That services like these have exploded in popularity during the pandemic has hardly escaped anyone. Thereâs now an ocean of apps for video, chat, and collaboration â but how do you choose between them all?
This time, weâre looking at Zoom. Keep reading to discover the differences between the platforms and make your choice a little easier.
Spoiler alert: choose an app that includes everything.
Quick facts: lynes vs Zoom
Zoom began its journey in 2012. The founder, tired of long commutes â especially on Mondays â decided to solve the problem himself, and the idea for the video platform was born. After bringing 30 developers from his previous company, he first founded Sasbee Inc in 2011, which became Zoom in 2012.
Eight years and a global pandemic later, Zoom now boasts over 300 million daily users.
lynes, on the other hand, was born from the idea of bringing all communication into one app, minimizing the app-switching that kills productivity.
âCollaboration tool or phone system? lynes is both.â
The app launched in August 2019, and a lot has happened since then.
Getting started
Remember the license jungle we ended up in when comparing Microsoft Teams and lynes? Zoomâs isnât quite as wild, but thereâs still a bit of dĂ©jĂ vu.
Here, you choose between Free, Pro, Business, or Enterprise â depending on your needs. But before deciding, you must determine how many Hosts youâll need.
A Host is someone who schedules, starts, and manages meeting settings. A standard Host license allows up to 100 participants (more if you upgrade).
In simple terms: if you want to schedule, start, and control meetings, you need to be a Host â or as we call it, a grown-up.
After registration, you invite colleagues via email and set up your channels manually.
With lynes, setup is either guided by a free project manager who tailors everything to your needs, or by answering a few quick questions that automatically create your teamâs environment.
Before that, you choose between two user types: Mobile or Pro.
- Mobile users canât use the desktop or web app (makes sense, right?)
- Switching user types later is easy for an admin.
lynes vs Zoom: Features
A wise person once said:
âA good rule for features: if you use them, theyâre good. If you donât, theyâre probably useless.â
That wise person was me.
Letâs look at some of the most important ones.
Chat â reduces email clutter (but not for everyone)
One of the most essential features in a communication platform is chat. Zoom realized this in 2019 when it evolved from a video meeting tool to a more complete platform.
Zoom offers the basics: 1:1 chats, group messages, file sharing, and (thankfully) GIFs.
Whatâs missing? Email integration.
It might sound minor, but minimizing the number of apps you jump between boosts your efficiency significantly.
lynes includes all of the above â and more.
You can share emails directly inside chats or channels, making workflows smoother and reducing the need for multiple tools.
Both platforms let you react to messages with emojis for quick decisions, but lynes goes further with integrated collaboration across all communication channels.
lynes vs Zoom: Telephony & video meetings
Telephony
Zoom added telephony in 2019 through Zoom Phone, starting at $10 per user, plus a separate call plan for usage fees. Itâs solid, offering:
- IVR
- VoIP calling
- Call history
- Centralized admin
- Traditional PBX features
But if you want fully integrated mobile telephony, Zoom doesnât support that. Their focus is on BYOC (Bring Your Own Carrier) â or as we call it, the âDIY telephonyâ approach.
With lynes, all telephony features are included right out of the box:
- Call groups
- Call group monitoring
- IVR menus
- Easy administration
- Dashboards
Both offer smart, user-friendly tools â but lynes takes the lead with native mobile integration and BYOC flexibility.
A particularly clever feature in lynes is seeing whether the person youâre calling also uses lynes â allowing you to switch instantly to video and screen sharing without hanging up.
Smart, right?
Video meetings
Both platforms deliver strong video meeting capabilities. Zoomâs participant limits depend on your license, while lynes has no such cap.
Zoom allows recording meetings â a handy feature if someone canât attend â while thatâs not currently built into lynes.
However, lynes has the advantage of no installation required.
Guests simply click a link and join via their browser â no downloads, no setup delays.
You can even start an instant meeting directly from a call â adding new participants with a single link or number.
lynes vs Zoom: Integrations
âItâs all in the detailsâ â or in this case, the integrations.
Integrations are what make a communication platform truly seamless.
Connecting email, calendar, and CRM systems saves time and boosts productivity.
Zoom isnât new to this. It started by simplifying meeting scheduling, then expanded to connect with tools like Slack, Gmail, and HubSpot.
The idea is good â but ideally, integration should work the other way around, bringing the functionality into your main workspace, not vice versa.
lynes focuses on depth rather than sheer quantity.
You can integrate your email and calendar directly, allowing you to send, reply, and share emails within the app. You can even have threaded discussions about an email and reply directly from the chat or channel.
Summary
Both platforms offer user-friendly features and smooth communication.
Zoom provides a wide range of integrations, while lynes focuses on deeper ones â like full email and calendar integration.
Getting started is easy once youâve chosen your plan. Both offer good onboarding and training options.
When it comes to telephony and video, lynes takes the lead with fully integrated mobile subscriptions and real-time line status for conferences â instead of just BYOC.
Have you decided yet?
If not â why not try lynes free for 30 days?
â
