Flexibility: Mediasoup supports a variety of codecs, including VP8, VP9, H.264, and Opus, allowing developers to customize media encoding and decoding processes to achieve the desired balance between performance and quality. Interoperability: It works seamlessly with WebRTC-compliant browsers and devices, providing extensive documentation and examples to help developers integrate it into their applications. High Performance: Written in C++ and utilizing Node.js, Mediasoup ensures optimal performance and low latency, making it suitable for applications requiring real-time communication. Scalability: Mediasoup efficiently manages multiple participants by forwarding only relevant media streams. It allows for adding more workers or spreading rooms across several hosts to ensure smooth media flow, making it ideal for large-scale broadcasts. Scalability: Flexibility: Mediasoup supports a variety of codecs, including VP8, VP9, H.264, and Opus, allowing developers to customize media encoding and decoding processes to achieve the desired balance between performance and quality. Flexibility: Interoperability: It works seamlessly with WebRTC-compliant browsers and devices, providing extensive documentation and examples to help developers integrate it into their applications. Interoperability: High Performance: Written in C++ and utilizing Node.js, Mediasoup ensures optimal performance and low latency, making it suitable for applications requiring real-time communication. High Performance: The Mediasoup architecture is designed to efficiently handle multiple media streams, making it suitable for applications that require real-time communication. Its ability to support simultaneous transmission and SVC (scalable video coding) improves video quality by adapting to different network conditions. In addition, Mediasoup offers extensive documentation and examples, facilitating integration into various applications. In simple words, it is an application for applications. In real-world applications, Mediasoup is used for large-scale video conferencing and event streaming. Its scalability and performance make it a preferred choice for developers looking for efficient WebRTC solutions. Nextcloud Talk (iOS/Android/Mac/Windows/Linux/NextCloud Server) Nextcloud Talk (iOS/Android/Mac/Windows/Linux/NextCloud Server) Nextcloud Talk Nextcloud Talk is a self-hosted video conferencing solution integrated into the Nextcloud file-sharing system, prioritizing privacy and security by allowing users to host their own servers. Nextcloud Talk supports encrypted video calls, provides high privacy standards, and integrates seamlessly within any ecosystem, offering seamless file sharing and collaboration. Key Features of Nextcloud Talk Key Features of Nextcloud Talk Self-Hosted: Users have full control over their servers, ensuring that data remains private and secure without reliance on third-party services. Encrypted Communications: All video calls are end-to-end encrypted, ensuring that only participants can access the content, providing a high level of privacy and security. Integration with Nextcloud: Nextcloud Talk integrates with other Nextcloud apps like Files, Calendar, and Groupware, allowing for comprehensive collaboration and communication within a single platform. Federated Chats and Calls: Users can engage in federated chats and calls with other Nextcloud users across different servers, enhancing collaboration across organizations. Self-Hosted: Users have full control over their servers, ensuring that data remains private and secure without reliance on third-party services. Self-Hosted: Encrypted Communications: All video calls are end-to-end encrypted, ensuring that only participants can access the content, providing a high level of privacy and security. Encrypted Communications: Integration with Nextcloud: Nextcloud Talk integrates with other Nextcloud apps like Files, Calendar, and Groupware, allowing for comprehensive collaboration and communication within a single platform. Integration with Nextcloud: Federated Chats and Calls: Users can engage in federated chats and calls with other Nextcloud users across different servers, enhancing collaboration across organizations. Federated Chats and Calls: Nextcloud Talk offers AI chat and call summaries, allowing users to quickly get to the heart of conversations. Additionally, it supports screen sharing, webinars, and public video conferencing with lobby features, making it suitable for large-scale presentations. The platform also provides flexible collaboration tools such as polls, file sharing, and integration with other Nextcloud apps such as Deck for project management. In terms of security, Nextcloud Talk benefits from Nextcloud’s robust security features, including multi-layer encryption, brute-force protection, and AI-powered suspicious login detection. This ensures that all messages and shared data remain private and protected from unauthorized access. As part of the Nextcloud ecosystem, Nextcloud Talk is designed to work seamlessly across devices, including Android and iOS mobile apps. It supports mobile calling and chat with push notifications, ensuring users can communicate effectively on the go.
