ADAM PULSE Is Zoom AI Companion free? What's included with a paid plan in 2026
Product names, prices, licensing, AI model providers, regional availability, and administrative controls in this article were verified on August 6, 2026 against the sources in the references section. These details change frequently; confirm against live vendor pages before relying on them for purchasing or compliance decisions.
Mostly yes, if you already pay for Zoom. Core AI features, including meeting summaries, in-meeting questions, Team Chat compose, email drafting, and phone call summaries, are included at no additional cost with eligible paid Zoom Workplace plans. They are not free for Basic (free) accounts, which get limited monthly allowances. On top sits ZoomMate, Zoom's agentic product tier that builds on Custom AI Companion, starting at $20 per user per month in North America with 2,200 AI credits per user per month. Zoom also introduced a $10 per month standalone AI option for Basic users in December 2025, but as of August 2026 that offer no longer appears on Zoom's live pricing pages; confirm current packaging on Zoom's order page before buying.
- Paid Zoom Workplace plans (Pro and above) include core AI features with no separate per-use charge, subject to Zoom's usage policies. Zoom's qualifier: availability varies by plan, region, and industry vertical.
- Free Basic accounts get limited monthly AI use, per Zoom's pricing page: summaries and in-meeting questions for 3 hosted meetings per month, 3 My Notes uses, and 20 AI queries per month.
- ZoomMate ($20 per user per month, launched June 1, 2026) builds on the $12 Custom AI Companion add-on as Zoom's new agentic tier. Zoom's launch blog states existing Custom AI Companion customers "will continue to be supported."
- Meeting summaries and AI note taking do not consume ZoomMate credits. Credits pay for agentic work: task automation, agentic search, deep research, and content generation.
- Included-with-plan is Zoom's key pricing difference against Microsoft 365 Copilot, which costs $30 per user per month on top of a qualifying Microsoft 365 license.
What do paid Zoom Workplace plans include at no extra cost?
Zoom's current official language: AI features are included with eligible paid Zoom Workplace plans and may not be available for all regions or industry verticals. In practice, a paid Workplace seat includes:
- Meeting summaries with smart chapters and action items
- In-meeting AI questions and catch-up for late joiners
- Team Chat thread summarization and message composition
- Email drafting and calendar scheduling assistance
- Whiteboard content generation and Zoom Docs assistance
- My Notes AI note taking (expanded use on paid Workplace plans per Zoom's AI note-taking page, versus 3 uses per month free, subject to usage policies)
- Zoom Tasks, which sources action items from Meetings, Team Chat, and Mail
- Zoom Phone AI features on paid accounts with Phone licensing: call and voicemail summaries, voicemail prioritization, voicemail task extraction, and SMS thread summaries
In June 2026 Zoom retired the AI Companion brand inside Zoom Workplace. The features above remain included; they now use descriptive names such as meeting summary and smart compose. ZoomMate is a separate paid product, not a rename of the included features. Details in our complete guide.
What are the limits on free Basic accounts?
Zoom's ZoomMate pricing page, as retrieved August 6, 2026, lists these Basic allowances: meeting summaries for 3 hosted meetings per month, in-meeting questions for 3 hosted meetings per month, 3 My Notes uses per month, 20 AI queries per month, agentic search across 10 files and 3 meetings, and 10 workflow runs per month in Zoom applications. In December 2025 Zoom also introduced a $10 per month standalone AI purchase for Basic users alongside the ai.zoom.us web app, announced with AI Companion 3.0. As of August 2026 that standalone offer no longer appears on Zoom's live pricing pages, where the purchasable standalone product is ZoomMate. Confirm the current product name, regional availability, billing term, and price on Zoom's live order page before purchasing.
What costs extra?
| Product | Price (North America, August 2026) | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Paid Zoom Workplace plan | Plan pricing; AI included | Core AI features with no separate per-use charge |
| AI standalone add-on for Basic (December 2025 offer) | $10 per month | AI capabilities without a paid Workplace plan; no longer shown on Zoom's live pricing pages as of August 2026 |
| My Notes (expanded use) | Included with ZoomMate tiers | Expanded AI note taking, including third-party meetings (Teams, Google Meet, and other platforms) |
| ZoomMate | From $20 per user per month, 2,200 AI credits per user per month | Agentic search across Zoom, web, and enterprise systems; task orchestration; content generation; custom AI agents; deep research |
ZoomMate launched June 1, 2026 in North America, with EMEA and APAC to follow later in 2026. It builds on the $12 Custom AI Companion add-on that Zoom sold from April 2025 and stands as Zoom's agentic product tier; Zoom's launch blog states existing Custom AI Companion customers "will continue to be supported." Zoom Phone AI features carry no separately published price; the prerequisite is a paid Pro, Business, or Enterprise account with Zoom Phone.
How does this compare to Microsoft and Google?
The structural difference is where the AI line item sits. Microsoft sells meeting and document AI as a paid add-on: Microsoft 365 Copilot costs $30 per user per month with an annual commitment, on top of a qualifying Microsoft 365 license, and Teams Premium with intelligent recap is a separate $10 add-on. Google went the other direction in January 2025 and folded Gemini into Workspace Business and Enterprise plans at no separate cost. Zoom lands closer to Google for core features, with ZoomMate as the optional agentic upsell. For a feature-by-feature analysis, see Zoom AI vs Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Availability caveats that bite in real deployments
- Region and vertical exclusions. Zoom's qualifier about regions and industry verticals is real. A Business Associate Agreement does not by itself make every AI feature available or appropriate for healthcare workflows; confirm feature eligibility, configuration, and permitted data use under your agreement.
- Admin settings decide what users actually see. Included does not mean enabled. Features can be off, on, or locked at the account, group, user, or site level.
- App versions matter. Newer capabilities require current desktop and mobile clients. Older installs quietly lack features that licensing says you have.
- Credit budgeting for ZoomMate. Zoom lists 2,200 AI credits per user per month and does not publish pooling or rollover terms, so confirm both on your order form. Pilot with a small group first to learn your real consumption rate before committing org-wide.
Frequently asked questions
Is Zoom AI free with a Pro plan?
Yes. Pro and higher Workplace plans include the core AI features with no separate per-use charge, subject to Zoom's usage policies, region, vertical, and admin settings.
Was ZoomMate a price increase?
For Custom AI Companion buyers, the new tier costs more: $20 versus $12 per user per month. It also does more, adding AI credits, agentic search across enterprise systems, task orchestration, and prompt-built custom agents. Included core features did not move behind the paywall.
Do meeting summaries use ZoomMate credits?
No. Zoom's materials state routine features such as meeting summaries and AI note taking do not consume credits. Credits pay for agentic tasks, search, research, and content generation.
Can I get Zoom AI on a free account without paying anything?
Only within the limited monthly allowances. Beyond those, a paid option is required. As of August 2026, Zoom's pricing pages market ZoomMate as the standalone purchase; the December 2025 $10 standalone no longer appears there.
Does the included AI cover Microsoft Teams or Google Meet meetings?
Third-party meeting support flows through My Notes: 3 uses per month free, expanded with ZoomMate, subject to Zoom's usage policies. Zoom also supports inviting its AI into supported Teams and Google Meet meetings as a visible participant.
Zoom AI Companion in 2026: the complete guide · Zoom AI vs Microsoft 365 Copilot · Does Zoom use your meetings to train AI? · Zoom Agentic Search complete guide · Search API vs Ask API
References
Prices verified August 2026 and subject to change. Verify against live vendor pricing pages before purchase.
- Zoom pricing, zoom.us/pricing and zoom.us/pricing/aic ("ZoomMate Pricing"), retrieved August 6, 2026
- Zoom, "Zoom launches AI Companion 3.0" (December 15, 2025), news.zoom.com
- Zoom press release, "Zoom launches ZoomMate" (June 1, 2026), via GlobeNewswire
- Zoom, "Meet ZoomMate" (June 24, 2026), zoom.com/en/blog/zoom-ai-companion-zoommate/
- Zoom, AI note taking, zoom.com/en/products/ai-assistant/features/ai-note-taking/
- Zoom, "Zoom introduces AI Companion 2.0" (October 9, 2024), news.zoom.com
- Zoom support KB0074872, Zoom Phone AI prerequisites
- Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing, microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot/enterprise
- Google Workspace announcement, "Empowering businesses with AI" (January 2025), workspace.google.com/blog
- No Jitter, "How ZoomMate succeeds Zoom's Custom AI Companion" (June 26, 2026)