Free Zoom limits in 2026: 40 minutes, 100 participants and what next
The four limits everyone notices, a table by plan, how to work around the limit honestly and what it costs to lift it.
Short answer
The free Zoom plan, called Basic, has four limits everyone notices.
Everything else is there in the free plan, just with limits: chat, whiteboard, clips, calendar, tasks and part of Zoom AI. These are parts of one platform, Zoom Workplace. Lifting the limits costs 18,686 ₽ per year per host excluding VAT, details below.
A group meeting lasts 40 minutes
A one-to-one call is not limited.
Up to 100 participants
in a meeting.
Recording only to the host's computer
No cloud recording and no transcript.
One licence
A second host cannot be added to the account.
Table: what Basic, Pro and Business give
All figures are from Zoom's pricing page, taken on 6 September 2026.
| Basic, free | Pro | Business | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group meeting length | 40 minutes | up to 30 hours | up to 30 hours |
| One-to-one meeting | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited |
| Participants | up to 100 | up to 100, expandable to 1,000 | up to 300, expandable to 1,000 |
| Licences per account | 1 | 1–99 | 1–250 |
| Recording | computer only | computer and cloud, 10 GB per licence | computer and cloud, 10 GB per licence |
| Recording transcript | no | yes | yes |
| Zoom AI meeting summaries | 3 meetings a month | unlimited | unlimited |
| AI notes | 3 times a month | unlimited | unlimited |
| Whiteboards | 3 | 3 | unlimited |
| Clips | 5 of two minutes | unlimited | unlimited |
| Single sign-on (SSO), managed domains | no | no | yes |
| Device management, policies | no | no | yes |
| Support | help centre | live chat | chat and phone |
Forty minutes: what it looks like in practice
The countdown starts when a third participant joins the meeting. A few minutes before the end Zoom shows a warning, then the connection drops.
Formally this is not a disaster. The link stays valid, everyone reconnects and carries on. In practice every drop costs two or three minutes and breaks the conversation exactly when it has reached the point. People watch the timer instead of the topic. External participants, a guest, a candidate, a contractor, see that the company has a free account.
The limit does not apply to a call between two people. That is why many are sure that "everything works for us" until a third person joins the meeting.
How to get around the 40 minutes honestly
There are exactly two ways, and neither is a hack.
Restart the meeting. After the drop the host starts the same meeting again, and participants join by the old link. Zoom does not forbid this. The price: two or three minutes and the lost thread of the conversation every forty minutes. Bearable for a stand-up, not for training or negotiations.
Split the meeting into parts. Two calls of 35 minutes with a break. Works for a lecture with a pause, does not work for an interview or a review with a contractor.
Everything that "how to remove the limit for free" articles promise comes down to these two ways, or to breaking Zoom's rules at the risk of losing the account. Only a paid plan lifts the limit.
What else is limited, but not noticed at once
Only to the host's computer. The file has to be found, renamed, uploaded somewhere and sent to someone. There is no automatic transcript. If the host recorded the meeting on a personal laptop and left the company, the recording left with them. How local recording differs from cloud recording and where to find what was recorded is covered in Recording in Zoom.
It exists in Basic, but in portions: summaries for three of the host's meetings a month, twenty AI requests, three uses of AI notes, three documents a month in the Canvas editor. Enough to try, not enough to work.
Three boards. To create a fourth you have to delete one of the old ones. Business lifts this limit too.
Videos up to two minutes, no more than five.
No single sign-on, no managed domains, no device management, no admin dashboard with reports. While the company has three people this does not matter. As soon as there are thirty employees it becomes the main question.
Help centre only. Live chat appears on Pro.
What is not limited in free Zoom
So as not to create false expectations, here is what works on the Basic plan without cuts:
- screen sharing, windows and parts of the screen;
- virtual background and blur;
- breakout rooms for group work;
- waiting room and a meeting passcode;
- chat, reactions, raised hand, polls;
- automatic captions during the meeting;
- joining from a phone, from a browser and from a meeting room.
For a conversation between two people the Basic plan covers everything. The limits begin where a third participant appears and where a recording has to outlive an employee.
When it is time to move to a paid plan
A simple sign: if at least one regular meeting in the company drops at the fortieth minute, the free plan is already costing money. You pay not Zoom but with the participants' time.
The second sign: recording. As soon as meetings are recorded not "just in case" but to be returned to, training, reviews, acceptance of work, a local file on someone else's computer stops being a solution.
The third: IT. As soon as the security team asks about single sign-on, administrator rights and data storage, the conversation about the free plan ends by itself.
The fourth: external meetings. A drop at the fortieth minute of negotiations with a customer costs more than a yearly licence.
What it costs to lift the limit
The nearest paid plan, Pro, lifts the 40-minute limit, gives cloud recording with a transcript, statistics and chat support. Only the host needs a licence. Participants join for free and need no account.
| Pro licence, per host per year | Excluding VAT | VAT 22 % | Total with VAT |
|---|---|---|---|
| At the Central Bank rate on 6 September 2026 | 18,686 ₽ | 4,111 ₽ | 22,797 ₽ |
That is about 1,560 ₽ a month excluding VAT for one host. A company where five people schedule meetings does not need to buy a hundred licences. The price is recalculated at the Central Bank rate on the payment date; how a purchase under contract works is on the buying page. What the next plan gives and what a team of 10, 50 and 250 people costs is in Zoom pricing.
And one caveat, so that the upgrade does not turn out to be a purchase of thin air. A paid plan lifts the forty minutes automatically. Nothing else switches on by itself: cloud recording, transcripts, statistics, single sign-on, retention policies. Each of these things has to be set up by someone, and employees have to be told it has appeared. A licence bought and not put to use costs the same as a working one. That is why our job is not selling licences but getting them used.
Frequently asked questions
How many minutes does a free Zoom meeting last?
Forty minutes if there are three or more participants. A one-to-one call is not limited.
How many people can be invited in free Zoom?
Up to a hundred. Pro also has a hundred, Business three hundred; expansion to a thousand is bought separately.
Can a meeting be recorded in free Zoom?
Yes, but only to the host's computer. Cloud recording and transcripts are available from the Pro plan.
Can a participant record, not the host?
Only if the host has allowed them local recording in the participants list.
How do I remove the 40-minute limit?
Only with a paid plan. Everything else comes down to reconnecting every forty minutes.
Is it true that Zoom lifted the 40-minute limit?
Temporarily, in certain periods and for certain categories of users. There was no permanent lifting: as of September 2026 the limit applies and is stated on Zoom's pricing page.
What does it cost to remove the limit?
18,686 ₽ per year per host excluding VAT at the rate on 6 September 2026; participants are free.
Does free Zoom have screen sharing?
Yes, without restrictions, on all plans.
Do I need to register to join a meeting?
No. A participant joins by link without an account. Only the host needs an account.
Can a company use free Zoom?
It can, but with one licence and one host: a second cannot be added to the account, and there is no single sign-on or administration. For a company it is a plan to try things out.
Does free Zoom work in Russia?
Yes, just like the paid one. Only payment with a Russian bank card does not go through; see the page Zoom in Russia in 2026.
Try Zoom today
We'll give you a remote demo Monday to Friday, 10:00–16:00 Moscow time, answer all your questions and provide trial access so you can explore the system yourself.
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