A free Zoom alternative for people who run client sessions, classes and groups on video
Zoom bills every host a seat, and every client lands on a zoom.us link. With Castio, clients meet you at your own address, like meet.yourfirm.com, and there are no per-seat fees. Castio's software is free for every host. Below, the two side by side.
Free software
No per-seat fees
Add as many hosts and members as you like.
No 40-minute cap
Meetings run as long as you choose, up to 24 hours. Permanent rooms stay open.
Up to 1,000 people per meeting
You set the limit.
Links on your own domain
Like meet.yourcompany.com, when your domain is on Cloudflare.
What you'd pay Zoom for
Each of these is included in Castio's software. On Zoom, it takes a paid plan, or it isn't offered.
Meetings longer than 40 minutes
CastioIncluded
ZoomPro, $16.99 a user a month, or $14.16 billed yearly. Source: Zoom support, meeting length
Cloud recording
CastioIncludedRecordings are saved for 7 days by default; turn on one setting and they're kept in your own Cloudflare storage until you delete them.
ZoomPro, $16.99 a user a month, or $14.16 billed yearly. Source: Zoom support, cloud recording
Your logo and colors on join pages
CastioIncluded
ZoomBusiness, $21.99 a user a month, or $18.33 billed yearly, with Zoom's approval. Source: Zoom support, branding and vanity URLs
Links on your own domain
CastioIncludedWhen your domain is on Cloudflare.
ZoomNot offered on any plan: Business, $21.99 a user a month, gives a yourco.zoom.us address at most. Source: Zoom support, branding and vanity URLs
Meetings with more than 100 people
CastioIncluded
ZoomLarge Meeting add-on, on top of a paid plan: $600 a year a license for 500 people, or $1,490 for 1,000. Source: Zoom plans and pricing
Polls
CastioIncluded
ZoomPro, $16.99 a user a month, or $14.16 billed yearly. Source: Zoom support, polls
Zoom's plans and prices as their own pages state them, checked 9 October 2026.
What Zoom has that Castio doesn't
Castio doesn't have breakout rooms. It runs in any browser, with nothing to install.
Zoom vs Castio, side by side
Scroll sideways for the Castio column →
| Category | Zoom |  Castio |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $16.99 a user a month (Pro), so $169.90 a month for 10 users | $0 per user; about $5 a month in total to Cloudflare for the same team, plus $149 a year for us to install it today. How we worked it out |
| Source code | Closed | Going open source; code goes public with the free self-install version |
| Meeting length | The free plan ends every meeting at 40 minutes, one-on-one calls included. Paid plans run up to 30 hours. | You pick the length: 25 or 50 minutes, or your own, up to 24 hours. No 40-minute cap. |
| Cost as you add hosts | Every host needs a paid seat. Pro is $16.99 a month each, or $14.16 a month billed yearly. | No per-seat fees. Every host is included. Cloudflare's bill follows meeting minutes, not hosts. |
| Branding and address | Zoom's brand on a zoom.us link. Business adds your branding and an approved yourco.zoom.us address, never your own domain | Your logo and colors, at your own address, like meet.yourfirm.com |
| Where it runs | Zoom's servers, under Zoom's name | Your own Cloudflare account, at your own address |
| Clients joining | In the Zoom app, or in a browser with the Zoom web app, on a zoom.us page | A link or a meeting code, in the browser, on your own address. No account, no app. |
| Recording | Cloud recording on Pro, with 10 GB of storage a user | Record a session and watch it back. Recordings are saved for 7 days by default; turn on one setting and they're kept in your own Cloudflare storage until you delete them. |
| Webinars | Zoom Webinars, a separate product, from $89 a month billed monthly | A webinar meeting type, included |
| Large meetings | 100 people on Pro, 300 on Business. More takes the Large Meeting add-on: $600 a year a license for 500 people, $1,490 for 1,000. | Up to 1,000 people in a meeting or webinar (100 by default; you set the limit), plus a public livestream page. |
Setting it up
We install it for you on your own Cloudflare account and domain. You need a Cloudflare account on its Workers Paid plan, and your domain has to use Cloudflare for its DNS.
What people usually mean by "zoom alternative"
A Zoom alternative with no 40-minute limit
Castio has no 40-minute cap. You pick how long each meeting runs.
Zoom's free plan ends every meeting at 40 minutes, one-on-one calls included. Castio, as a Zoom meeting alternative, lets the host pick a length when creating the meeting: 25 or 50 minutes, or their own, up to 24 hours. The meeting ends at that time, so give a long session some room. How Zoom's cap works is in the Zoom time limit guide.
A Zoom alternative that runs in your own account
Castio runs in your own Cloudflare account, with no server for you to run.
Castio's platform and database are installed into your Cloudflare account, at your own address. There's no server for you to patch: new versions appear as an Update Now button in your settings, and nothing changes until you click it. The Jitsi comparison covers that tradeoff.
A Zoom alternative for webinars
Castio includes webinars and livestreams, at your own address.
Zoom sells Webinars as a separate product, from $89 a month billed monthly. In Castio, a webinar is a meeting type at no extra cost, not a separate webinar platform, so a talk to your clients runs under your own name.
What the numbers say
Zoom's bill grows with every host you add. Castio has no per-seat fees: every host is included.
Zoom Workplace Pro is $16.99 a month per user billed monthly, or $14.16 a month billed yearly. Every host needs their own paid seat. For a team of 10, Pro comes to $1,699.20 a year billed yearly, every year. What every Zoom plan costs a team has the full arithmetic.
Castio charges nothing per host. Adding a colleague doesn't change what you pay us, and Cloudflare bills you directly for the meetings you hold: the price row above shows the same 10-person team, and what Cloudflare costs has the arithmetic.
Where Castio differs
Where it runs. Zoom meetings run on Zoom's servers, under Zoom's name. Castio runs in your own Cloudflare account, at your own address, with your logo, colors and favicon on the pages your clients see.
How it bills. Zoom charges per host, every month. Castio has no per-seat fees, and Cloudflare bills you for what you use (what Cloudflare costs).
Recording. Record a session and watch it back. Recordings are saved for 7 days by default; turn on one setting and they're kept in your own Cloudflare storage until you delete them.
Who decides on changes. New versions appear as an Update Now button in your settings. Nothing changes until you click it.
Questions people ask
What should the best alternative to Zoom do for client meetings?
Let clients join at your own address, in the browser, with no account and no app. Castio does that, with no per-host fee and no 40-minute cap.
Is there a Zoom alternative without the 40-minute limit?
Castio has no 40-minute cap. The host picks each meeting's length, 25 or 50 minutes or their own, up to 24 hours, and the meeting ends at that time. Zoom's cap is explained in the Zoom time limit guide.
Is there a free Zoom alternative with no 40-minute limit?
Castio has no 40-minute cap, and its software is free for every host; Cloudflare bills you directly for running it (what Cloudflare costs). Today a Castio developer installs it for you for a yearly fee; the free self-hosted version, which runs in your own Cloudflare account, comes when the code is public. There are no per-seat fees, however many people on your team run meetings. The branded demo is free.
Is there a Zoom alternative I can run in my own account?
Castio is installed into your own Cloudflare account, with no server for you to run. The Jitsi comparison sets that against running your own Jitsi server.
Sources
Facts about other products were checked against their own pages in September and October 2026.
Free to run. Yours to keep.
Have us install and update it, or install it yourself for free once the code is public.
Get Castio