Zoom AI Companion

Basic (Free) Tier Ratings

Last Reviewed: 2026-07-14

40-min limit. Limited AI (3 note-taking sessions). Not practical for content creation.

40-min limit. Limited AI. Insufficient for grant discussions.

Meeting limits. No AI summaries of donor calls beyond 3 free sessions.

No cloud recording. Cannot document program meetings effectively.

40-min limit inappropriate for board meetings. No full AI summaries.

Can host short trainings. No AI documentation beyond 3 free sessions.

No AI features for content creation beyond 3 free note-taking sessions.

No AI email drafting.

Limited AI. Cannot summarize research discussions meaningfully.

No AI summaries of policy discussions beyond basic free tier.

Can host short planning meetings. No AI documentation.

40-min limit. No AI summaries of financial discussions.

NO Training on Customer Data

Zoom commits to NOT using audio, video, chat, or content to train AI. Firm policy, not opt-out. Confirmed in Privacy Statement effective February 2, 2026 (still current as of July 2026 review).

Not needed

Zoom does not train on customer data by default. No opt-out needed. Admin can disable AI features entirely at account level.

Never (except legal/safety)

Zoom employees may not access customer content unless authorized by account owner/admin, or as required for legal, safety, or security reasons. Access is role-based, least privilege, and logged.

30-Day Max

AI inputs retained up to 30 days for support/debugging. Zero Data Retention option not available on Basic tier (requires account team engagement). Third-party model providers may also retain content up to 30 days.

SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001 (Feb 2026)

AES-256 encryption. E2E encryption available. SOC 2 Type 2 (Oct 2024-Oct 2025) and ISO 27001 (re-issued Feb 17, 2026) explicitly cover Zoom AI Companion. No newer certification cycle found as of July 2026.

AI Companion Included Free

AI Companion is included at no extra cost with all paid Zoom Workplace plans (Pro, Business, Enterprise). No separate AI add-on fee like some competitors. Basic plan now includes limited AI Companion (3 sessions). As of mid-2026, AI features (meeting summaries, AI writing) are increasingly described by Zoom as a built-in part of Zoom Workplace rather than a separately branded add-on.

50% Nonprofit Discount via Goodstack

Nonprofits with budgets ≤$10M get 50% off Pro and Business plans. Apply at zoom.com/en/zoom-cares/ — Goodstack verifies eligibility and provides a coupon code. Important: healthcare organizations, K-12/higher ed, and government agencies are explicitly excluded. Confirmed unchanged as of July 2026.

No AI Training on Customer Data

Zoom explicitly commits to not using audio, video, chat, or content to train AI models. This is a firm policy, not an opt-out. Reaffirmed in Privacy Statement effective February 2, 2026, still current as of July 2026.

Zero Data Retention (ZDR) Option

Organizations can enable Zero Data Retention to immediately delete transcripts, OCR, and chat inputs after meeting summary generation. Contact account team to enable. Good for sensitive discussions. Trades some AI retry features for maximum privacy.

Zoom-hosted Models Only (ZMO) and Zoom AI On-Prem

Enterprise customers can opt for ZMO to ensure data never leaves Zoom infrastructure. Alternative: ZM+ includes only Zoom + Anthropic via AWS Bedrock. New as of June 2026: Zoom AI On-Prem lets organizations deploy AI processing (starting with speech recognition, expanding to summaries and agentic search) on their own infrastructure or private cloud. Contact account team to enable any of these options.

Federated AI Approach

Zoom uses multiple AI providers (own models + OpenAI + Anthropic + Perplexity for web search + ElevenLabs for Clips AI Avatars). Models can change without notice. Enterprise can restrict to specific providers via ZMO/ZM+ or self-host via Zoom AI On-Prem. No providers permitted to train on Zoom customer content.

HIPAA BAA Available on Pro and Above, With AI Feature Caveats

HIPAA Business Associate Agreement is available on Pro, Business, Business Plus, and Enterprise plans, confirmed via Zoom's current support documentation (KB0067751). However, multiple independent 2026 compliance sources (ComplyAssistant, BAA Generator, Curve Compliance, North Privacy Advisors) consistently report that AI Companion features — including meeting summaries and transcription — are commonly disabled or restricted for BAA/healthcare-configured accounts because they may not be covered by the standard BAA terms. Nonprofits handling PHI should confirm exact AI Companion feature scope with Zoom before relying on it under a BAA.

AI Companion 3.0 Continues Expanding (Dec 2025 - July 2026)

AI Companion 3.0 launched Dec 15, 2025 with web interface (ai.zoom.us), agentic workflows, deep research mode, cross-platform note-taking, and $10/mo standalone option. March 2026 Enterprise Connect announced expansion across the full Zoom Workplace app (targeted for April 2026) with a dedicated tab, AI Docs/Sheets/Slides canvases, and 10+ enterprise app connectors. Through April-July 2026, Zoom shipped incremental AI Companion features directly in the Workplace app (Whiteboard AI chat, Memory improvements, Workflow 'Deep Reasoning' node, My Notes on mobile, agentic search across 10 connectors including Workday, Confluence, SharePoint, Zendesk, and Seismic, and an AI Companion integration inside Microsoft Teams). As of July 2026, Zoom's own release notes had not explicitly confirmed complete feature parity for AI Companion 3.0 between web and the Workplace app — the web surface (ai.zoom.us) remains the most fully-featured entry point.

ZoomMate: AI Capabilities Rebranded and Expanded (June 2026)

In June 2026, Zoom introduced 'ZoomMate' as a new AI teammate concept on the web, consolidating agentic search, agentic workflows, and AI agents, alongside new AI-native authoring tools: Zoom Slides, Zoom Sheets, and Zoom Paper. At the same time, Zoom Workplace messaging shifted to describe AI features (meeting summaries, AI writing) as a built-in part of the platform rather than a separately named add-on. Nonprofits should watch for further consolidation of AI Companion and ZoomMate branding in upcoming releases.

Meeting Participants Notified

All participants see notification when AI Companion features are activated. Can choose to leave. Host can stop AI at any time and delete AI-generated assets.

2026-06

Zoom introduced 'ZoomMate,' a new AI teammate experience on the web consolidating agentic search, agentic workflows, and AI agents, plus new AI-native tools Zoom Slides, Zoom Sheets, and Zoom Paper. Zoom also began describing core AI features (meeting summaries, AI writing) as a built-in part of Zoom Workplace rather than a separately branded solution. Zoom AI On-Prem was also announced, letting organizations deploy AI processing (starting with speech recognition) on their own infrastructure or private cloud.

2026-05

AI Companion 3.0 features expanded further into Zoom Workplace: My Notes available on mobile (transcribe in-person/on-the-go conversations, syncs to desktop), workflows embedded directly in meetings, agentic search enhancements bringing the total live connectors to 10 (Salesforce, Google Drive, ServiceNow, OneDrive, Box, Workday, Confluence, SharePoint, Zendesk, Seismic), AI Companion Chat added to Whiteboard, and a new AI Companion app for Microsoft Teams.

2026-04

AI Companion gained Memory improvements (view/edit what AI Companion knows about a user's work preferences), a new 'Deep Reasoning' workflow node for complex automations, and AI Companion chat directly inside Whiteboard.

2026-03-10

Enterprise Connect 2026: AI Companion 3.0 expansion across full Zoom Workplace app (previously web-only) announced, targeted for April 2026. New dedicated AI Companion tab in Zoom Workplace. AI Docs, AI Sheets, AI Slides canvases added. 10 new enterprise connectors (Salesforce, ServiceNow, Box, Google Drive, OneDrive). Custom prebuilt agents for Sales, IT, and Marketing. AI memory/personalization feature launched. Monthly active users tripled year-over-year in Q4 FY26. As of the July 2026 review, Zoom's release notes describe substantial incremental AI Companion features shipped into the Workplace app but had not explicitly confirmed full 3.0 feature parity with the web surface.

2026-02-17

ISO 27001 certification re-issued, explicitly covering Zoom AI Companion and AI Expert Assist, AI Notetaker, AI Studio/Custom AI Companion (CAIC), and Healthcare Clinical Notes products. Confirmed still the most current ISO 27001 certification as of July 2026.

2026-01-20

Critical vulnerability CVE-2026-22844 (CVSS 9.9) disclosed in Zoom Node Multimedia Routers, affecting on-premise/hybrid meeting infrastructure (Zoom Node Meetings Hybrid and Meeting Connector deployments only — not standard cloud accounts). Patched the same day in version 5.2.1716.0. No evidence of active exploitation. Relevant primarily to enterprise/on-prem nonprofit deployments, not typical cloud AI Companion users.

2025-12-15

AI Companion 3.0 launched. New web interface at ai.zoom.us. Agentic workflows, deep research mode, cross-platform note-taking (Teams, Meet, Webex, in-person). $10/mo standalone option for Basic users. AI Companion Basic with limited features included in free tier. Personal workflows (beta). Daily Reflection Report. Cross Meeting Analyst.

2025-09

AI Companion 2.0 features announced at Zoomtopia. Custom AI agents. Cross-platform support (Teams, Meet, Webex planned).

2025-05-01

Zoom nonprofit program verification partner changed from TechSoup to Goodstack. Application process updated to use Goodstack for eligibility verification. 50% discount still available on Pro and Business plans. Confirmed unchanged as of July 2026.

For organizations with 5+ staff

Pro at 50% nonprofit discount ($6.67/user/mo) is excellent value. AI Companion included free. HIPAA BAA available even on Pro, though confirm which AI Companion features remain active under your BAA. Business ($9.17/user/mo) adds SSO and 300 participants if needed. Note: healthcare organizations are excluded from the nonprofit discount and should contact sales for Enterprise pricing.

For organizations with fewer than 5 staff

Pro at 50% off is still best value. AI Companion Standalone ($10/mo) is an option if you must stay on free Zoom — gives full AI access via ai.zoom.us but still limited to 40-min meetings. Free tier now includes 3 limited AI sessions. Upgrade to Pro when meeting length matters.

For health data or vulnerable populations

HIPAA BAA is available starting at the Pro plan — but confirm with Zoom which specific AI Companion features (meeting summaries, transcription) remain active under your BAA, since several independent 2026 compliance reviews report these are commonly disabled for healthcare-configured accounts. Enterprise tier recommended for full compliance with Customer Managed Key, ZMO, Zoom AI On-Prem, eDiscovery, and legal holds. Healthcare organizations with budgets under $10M cannot access the nonprofit discount program and must contact sales.

"Used to spend 20 minutes writing up notes and feedback for parents after a class. This has been halved thanks to this very useful and clever AI Companion."

"Notes are effective and complete but still missing some important details. Sometimes takes notes a few minutes after the meeting started."