Stoa vs Zoom
Stoa vs Zoom: video meetings vs working sessions
Zoom and Stoa both put your team on video, but they are built for different jobs. Zoom is the general-purpose conferencing standard: calls, webinars, phone, and AI Companion summaries with action items. Stoa is a working room for product teams, where a live in-room agent captures decisions with their rationale, drafts PRDs and user stories, and can write and run code during the call. Stoa is not trying to replace everything Zoom does. It is built for the working sessions where a meeting should end with a decision, a spec, or a prototype.
| Feature | Stoa | Zoom |
|---|---|---|
| Built-in video meeting | Yes | Yes |
| AI meeting summary and action items | Yes | Yes, via AI Companion |
| In-room AI agent that writes and runs code | Yes | No |
| Decision log with rationale, kept across sessions | Yes | No, summaries only |
| Drafts PRDs, user stories, acceptance criteria | Yes | No |
| Local-first context you own and can export | Yes | No |
| Webinars, phone, and broad conferencing breadth | No, focused on working sessions | Yes |
| Pricing | Usage-based, $5/hour, no seats | Per-user monthly plans, limited free tier |
The bottom line
Keep Zoom for all-hands, webinars, sales calls, and general meetings. Reach for Stoa when a product working session should produce an artifact, a decision log, a spec, or a working prototype, captured live and owned by your team. Many teams use both.
Frequently asked questions
Does Stoa replace Zoom?
Not for everything. Stoa has built-in video, so for product working sessions you can run the whole meeting in it. For all-hands, webinars, and general calls, most teams keep Zoom and use Stoa for the sessions that need to produce decisions and artifacts.
How is Stoa different from Zoom AI Companion?
AI Companion summarizes the call and lists action items. Stoa's agent goes further during the meeting: it captures decisions with their rationale into a durable log, drafts PRDs and user stories, and can write and run prototype code, so the output is artifacts you keep, not just a summary.
How does pricing compare?
Stoa is usage-based at $5/hour with no per-seat fees. Zoom uses per-user monthly plans with a limited free tier. Which is cheaper depends on team size and how many hours you meet in each.