Screen sharing software helps teams collaborate asynchronously across different time zones. The tools are ideal for remote teams and enable users to display their screens in a few easy clicks.
Remote work has largely become the norm due to the pandemic. A 2022 Ivanti survey highlights the change in attitudes, with 71% of respondents saying they would prefer to work remotely over a promotion or even financial incentive.
In other words: great screen-sharing software is now essential for your business. It boosts productivity, accessibility, and enables global collaboration.
But where do you even begin with so many tools on the market? To help you figure out your best options, this article will run down the best screen sharing software of 2023.
Here are our top eight picks of the best screen-sharing software.
Loom provides the best overall screen-sharing tool because it allows you to create highly personalised video tutorials that get straight to the point. The platform let you record instant videos where you can set agendas, lets team members quickly leave comments, and even supports closed captioning features.
What’s more, Loom allows you to set the tone with asynchronous videos known as ‘Looms’. Here you can attach call-to-actions with specific resources, update colleagues from different time zones, and easily collaborate on projects.
Loom integrates with several key tools, including Slack, Jira, and Confluence, as well as GitHub, Salesforce, and Gmail. It’s the complete package.
Loom comes with three pricing plans which you can pay monthly or annually:
A free 14-day trial is available on the Business plan.
…or check out our Loom Review
Zoom Meetings (typically shortened to Zoom) became one of the most prominent names of 2020. It’s a solid choice for holding team meetings, sales pitches, and onboarding staff.
You can schedule video conferences, co-annotate information while screen sharing, and give another person remote keyboard and mouse control. Screen sharing enables the host and participants to share their desktop, web browser, mobile device screens and even virtual whiteboard.
During meetings, attendees can click to put up their hand for a question, turn on the mic when speaking, add reactions or use the chat messenger. Key integrations include Slack, Mio, and Google Calendar. There are over 1500 apps in the Zoom App Marketplace.
Zoom has three paid tiers and one freemium account you can pay yearly or monthly:
GoToMeeting brings all your communications together in one place. It enables you to host web conferences with audio and video and up to 250 participants. Meetings can either be recorded locally or via the cloud.
Mobile cloud recording is a handy feature for those hosting meetings, and if you’re an attendee, a note-taking option is available within the session, with notes shareable immediately. Participants can quickly share their screens during meetings, and drawing features are also available.
GoToMeeting features over 25 key integrations, including Microsoft Office 365, HubSpot, and Salesforce, as well as additional apps on the GoTo MarketPlace.
GoToMeeting offers three paid tiers and a monthly or annual payment option:
A live demo is available in addition to a free 14-day trial on the Business plan.
Slack is best for internal teams and offers a virtual workspace with a helpful activity and announcement feed—the search results show specific people, channels, and files.
You can host voice and video calls with up to 15 participants and screen share through the desktop app for internal interaction. Slack also offers private sessions and group sessions.
Slack Huddles is the answer if you’re tired of typing or being on camera. These informal meetings allow you to talk directly to your channel with 50 participants or through direct messages, and you can share your screen side by side with your team.
Slack integrates with Dropbox, Google Drive, and Trello.
Slack has four plans, and you can choose from monthly or yearly options:
Slack also provides a free 30-day trial of Slack Pro.
Demodesk uses a cloud-based virtual desktop to share screens, files, apps and sites with your customer. No more accidental shares of your messy desktop and notifications pinging during your pitch.
It works by running separately from your local desktop and allows you to create meeting templates and instantly switch between content without stopping your flow. While presenting, you can share your camera in the same browser tab, and the client can share theirs.
Demodesk also lets you simultaneously share control with multiple people at once. Key integrations include Salesforce Sales Cloud, HubSpot CRM, and Zapier.
Demodesk has four pricing options that you can pay monthly or annually:
Google Meet was another popular pandemic video conferencing tool, and it’s a no-brainer for businesses and teams that already use Google Workspace.
You can open Google Meet up in Google Docs or Slides and screen share your work directly. Meetings can be arranged on your Gmail and synced to your calendar, and participants can quickly have a group chat straight from it.
You can translate to Spanish, Portuguese, French and German and host live with captions, so everyone gets included—Google is also working on more translation options. Key integrations include Spotify, Slack, and Instagram.
Google Meet comes in three plans you can pay for monthly or annually:
TeamViewer is dedicated screen-sharing software that enables secure remote control access to servers, PCs, payment terminals and mobiles.
You can access your company’s devices from any location, screen, and even print remotely. TeamViewer includes video conferencing software—TeamViewer Meeting—which lets you screen share in 4K, transfer files, take screenshots, and group chat. Every session recording gets automatically encoded and compressed.
Security isn’t a problem either with 4096 RSA and AES (256-bit) encryption. Key integrations include Spiceworks, Microsoft Outlook, and Zendesk.
TeamViewer has a freemium account and three paid plans you can pay annually or monthly:
TeamViewer also offers a free 14-day trial.
Microsoft Teams replaced Skype for Business in 2021. It’s an upgraded version with Microsoft Office 365 apps and services, business email, and audio and video recording.
The screen-sharing options include giving remote access to other participants in a few easy clicks, and you can even change host mid-meeting. The enhanced whiteboard also allows you to draw and add PDFs and specific pages as required.
Small businesses can choose between Skype Meet Now and Microsoft Team’s free screen sharing options. Both offer straightforward video conferencing meets of 100 people.
Microsoft Teams offer five plans which you can pay monthly or annually:
A free one-month trial of Microsoft 365 Business is available.
Free versions and trials are helpful as you can test out whether the product will potentially work long-term and suit your business’s needs. Even better, most of them allow you to leave without any further commitment.
That said, it’s worth bearing in mind that free trials and accounts come with notable limitations, so there must be flexibility to scale up as your business expands.
Our screen-sharing software buyers guide below will help you find the best tool for you.
Screen sharing software allows you to share content from your computer screen with others instantly. The software isn’t limited to desktops; employees can also share their screens from their phones and tablets.
Teaching someone a new concept or how to do something can be long-winded. With screen sharing, everyone’s learning process is accelerated visually with a step-by-step process, and relevant files and information get shared in seconds.
The overall result boosts productivity, interest, and team collaboration.
Here are the key areas to consider when considering the right screen-sharing software:
You can find some frequently asked questions below.
It depends on your business’s needs, but here are the main ones:
– Having the ability to switch hosts seamlessly is crucial for video conferencing.
– Screen recording your work at the same time as a camera or audio call is productive, saves time for your team and shortens scheduled team meetings.
– For everyday use, screenshots and live editing documents in real-time with colleagues are a must.
Mostly, but there are some risks. One of the main ones is unintentionally sharing your private information on the screen, although taking basic precautions here will usually mitigate this.
Remote access is different as it poses more security risks—it’s relatively easy for an anonymous individual to access your devices. Having decent security with anti-malware and antivirus protection is essential alongside the software you’re using.
Unattended remote access is where you quickly create a live session from any location and control a remote device or computer without a connection partner—someone on the other end of the device. In other words, instant access when you need it.
Screen sharing software is increasingly important today and enables you to better collaborate with others as well as more productively manage your time.
Just ensure you’ve thought about security, scalability, storage, ease of use and how multiple devices factor into the equation. Overall, screen-sharing tools can be innovative forces that change communication for the better.
Here are our top picks:
What are your favourite screen-sharing tools? Let us know about your experiences in the comments below.