Whereby vs Zoom

Why Switch from Zoom to Whereby?

Zoom requires participants to download a desktop client or at minimum a browser extension, creating friction for guests and raising security concerns. Zoom’s data practices have come under fire multiple times — from sharing data with Facebook to allowing meeting hosts to track attendee attention. As a US company, Zoom stores data on American servers under US surveillance jurisdiction.

Whereby is a Norwegian video conferencing solution built entirely in the browser. There is nothing to download, no plugins to install, and no accounts required for guests. You simply share a link and the meeting starts. Behind this simplicity lies a strong commitment to European data protection: Whereby operates under Norwegian and EEA data-protection law, with GDPR compliance built into the product — though some usage data is hosted in the US.

For businesses that want professional, branded video meetings without the overhead of Zoom’s bloated feature set, Whereby offers a refreshingly focused alternative.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Whereby	Zoom
Browser-based (no download)	✅ Fully	⚠️ Web client limited
Persistent meeting rooms	✅ Branded URLs	❌ Generated links
Screen sharing	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Recording	✅ Cloud (paid plans)	✅ Cloud and local
Breakout rooms	✅ Paid plans	✅ Paid plans
Embeddable API	✅ Full video API	⚠️ SDK available
Virtual backgrounds	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Max participants	Up to 200 (Business)	Up to 1,000 (Enterprise)
GDPR compliant	✅ Yes (DPA available; usage data partly in US under SCCs)	⚠️ Partial (US entity)
Data location	AWS Ireland 🇮🇪 — no US parent, indirect CLOUD Act exposure via US sub-processor; some usage data in US 🇺🇸 under SCCs	United States 🇺🇸

Pricing

Whereby’s pricing is straightforward and competitive:

• Whereby Free: 1 room URL, up to 4 attendees, meetings up to 30 minutes
• Whereby Pro: $10.99/month (or $109.90/year) — 3 room URLs, up to 100 attendees, no time limit, custom branding, unlimited recording
• Whereby Business: $13.99/host/month (or $139.90/year), minimum 3 hosts — unlimited room URLs, up to 200 attendees, shared and flex rooms, custom subdomain
• Zoom Basic: Free — 40-minute group meetings, 100 participants
• Zoom Pro: $14.16/user/month (billed annually) — 30-hour meetings, cloud recording
• Zoom Business: $18.33/user/month (billed annually) — 300 participants, admin features

Whereby prices in USD, excluding VAT, as of October 2026.

Whereby’s Pro plan at $10.99/month undercuts Zoom Pro while including persistent branded rooms and GDPR compliance that Zoom cannot match.

Privacy & Data Sovereignty

Whereby takes data protection seriously as a core business value, not a compliance checkbox:

• Registered in Måløy, Norway, with an office in Oslo, operating under Norwegian and EU data protection law
• No US parent company; hosted on AWS (Ireland) → indirect CLOUD Act exposure via a US sub-processor; some usage data is hosted in the US under SCCs
• Account information is hosted in Ireland; usage information is hosted in Ireland and the United States, with Standard Contractual Clauses for the US transfers
• GDPR compliant, with a detailed Data Processing Agreement (DPA) available for business customers
• No meeting content is accessed, analyzed, or used for AI training
• Minimal data collection — guests can join without creating accounts or providing personal information
• Whereby’s embeddable API allows businesses to run video calls entirely within their own applications, keeping user data in their ecosystem
• Regular third-party security audits and penetration testing

For businesses embedding video into their products, Whereby’s API is a standout feature — calls run inside your own product, while the media is handled by Whereby’s infrastructure (AWS, Ireland) and is not stored.

Migration Guide

Transitioning from Zoom to Whereby is simple because Whereby requires no software installation:

1. Sign up for a Whereby account — Go to whereby.com and create your account. You can start with the free plan to test the platform. (3 minutes)
2. Create your meeting rooms — Set up named meeting rooms with permanent URLs (e.g., whereby.com/your-company/client-meetings). These links never change, so you can bookmark and reuse them. (5 minutes)
3. Customize your room branding — On paid plans, add your company logo and set a custom background. This creates a professional impression for client calls. (5 minutes)
4. Update your calendar invites — Replace Zoom links in your recurring calendar events with your new Whereby room URLs. Since Whereby rooms have persistent links, you only need to do this once per recurring meeting. (10-15 minutes)
5. Notify your team and clients — Let your colleagues and clients know they can join your meetings by simply clicking the link — no downloads or accounts needed. (5 minutes)

Estimated total time: 30-45 minutes to fully transition. Difficulty: Very easy — no technical knowledge required, no software to install on any device.

Example Scenarios

Illustrative scenarios of how teams typically use these tools — not documented customer case studies.

A Dutch consulting firm with international clients: Switched to Whereby after clients repeatedly complained about Zoom download prompts during initial sales calls. With Whereby, prospects simply click a branded link and join instantly in their browser, and the persistent branded room URLs create a more professional impression.

A Copenhagen-based health tech startup embedding video into their platform: Uses Whereby’s video API to offer patient-doctor consultations directly inside its own GDPR-compliant health platform. Patients never leave the startup’s interface, which helps with trust and regulatory compliance, and the team does not have to manage separate meeting licences for its clinicians.

A Berlin design agency running daily standups and client reviews: Uses a permanent, bookmarked Whereby room for its small daily standup, and a branded Pro room for client design reviews. The simplicity largely removes the recurring “meeting tech issues” the team had with download-based tools.

Company Background

Whereby started in 2013 as “appear.in”, a project inside Telenor in Norway, one of Scandinavia’s largest telecommunications companies. The service was co-founded by Ingrid Ødegaard and Svein Willassen, who wanted to build the simplest possible video meeting experience — one that worked entirely in the browser without any downloads or plugins. In 2017, appear.in was spun out of Telenor to new owners, the Norwegian company Videonor, and in 2019 it was renamed Whereby, partly because of a trademark dispute over the name “appear”.

In March 2021, Whereby raised a $12 million Series A led by Point Nine, with participation from SaaStr Fund and more than 20 angel investors. Whereby AS is a Norwegian company (Aksjeselskap) registered in Måløy in Kinn municipality (org. no. 997742346), with an office in Oslo; its team is based in Norway, and the group also has offices in the UK and the US. The company has chosen to remain focused on doing one thing exceptionally well — browser-based video meetings — rather than competing feature-for-feature with larger platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

Whereby has carved out a strong niche in two market segments: small-to-medium businesses that want frictionless video meetings for client interactions, and technology companies that need to embed video conferencing into their own products. The Whereby Embedded API has become particularly popular among health tech, education, and SaaS companies that want to offer video calls within their platforms without building video infrastructure from scratch. The company’s Norwegian roots are reflected in its design philosophy — clean, minimal, and functional — and in its focus on GDPR compliance as a company based in the European Economic Area.

Security & Compliance

Whereby maintains security and compliance standards designed for business use cases including healthcare, education, and enterprise communications.

• GDPR-compliant data processing as a Norwegian company (Whereby AS) operating within the European Economic Area
• Data Processing Agreements (DPAs) provided as standard for all business customers, fully compliant with GDPR requirements
• TLS encryption for all video and audio streams in transit between participants and Whereby servers
• DTLS-SRTP encryption for WebRTC media streams, ensuring secure peer-to-peer communication
• No meeting content accessed or analyzed — Whereby does not monitor, record, or use meeting content for AI training or any other purpose
• ISO 27001 certified since February 2022 (re-certified in 2025), with regular third-party security assessments
• Room-level access controls including locking, knock-to-enter, and password protection for meeting rooms
• Regular penetration testing by independent security firms to identify and remediate potential vulnerabilities

Integration Ecosystem

Whereby’s integration ecosystem is built around two pillars: simple meeting management for business users and a powerful embeddable video API for developers.

• Whereby Embedded API allowing developers to add video conferencing to any web application with a few lines of code
• Calendar integrations with Google Calendar and Outlook for scheduling meetings and generating Whereby room links
• Slack integration for creating and sharing Whereby meeting links directly within Slack channels and conversations
• HubSpot and Salesforce connectors for scheduling video meetings within CRM workflows
• Trello and Notion integrations for embedding meeting links in project management and documentation tools
• Zapier connector enabling no-code automation between Whereby and thousands of other applications
• Custom branding options on paid plans, allowing businesses to add logos, colors, and backgrounds to meeting rooms
• Webhooks and REST API for building custom integrations with internal tools and automated workflows

Who Should Switch?

Whereby is ideal for:

• Customer-facing teams who want frictionless video meetings (no downloads for clients)
• EU businesses needing verified GDPR compliance for video conferencing
• Consultants and freelancers who want branded, professional meeting rooms with persistent links
• SaaS developers who want to embed video conferencing into their own applications via API
• Small to mid-size teams who prefer simplicity over Zoom’s feature bloat

The Bottom Line

Whereby strips away the complexity of Zoom and replaces it with elegant simplicity. The browser-based approach means zero friction for meeting guests, and a European provider with GDPR commitments handles your meetings — just note that some usage data is hosted in the US.

The trade-off is scale: if you regularly host events with hundreds of participants or need advanced webinar functionality, Zoom remains more capable. But for everyday meetings, client calls, and embedded video experiences, Whereby delivers a superior, privacy-respecting experience at a lower price point.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do meeting guests need to create a Whereby account to join?

No. Guests can join a Whereby meeting by simply clicking the link — no account creation, no downloads, and no browser extensions required. This is one of Whereby's biggest advantages for client-facing meetings where you want zero friction for participants.

Is Whereby reliable enough for daily business meetings?

Yes. Whereby supports meetings with up to 200 participants on the Business plan and provides consistent audio and video quality for everyday meetings. For small to mid-size teams, it handles daily standups, client calls, and team meetings reliably. Very large events with 500+ attendees are better suited for Zoom.

How does Whereby handle GDPR compliance for business customers?

Whereby offers a formal Data Processing Agreement (DPA) for business customers. Whereby AS is a Norwegian company operating under EEA data-protection law, but not all data stays in Europe: its privacy policy states that account information is hosted in Ireland, while usage information is hosted in Ireland and the United States (transfers covered by Standard Contractual Clauses). The Whereby group also has offices in Norway, the UK and the US. Whereby does not access, analyze, or use meeting content, and collects minimal personal data from participants.

Can I embed Whereby video calls into my own application?

Yes. Whereby offers a full video API that allows developers to embed video conferencing directly into their web applications, SaaS products, or platforms. This means your users never leave your interface: the call runs inside your application, while the audio and video are handled by Whereby's infrastructure (AWS, Ireland) and are not stored.

What happens when the free plan's 30-minute limit runs out?

When the 30-minute limit is reached on the free plan, the meeting ends. You can immediately start a new meeting in the same room with the same link. Paid plans remove this time limit entirely, allowing unlimited meeting duration.