License & Deployment Mix: 20 tools – 9 OSS, 10 SaaS. (OSS and SaaS counts can overlap when an open-source tool also offers a vendor-hosted edition.)
What Is Unified Communications?
Unified Communications (UC) is the convergence of real-time and asynchronous communication tools into a single integrated platform. Modern UC platforms combine three overlapping sub-domains:
- Video conferencing – meetings, webinars, screen sharing, recording, virtual backgrounds, breakout rooms
- Phone / VoIP / PBX – telephony, SIP trunking, PSTN connectivity, call routing, IVR, voicemail, call recording, call queues, auto- attendant
- Team chat / messaging – persistent channels, direct messages, threads, file sharing, search, integrations, bots, huddles
The trend in enterprise communications is convergence: most modern UC platforms span all three areas. Zoom started as video conferencing but now includes phone and chat. Microsoft Teams started as chat but now includes video and phone. RingCentral and 8x8 started as phone systems but now provide full UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) with video and messaging.
This convergence means most tools in this directory cover multiple sub-domains. Rather than creating separate subdirectories, all tools live in a flat directory since the domains overlap significantly.
The information on these pages was researched by a combination of human review and large language models. To suggest an addition or correction, please contact us. Prepared by Rhodium Systems Inc., author of the ResorsIT platform — a unified IT operations management platform for IT teams and MSPs that integrates a curated suite of open-source, commercial, and SaaS applications into a single system with shared identity, single sign-on, access control, and a common audit trail. Use this catalogue only as a starting point for your own research, and review any tool carefully against your own requirements before relying on it. Catalogue data version 2026.197.
Comparison
SSO / OIDC Comparison
Authentik is a common self-hosted identity provider; OIDC is the preferred SSO protocol.
| Tool | OIDC | SAML | LDAP | Authentik Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jitsi Meet | Yes | No | Yes | OIDC via Prosody mod_auth_oauthbearer or Oauthproxy sidecar |
| BigBlueButton | Yes* | No | Yes | OIDC via Greenlight frontend; requires Greenlight configuration |
| Element / Matrix | Yes | Yes | Yes | Synapse supports OIDC natively; Element delegates to Synapse |
| Asterisk | No | No | Yes | No web UI; LDAP for SIP user directory; no SSO for SIP auth |
| FreePBX | No | No | Yes | Web UI uses local auth; LDAP for directory sync; no OIDC/SAML |
| FreeSWITCH | No | No | Yes | No native web UI; LDAP for user directory |
| Rocket.Chat | Yes | Yes | Yes | Native OIDC and SAML; custom OAuth2 provider support |
| Mattermost | Yes | Yes | Yes | Native OIDC (GitLab, Google, Office 365); generic OIDC via plugin |
| Zulip | Yes | Yes | Yes | Native OIDC and SAML; GitHub, GitLab, Google, Azure AD built-in |
| 3CX | No | No | Yes | LDAP for directory; 3CX web client uses proprietary auth |
| Zoom | Yes | Yes | No | Native OIDC and SAML; Authentik as external IdP |
| Microsoft Teams | Yes | Yes | Yes | Azure AD / Entra ID native; Authentik via SAML federation |
| Google Meet | Yes | Yes | Yes | Google Workspace OIDC/SAML; Authentik as external IdP |
| Webex | Yes | Yes | Yes | Native OIDC and SAML; Webex Control Hub IdP configuration |
| Slack | Yes | Yes | Yes | Native OIDC and SAML (Enterprise Grid); SCIM provisioning |
| GoTo | No | Yes | No | SAML SSO via GoTo Admin Center; no native OIDC |
| RingCentral | Yes | Yes | Yes | Native OIDC and SAML; SCIM user provisioning |
| 8x8 | No | Yes | Yes | SAML SSO; no native OIDC; LDAP directory sync |
| Dialpad | Yes | Yes | Yes | Native OIDC and SAML; Google, Microsoft, Okta built-in |
| Vonage | Yes | No | No | OAuth2 for API access; no admin SSO beyond Vonage account |
* = requires specific configuration or plugin
Best SSO support: Element/Matrix (native OIDC, SAML, LDAP), Rocket.Chat (native OIDC, SAML, LDAP), Zulip (native OIDC, SAML, LDAP), Zoom (native OIDC, SAML)
No SSO: Asterisk, FreeSWITCH (no web UI); FreePBX, 3CX (local auth only for web UI)
API Comparison
| Tool | API Type | Auth | Webhooks | SDKs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jitsi Meet | REST (limited) | JWT | Yes (Oauthbearer events) | JS (lib-jitsi-meet) |
| BigBlueButton | REST | Shared secret (checksum) | Yes (callback URLs) | Ruby, Python, PHP, JS |
| Element / Matrix | REST (Matrix Client-Server) | Access token, OAuth2 | No (use /sync long-poll) | Python, JS, Go, Rust |
| Asterisk | REST (ARI) | HTTP Basic, API key | Yes (ARI WebSocket events) | Python, JS, PHP, Java |
| FreePBX | REST (GraphQL planned) | Token | Yes (CDR hooks) | PHP |
| FreeSWITCH | REST (mod_xml_curl), ESL | Token | Yes (ESL events) | C, Python, Perl, Lua |
| Rocket.Chat | REST + Realtime (WebSocket) | Token, OAuth2 | Yes | JS, Python |
| Mattermost | REST v4 | Token, OAuth2 | Yes (outgoing) | Go, JS, Python |
| Zulip | REST | API key, OAuth2 | Yes (outgoing) | Python, JS |
| 3CX | REST | API key | Yes (CDR webhooks) | None official |
| Zoom | REST v2 | OAuth2 (Server-to-Server) | Yes (event subscriptions) | Python, JS, Java, C# |
| Microsoft Teams | Graph API (REST) | OAuth2 (delegated/app) | Yes (change notifications) | All major (.NET, JS, Java, Python, Go, PHP) |
| Google Meet | REST (Meet API, Calendar API) | OAuth2 | Yes (Pub/Sub) | All major |
| Webex | REST | OAuth2, Bot token | Yes (firehose + filtered) | Python, JS, Java |
| Slack | REST + Events API | OAuth2, Bot token | Yes (Events API, RTM) | Python, JS, Java, .NET |
| GoTo | REST v2 | OAuth2 | Yes (webhooks) | None official |
| RingCentral | REST | OAuth2 | Yes (subscriptions) | Python, JS, Java, C#, PHP, Ruby |
| 8x8 | REST | OAuth2, API key | Yes | None official |
| Dialpad | REST v2 | OAuth2, API key | Yes (event subscriptions) | None official |
| Vonage | REST (multiple APIs) | API key + secret, JWT | Yes | Python, JS, Java, .NET, Ruby, PHP |
Video Conferencing Features
| Tool | Meetings | Webinars | Recording | Breakout Rooms | Virtual Backgrounds | E2E Encryption | Max Participants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jitsi Meet | Yes | No | Yes (Jibri) | Yes | Yes | Yes (OIAA) | 100-500 (depends on infra) |
| BigBlueButton | Yes | Yes (via roles) | Yes (native) | Yes | No | No | 100-300 (depends on infra) |
| Element / Matrix | Yes | No | No (client-side only) | No | No | Yes (Megolm/Olm) | 50-100 (Jitsi widget for larger) |
| 3CX | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | 250 |
| Zoom | Yes | Yes | Yes (cloud + local) | Yes | Yes | Yes (optional) | 1,000 (meeting), 50,000 (webinar) |
| Microsoft Teams | Yes | Yes (webinar + town hall) | Yes (cloud) | Yes | Yes | Yes (optional) | 1,000 (meeting), 20,000 (town hall) |
| Google Meet | Yes | No | Yes (cloud) | Yes | Yes | No (CSE available) | 1,000 |
| Webex | Yes | Yes | Yes (cloud + local) | Yes | Yes | Yes (optional) | 1,000 (meeting), 100,000 (webinar) |
| Slack | Huddles | No | No | No | No | No | 50 (Huddles) |
| GoTo | Yes | Yes (GoTo Webinar) | Yes (cloud) | Yes | Yes | No | 250 (meeting), 3,000 (webinar) |
| RingCentral | Yes | Yes | Yes (cloud) | Yes | Yes | Yes (optional) | 200 (meeting), 10,000 (webinar) |
| 8x8 | Yes | No | Yes (cloud) | Yes | Yes | No | 500 |
| Dialpad | Yes | No | Yes (cloud) | No | Yes | No | 150 |
| Vonage | Yes (Video API) | No | Yes (API-based) | No | No | No | 16,000 (API) |
Phone / VoIP Features
| Tool | SIP Trunking | PSTN | IVR | Call Recording | Voicemail | Call Queues | SMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asterisk | Yes | Yes (via trunk) | Yes (dialplan) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Via add-on |
| FreePBX | Yes | Yes (via trunk) | Yes (GUI) | Yes | Yes (visual) | Yes | Via module |
| FreeSWITCH | Yes | Yes (via trunk) | Yes (dialplan) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Via mod_sms |
| 3CX | Yes | Yes (via trunk) | Yes (GUI) | Yes | Yes (visual, transcription) | Yes | Yes |
| Zoom | Yes (Zoom Phone) | Yes (native) | Yes | Yes | Yes (transcription) | Yes | Yes (US/CA/UK/AU) |
| Microsoft Teams | Yes (Direct Routing) | Yes (Calling Plans / Operator Connect) | Yes (auto-attendant) | Yes | Yes (transcription) | Yes | No (via 3rd party) |
| Google Meet | No | Yes (Google Voice) | Yes (Google Voice) | No (Voice only) | Yes (transcription) | Yes (Voice) | Yes (Voice, US) |
| Webex | Yes | Yes (Webex Calling) | Yes | Yes | Yes (transcription) | Yes | Yes |
| GoTo | Yes | Yes (GoTo Connect) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| RingCentral | No (native PSTN) | Yes (native) | Yes | Yes | Yes (transcription) | Yes | Yes |
| 8x8 | Yes | Yes (native) | Yes | Yes | Yes (transcription) | Yes | Yes |
| Dialpad | No (native PSTN) | Yes (native) | Yes (Ai-powered) | Yes | Yes (transcription) | Yes | Yes |
| Vonage | Yes (SIP API) | Yes (Voice API) | Yes (VXML, NCCO) | Yes (API) | No (build via API) | No (build via API) | Yes (SMS API) |
Team Chat Features
| Tool | Channels | Threads | Search | File Sharing | Bots / Integrations | E2E Encryption |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Element / Matrix | Yes (rooms) | Yes | Yes (server-side) | Yes | Yes (Matrix bots) | Yes (Megolm/Olm) |
| Rocket.Chat | Yes | Yes | Yes (built-in) | Yes | Yes (marketplace) | Yes (OTR, E2E beta) |
| Mattermost | Yes | Yes | Yes (Elasticsearch/Bleve) | Yes | Yes (marketplace) | No (TLS in transit) |
| Zulip | Yes (streams) | Yes (topics) | Yes (built-in) | Yes | Yes (200+ integrations) | No (TLS in transit) |
| 3CX | Yes | No | Yes (limited) | Yes | No | No |
| Zoom | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes (Zoom Apps) | No (TLS in transit) |
| Microsoft Teams | Yes | Yes | Yes (full-text) | Yes (SharePoint) | Yes (Teams Apps, Power Platform) | No (TLS + at-rest) |
| Google Meet | Yes (Spaces) | Yes | Yes (full-text) | Yes (Drive) | Yes (Workspace Add-ons) | No (TLS + at-rest) |
| Webex | Yes (spaces) | Yes | Yes (full-text) | Yes | Yes (Webex Apps) | Yes (optional) |
| Slack | Yes | Yes | Yes (full-text) | Yes | Yes (2,600+ apps) | Yes (EKM, Enterprise) |
| RingCentral | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (integrations) | No |
| 8x8 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes (limited) | No |
| Dialpad | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (integrations) | No |
Deployment and Licensing
| Tool | License | Self-Hosted | SaaS | Min Resources | Pricing Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jitsi Meet | Apache 2.0 | Yes (Docker, bare metal) | meet.jit.si (free) | 4 GB RAM, 2 vCPU | Free (OSS); 8x8 JaaS from $0.003/min |
| BigBlueButton | LGPL 3.0 | Yes (bare metal, Docker experimental) | No | 8 GB RAM, 4 vCPU | Free (OSS) |
| Element / Matrix | Apache 2.0 | Yes (Docker, bare metal) | element.io (free tier) | 2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU | Free (OSS); Element Server Suite from $5/user/mo |
| Asterisk | GPLv2 | Yes (bare metal, Docker) | No | 1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU | Free (OSS) |
| FreePBX | GPLv3 | Yes (distro ISO, Docker) | No | 2 GB RAM, 2 vCPU | Free (OSS); commercial modules $25-$175/yr each |
| FreeSWITCH | MPL 1.1 | Yes (bare metal, Docker) | No | 2 GB RAM, 2 vCPU | Free (OSS); SignalWire hosting available |
| Rocket.Chat | MIT | Yes (Docker, Snap, bare metal) | cloud.rocket.chat | 2 GB RAM, 2 vCPU | Free (community); Enterprise from $7/user/mo |
| Mattermost | MIT (Team) / proprietary (Enterprise) | Yes (Docker, bare metal) | cloud.mattermost.com | 2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU | Free (Team); Enterprise from $10/user/mo |
| Zulip | Apache 2.0 | Yes (Docker, bare metal) | zulip.com (free tier) | 2 GB RAM, 2 vCPU | Free (OSS); Cloud Standard $6.67/user/mo |
| 3CX | Proprietary | Yes (bare metal, Docker) | 3CX hosted | 2 GB RAM, 2 vCPU | Free (10 users); Pro from $175/yr |
| Zoom | Proprietary SaaS | No | Yes | N/A | Free (40 min); Pro $13.33/user/mo; Business $18.33/user/mo |
| Microsoft Teams | Proprietary SaaS | No | Yes | N/A | M365 Business Basic $6/user/mo; E3 $36/user/mo |
| Google Meet | Proprietary SaaS | No | Yes | N/A | Free (60 min); Business Starter $7/user/mo |
| Webex | Proprietary SaaS | No | Yes | N/A | Free (40 min); Starter $14.50/user/mo |
| Slack | Proprietary SaaS | No | Yes | N/A | Free; Pro $8.75/user/mo; Business+ $15/user/mo |
| GoTo | Proprietary SaaS | No | Yes | N/A | GoTo Connect from $27/user/mo; Meeting from $14/user/mo |
| RingCentral | Proprietary SaaS | No | Yes | N/A | Core $20/user/mo; Advanced $25/user/mo; Ultra $35/user/mo |
| 8x8 | Proprietary SaaS | No | Yes | N/A | X2 from $24/user/mo; X4 from $44/user/mo |
| Dialpad | Proprietary SaaS | No | Yes | N/A | Standard $23/user/mo; Pro $35/user/mo |
| Vonage | Proprietary SaaS | No | Yes (APIs) | N/A | Pay-as-you-go; Video from $9.99/mo; UCaaS from $19.99/user/mo |
Tools
22 tools.
3CX
3CX is a software-based private branch exchange (PBX) platform that provides phone, video conferencing, and team chat in a single unified communications system.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: native · SSO: none
8x8
8x8 is a publicly traded (Nasdaq: EGHT) cloud communications company offering a fully integrated UCaaS platform under the 8x8 Work brand (formerly X Series).
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Asterisk
Asterisk is the foundational open-source telephony framework, originally created by Mark Spencer at Digium (now Sangoma Technologies).
License: GPL-2.0-only (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: docker · SSO: none
BigBlueButton
BigBlueButton is an open-source web conferencing system built for online education, with a collaborative whiteboard, polls, breakout rooms, built-in recording, and LMS integrations such as Moodle and Canvas.
License: LGPL-3.0-or-later (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native · SSO: none
Bitrix24
All-in-one collaboration + CRM platform with on-premises and cloud editions; PHP 8.1+ on MySQL, Apache/Nginx, Linux.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, saas · SSO: OIDC, SAML
Evaluated under CRM / SFA.
Cisco Webex
Cisco Webex is a comprehensive Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) platform combining video conferencing (Webex Meetings), cloud telephony (Webex Calling), team messaging (Webex Messaging / App), webinars (Webex Webinars), events (W…
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: OIDC
Dialpad
Dialpad is an AI-first Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) platform that integrates voice, video, messaging, and contact center capabilities into a single cloud-native application.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Element / Matrix
Element is the flagship client for the Matrix open protocol for decentralized, federated, end-to- end encrypted communication. Matrix is both a protocol specification and an ecosystem; Element is the primary client.
License: Apache-2.0 (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker · SSO: OIDC
FreePBX
FreePBX is a widely deployed open-source PBX management framework built on Asterisk, providing a web GUI and modular system for extensions, IVR, queues, call recording, and SIP trunk management.
License: GPL-3.0-only (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: docker · SSO: none
FreeSWITCH
FreeSWITCH is a scalable open-source telephony platform designed from the ground up as a general-purpose communications engine, not just a PBX.
License: MPL-2.0 (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: docker · SSO: none
Google Meet / Google Voice
Google Meet is Google’s cloud video conferencing platform, tightly integrated into Google Workspace.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: OIDC
GoTo
GoTo (formerly LogMeIn) is a unified communications company offering a portfolio of cloud-hosted products under a single brand: GoTo Connect (UCaaS with integrated phone and meetings), GoTo Meeting (standalone video conferencing), a…
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Jitsi Meet
Jitsi Meet is the most widely deployed open-source WebRTC video conferencing platform. Originally developed by Atlassian (BlueJimp acquisition, 2015), the project is now maintained by 8x8 and the open- source community.
License: Apache-2.0 (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker · SSO: none
Mattermost
Mattermost is a self-hosted team messaging platform designed as a direct Slack alternative for organizations that require data sovereignty, air-gapped operation, or compliance with HIPAA, SOC 2, or FedRAMP standards.
License: MIT (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: docker, k8s · SSO: none
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is Microsoft’s unified communications platform, bundled with Microsoft 365. It combines video conferencing, Teams Phone (VoIP/PBX), and persistent team chat into a single application.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, saas · SSO: none
Nextcloud Talk
Nextcloud Talk is the open-source, self-hostable chat, voice, and video calling app integrated into Nextcloud, with end-to-end encrypted calls and screen sharing.
License: AGPL-3.0-only (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: docker, native, saas · SSO: OIDC, SAML
RingCentral
RingCentral is one of the largest and most established UCaaS providers globally, offering a fully integrated cloud communications platform under the RingEX (formerly RingCentral MVP – Message, Video, Phone) brand.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: OIDC
Rocket.Chat
Rocket.Chat is a feature-complete open-source team communication platform offering internal chat, omnichannel customer messaging, and embeddable live chat, built on Node.js with a MongoDB backend.
License: MIT (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: docker · SSO: none
Slack
Slack is the market-leading team messaging and collaboration platform. Launched in 2013 and acquired by Salesforce in 2021, Slack has become the reference implementation for channel-based team communication.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: OIDC
Vonage
Vonage is a Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) owned by Ericsson, offering programmable voice, SMS, messaging, video (OpenTok), and verification APIs, plus a UCaaS business phone product.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Zoom
Zoom is a unified-communications platform spanning video conferencing, cloud business telephony (Zoom Phone), and team chat, competing with Microsoft Teams and RingCentral.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, saas · SSO: OIDC
Zulip
Zulip is an open-source team messaging platform with a fundamentally different organizational model from Slack, Teams, and most other chat tools.
License: Apache-2.0 (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: docker · SSO: none
