If used best screen sharing software correctly, screen sharing will make it easy to collaborate remotely on documents, to co-browse, to demo products, to onboard new customers, and more. If done improperly, screen sharing would make you have a terrible headache, and would have nightly terrors of screaming “Can you see my screen?.”
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It’s the reason why the top choice of screen sharing software is important. I’ve worked remotely for the past eight years and I have used a bunch of screen sharing tools to share the screen with my teammates and clients. I have seen good, bad and very disturbing of screen sharing apps.
I update this article on a regular basis. This year, I investigated thoroughly 50 apps which allow for screen sharing before choosing the best. Below, I’ll share the top five: the best screen-sharing software for different purposes.
Top 5 screen sharing application
- Zoom for exchanging the screen view in the everyday life.
- Slack messaging app for team’s internal team discussions
- Google Meet for those who use Google ecosystem is used.
- Surfly for co-browsing with your prospects and customers
- CoScreen for hand-on assistance in remote work
Does a separate screen sharing app serve the purpose?
Before we dig into the top picks, it’s worth asking yourself: do you indeed need a separate screen-sharing software? While keeping this post up-to-date most screen-sharing apps were adding this feature as one of the sides. Team communications apps have supported screen sharing for a while now, but today, you would be surprised the number of apps that also offer it.For example:
- The sharing of the screen is made possible using whiteboard tools for virtual collaboration.
- Using mind map software, you can brainstorm with your colleagues using screen sharing.
- Sometimes flowchart and diagram software has the capability to let you to screen share and work together on designs or get feedback from others.
- Wireframe tools provide you with an opportunity to brainstorm and collaborate at the same time by sharing a screen online.
- With help of the employee onboarding software, you can co-browse and screen share, to take new hires through onboarding process.
- The co-browsing, remote connectivity, and other features of help desk and customer support tools are often available.
- Live chat apps enable more interactive service through allowing agents to view a customer’s screen.
- Webinar software allows you to give your slides to large audiences.
- Video-first customer engagement platforms (similar to 24sessions) have a built-in co-browsing functionality for your website or app.
- Sales enablement platforms such as ClearSlide and Demodesk allow you to demo, present, and even more to the prospects.
In other words: more than likely, screen sharing functionalities would have been provided by one of the other tools you currently use. And most importantly, a general use case is not an essential requirement for some apps.
And if you do, you’d be better off using a dedicated app for screen sharing, a video conference app, or a team chat app–so that’s what I focused on while preparing an ultimate list of the best apps this year.
What is the severest screen sharing application?
Conference call tool can be used to do from webinar presentation, to sales call, to getting out a few seconds design decisions with a colleague. At its most basic, it is actually software that lets people screen share the online. But the best software offers more—so I weighed a number of factors when making my picks:But the best software offers more—so I weighed a number of factors when making my picks:
- Convenience of taking part for participants. The best choice of software combines work access which is available through the web browser and is easy to use on one or more devices.
- Collaboration features. I sought for these attributes: presenter-switching, joint annotation, co-browsing, and a parallel document editing.
- Mobile user experience. Whatever mobile screen-sharing app or browser-based, on mobile devices provides the same quality of experience as on the desktop.
- Integrations. By doing this it becomes possible to automatically schedule sessions and put recordings on different sites. This makes the process much easier.
- Affordability. If desktop or screen-sharing tools can’t be purchased inexpensively, they have to provide participants with time limits, tools, and participants – but they shouldn’t be excessively expansive.
- Screen share controls. Having an ability to give your viewers freedom to choose which apps, screens, or screen elements they see is now an essential feature for streaming and streaming-enabled businesses.
Even though the suite of remote access tools, is also equipped with several screen sharing applications, I’ve eliminated those software that is built mainly for remote access such as TeamViewer and Windows Quick Assist. I also haven’t tried every single video conferencing app in existence (that’s subject for a different article!), so if you already use a tool that you haven’t tried yet which isn’t on this list, it’s better to check out the screen sharing functionality it offers.
During my research, I looked at 50 different apps and ran the top 19 through a rigorous testing workflow that looked something like this:During my research, I looked at 50 different apps and ran the top 19 through a rigorous testing workflow that looked something like this:
Check over the signup and onboarding processes
Host a screen sharing session on desktop, which should include both screen sharing in-browser and when the desktop app is available.
- Consider sending links to and SMS message with the session join information.
- The session will be at a shared mobile system with an iPhone (iPhone 15 powered by iOS 17).
- Vice versa: launch session on mobile (both in-browser and app version, if there is it) and come into it from laptop.
- Be mindful of the page load and lag issues on the server side as well as the client side.
After the testing, I narrowed down the selection, and spent more time with the front-runners. I have tested collaboration features (such as annotation, whiteboarding, the ability to control remotely, multiple window sharing and co-browsing) and selected some screen shares (like specific browser tab, windows or apps).
The selections below are the result of all that testing: among the five topscreen sharing apps on the market.
The app that we review at a first sight is the best screen sharing app.
| Name | Category | Standout feature | Free plan |
| CoScreen | Hands-on remote collaboration | Lightweight and simple | Free for up to 10 participants |
| Google Meet | Google ecosystem users | Super quick to start and join | Free for one-on-one calls, with a 60-minute limit on group meetings of up to 100 people |
| Slack | Collaborative internal meetings | Streamlined huddles feature is great for ad hoc collaboration | Free for one-on-one huddles and screen sharing, with 90-day message and file history |
| Surfly | High-touch customer onboarding | One-click join for participants | N/A |
| Zoom | Everyday screen sharing | Wide familiarity | Free for one-on-one calls, with a 40-minute limit on group meetings of up to 100 people |
Software with screensharing is available for everyone
Zoom (Web, Mac,Windows,Linux, iOS, Android)
Zoom pros:
- You definitely are one with the global community, and ideally you already do.
- Generous free plan
- You may have heard that the spreading of the green movement is completely dependent on the continued cooperation and assistance of many citizens.
Zoom cons:
- App brings a small set of screen share permissions.
Zoom is often described as one the most effective video communication tools for handling team meetings, sales demos, and webinars. Users who have been there automatically can testify its long-term reliability.
Zoom reduces audio/video quality to maintain a connection over a shaky network. But it can do it based on bandwidth. This is actually of most use for screen sharing, which is Zoom’s strongest point, whether the situation is online or not.
Zoom’s installer is small enough to run on any operating system, no matter if it’s Linux or on mobile platforms such as iOS, so hosting a screen sharing event for a non-ZoM user is less likely to create a compatibility problem or force others to wait longer than usual.
Even though Zoom users can host screen sharing activities from apps, which are designed for either desktop or mobile. The mobile apps, the participants have power to switch the screen between presentation of documents or co-annotation. On desktop, Zoom easily gives you the whole set of available options from the area to be shared, Slide deck or even iPad via AirPlay.
Since Zoom is a sophisticated video conferencing tool with screen sharing built in, the calling and meeting features are enough to support businesses of any size: There is a limit of 100 people in a room under the free plan, but 1,000 people are allowed in a paid plan. This is great for putting a webinar with a collaborative board, which multiple hosts can use to display the same screen.
You can have more seamless sessions on your screen share by integrating Zoom with Zapier which allows you to send Zoom links via email every time you have a new booking. You can also direct to Google Drive or any other cloud storage depository to automatically upload your Zoom recordings, thus, even those who didn’t see the meeting can watch what is on your screen. Seeking out more on automating Zoom or try these built-in workflows.
Zoom pricing: Free for up to 40 minutes of group calls, $15.99/user/month ($0 for students) up to 30 hours of meeting time.
Top screen sharing program for collaborative internal meetings for such purposes.
Slack (Web, Windows, Linux, Mac, and mobile platforms (iOS and Android)
Slack pros:
- Generous free plan
- Endowed with a streamlined huddles feature, the platform is perfect for ad hoc fraternization.
Slack cons:
- Members of the office are being isolated from the community.
- There is restriction for custom area inscreen share selection.
Slack may have become the informal space where you and the team already interact. All the integrations with others apps you use for work is it like dashboards and universal feed of the activities. After all, much that is already being done in Slack, why not use the same single set of tools to be used for both hosting and recording of your meetings?
When it comes to internal team collaboration, needing to pay for another screen sharing tool if you are already paying money for Slack doesn’t make sense. Here, sessions (called huddles) can either take place privately or with members in the channels being welcome to come in and join out of the huddles. Anything posted to a private channel like links and documentation is saved in the channel history, and you can find it using the usual search.
Slack’s screen sharing features host switching, collaborative markup and also the ability for each attendee to operate the cursor in the host’s screen. What the host does is clicks the cursor icon to get access allowed.
However, teams that need a solution for Linux will find these features restricted: the remoteness of the Linux desktop app, and also others can not annotate the screen. Fortunately, Slack just released the video recording option that makes screen sharing for non-collaborative activities extremely convenient.
Slack goes a step further since it also integrates with Zapier, which means that you can perform actions like automatically sending an approaching calendar event to a Slack channel where you’re prepared by the time it’s time to share your screen. Learn more about Slack automation, or start with a Slackbot template.
Slack pricing: Bay for one-on-one Huddle and screensharing with 90-days message and file history order; from $7.25/user/month (billed annually) for a plan including group Huddle and screensharing with unlimited message and file history, and other additional options.
Best screen sharing app for the google eco-system lovers
Google Meet (Web, iOS, Android)
Google Meet pros:
- Generous free plan
- Instant start-ups and log-ins.
- Easy-flowing integration with Google suite.
Google Meet cons:
- Something like humanize the given sentence.
This business-focused tool, meet, is available right inside your Gmail inbox, which significantly outperforms its predecessor, Hangouts. It has a good free plan (unlimited hour-long meetings with up to 100 people per), be it even you are a Google Workspace subscriber.
Your Gmail Inbox gives you to inception two clicks to start or join a meeting, it takes only two more clicks from there to start sharing your screen. Just as you would with the Gmail mobile app, use the same process to present share online from anywhere. Additionally, the mobile app will let you know to enable Do Not Disturb as soon as you choose screen mirroring.
Clicking on a link (email or copy/paste) is all that is needed for participants to enter the online event—there is no download, installation, or log-on needed.
Meet as a Google product, connects perfectly with the rest Google products such as Calendar, Drive and so on. It does apply to the whiteboarding feature that originates from the ability for users to bring any file from Drive or open a blank Jamboard session. The method also interfaces with other available general purpose calendar and scheduling apps, like Calendly.
What’s more, Google Meet supports one click integration with Zapier, a tool that helps you transfer Google Meet links to your new leads, so at the right time you are ready to share your screen. Find out more about the robots and how automate Google Meet calls. Or just get started with one of these pre-made workflows.
Google Meet pricing: Free trial for up to 60 min (1-on-1 calls or up to 100 participants) is available; Parts of Google Workspace starts at $6/user/month.
Best Screen Sharing Software for client onboarding in a high-touch environment
Surfly (Web)
Surfly pros:
- Super easy user experience involving one-click to join for attendees.
- Screen size control
Surfly cons:
- Expensive as it does not offer a free plan.
- No still current area screen share selection
Surfly is a co-browsing tool that can be suitable for remote support and sales, and it can be integrated into a website or SaaS app. It works well with support widget codes like Intercom, Zendesk, and Olark providing an easier way for users to contact support agents.
Once its connected, agents will be able to click the elements on the page that the user should click—and you can even use it to video conference too. It’s a two-way approach to training a client on-screen, and it’s less friction too, since you don’t send the user to another website or application. On top of that, you can set your screen size for a user for any device they are joining from, and you see what they see.
Screen sharing is a feature enabled browser-to-browser, so no tool is required to download, neither by party. Since it’s sandboxed in the browser, you’re only showing just your website or software, never more the photo library, bookmarks, and iMessage notifications.
Surfly pricing: The Basic plan is a $31/month package; call the Surfly team for upgrade pricing to have access to enterprise features such as upgraded support, dashboard branding, API access, and single sign-on.
Best Screen Sharing Software for participatory virtual distance collaboration
CoScreen (Mac, Windows)
CoScreen pros:
- Compact and easy to use, it has functional screen share settings.
- Generous free plan
CoScreen cons:
- No custom luck areas screen share pick.
- No Contact, both parties need to download the program into their desktops.
CoScreen (now acquired by Datadog) is a tool intended for product, engineering, and DevOps team’s need for collaboration remotely. To be able to use CoScreen you’ll need either the Mac or the Windows desktop app, Linux users have to wait for the support.i
The desktop app is just like other apps and is super lightweight after downloading. It is also easy to use. While getting started or joining a session, you can pick Voice Calling, Video Calling, or both, or keep it off. You will have an option of either sharing your full screen or select a view supported by multiple displays. Hover your mouse over any window or app on the screen, and you see a popping yellow Share button—click it once, and you’re in business. Having a purple outline will prove to be helpful as it lets you know specifically what you’re sharing.
Then, you can invite participants by emailing invitation or copy and paste the secure link. After joining the session, you may do this simultaneously and multiple users will be able to screen share shur. Thus, the whole team can co-control shared apps or windows without any problems, and then you can freely collaborate with each other in everything from agile work to app development, debugging, coding training and more.
CoScreen pricing: Free to sign up and use with up to 10 of your participants; paid version Enterprise which is $20 per user per month that features team accounts, single sign-on,priority support, and much more.
