Last updated June 11th, 2020.
by Jim Lundy
A few weeks ago, we posted a list of free offers for web and video conferencing tools—since that post, there has been a slew of new offers, and we have received lots of calls asking us to highlight who is offering what. With no human coronavirus vaccine and limited treatment, many firms will be conducting remote work for the foreseeable future. Given the situation, enterprises should consider the free offerings available to them. This is a running list and will be updated regularly.
Research and Advisory Firms
Aragon is one of the few firms offering a free 30-minute inquiry to assist enterprises dealing with work issues during COVID-19. See our offer description here.
Web and Video Conferencing
Consumer Tools
- Apple FaceTime is free and runs on iOS and macOS.
The coronavirus pandemic has caused many web and video conferencing providers, including Zoom, to offer free promotions of their core services.
B2B Meeting Platform Offers
- Avaya has a free offer of Avaya Spaces for all educational institutions and all non-profits.
- 8×8 offers free video meetings with no limit.
- BlueJeans offers a free 90-day trial for first responders.
- Cisco has a free meetings offer but limits meeting time. However, it will make unlimited meetings free for 90 days. Users must request this from their Cisco account executive.
- DialPad offers Uber Conference for free, which includes conference calling and video meetings (requires a toll call for dial-in).
- Google offers free Gmail accounts and Google Duo for individuals. It is also offering premium Google Hangouts Meet features for existing users.
- Lifesize is offering unlimited video meetings, no time limits, free for 6 months.
- LogMeIn offers a remote work kit, but it does not include any free or reduced price offers for GoToMeeting.
- Microsoft offers a free version of office for schools—A1— and also offers a 90-day trial of Office 365 that includes teams.
- Zoom offers free 40-minute meetings. It lifted the Zoom meeting time limit for users based in China, and has also lifted the 40-minute limit for K-12 Schools (note: verification of school is required).
Collaboration & Communications
- Atlassian is offering free plans for Jira Software, Confluence, Trello, and more.
- RingCentral is offering RingCentral Office for free to educators, healthcare providers, nonprofits, and more.
- Igloo Software is offering a business communications hub to help remote teams.
- Wrike is offering a free trial of Wrike Professional for 6 months.
- Zello has a free push-to-talk solution available for first responders during COVID-19.
Team Collaboration
- Slack is already free, but it is now offering a free version of its premium tool.
- Glip by RingCentral already offers a free tier.
- Chanty offers a free pricing plan.
- Fleep offers a free tier, though chat groups are limited to 3 groups.
- Ryver has lowered its pricing during COVID-19 and also offers a free 14-day trial for its starter and unlimited tiers.
- WhatsApp (owned by Facebook) offers free messaging (download from Apple iTunes or Google Play).
- 9mCollab offers a free tool for collaboration & knowledge management.
HR/Talent Management
- SHRM has a substantial amount of free resources for HR leaders, ranging from remote work to paid sick leave and furlough advice.
- Benefitfocus offers a community resource center for HR leaders.
- HR Acuity is providing free access to a portion of its employee relations platform.
- Oracle is providing free access to its Workforce Health and Safety solution to Oracle Human Capital Management customers.
- MyInterview offers a free account for video interviews.
- SHL‘s Virtual Assessment and Development Center and Interview suite is available for free during the pandemic.
- TalentLyft is a recruiting tool that offers a free 3 month subscription.
- Zenefits is offering free payroll for 1 year to small businesses.
- ShareAble is offering free background checks.
Learning
Work from home means more time for up-skilling. Team managers should make this part of their work from home regimen.
- Cornerstone OnDemand is launching a free version of its learning platform.
- Coursera offers over 1,700 free courses but will upsell you.
- Google offers some excellent, free, and in-depth AI courses.
- Skillsoft & SumTotal’s Business Continuity Learning Center has free resources on conducting workplace learning amidst the pandemic.
- Udemy offers a few thousand courses for free.
Marketing & Sales
- Calendly, the appointment scheduling app, is offering free Zoom and GoToMeeting integrations until June 30th.
- LeadSquared is offering a free trial.
- HootSuite is offering small businesses and nonprofits free access to its professional plan.
- Salesforce is offering a free Care Response Solution to health care organizations.
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SignEasy offers free plans for NGOs, educational institutions and healthcare companies, and discounts on its monthly and annual business plans for eSignatures.
- Mailchimp is offering free standard service to eligible groups until June 30th, 2020.
- Moz is offering free SEO courses.
Security
- Atlas offers a free VPN.
- Axonius has a free security evaluation for healthcare teams.
- BlackFog is all about securing your work and ensuring privacy, and is offering a free trial.
- Coveware is offering free ransomeware protection to coronavirus healthcare providers.
- CrowdStrike is offering 2 different programs to help remote workers secure their devices.
- encrypt.me is offering a free 2-week trial of its VPN.
- MazeBolt offers free DDoS validation for VPN.
- Surfshark has a free trial for its VPN.
- Vectra is offering its services for free to those who use Office 365 to prevent account takeovers up until May 31, 2020.
- NETSCOUT is offering Cyber Threat Horizon for free. It’s an intelligence portal that allows for real-time visibility of DDoS attacks.