Zoom
Zoom publishes a real Linux desktop app, and the browser version works as a fallback.
Our verdict
Zoom is one of the few big meeting apps that still ships a proper Linux desktop client, with installer files on Zoom's own download page for Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora and others. Signing in and joining a meeting works exactly as it did on Windows.
The rough edge is sharing your screen. Newer Linux desktops ask permission through a system prompt rather than letting the app grab the screen directly, so the first time you share you will see an extra dialog and, on some setups, a limited choice of what to share. Virtual backgrounds are also less dependable than on Windows.
If any of that gets in the way, joining through a browser works and needs nothing installed. Take the installer from Zoom rather than the Flathub entry, which is community maintained.
What's good
- Zoom maintains its own Linux installers for the common distributions
- Meetings, screen sharing and breakout rooms all work
- Joining from a browser works if you would rather not install anything
- Free tier with the same forty minute group limit as everywhere else
What to know first
- Features arrive later on Linux than on Windows and some never do
- Screen sharing needs an extra permission step on newer Linux desktops and can be fiddly
- Virtual backgrounds are more demanding and less reliable here
- The Flathub listing is a community wrapper that Zoom does not verify or support
The details
- Cost
- Free with paid extras
- Open source
- No (Proprietary)
- How you install it
- .deb installer, .rpm installer, App store (Flatpak), App store (Snap), In your browser
Windows apps it can replace
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