Alpha Now vs. Zoom
Overview Comparison
| ALPHA NOW | CATEGORY | ZOOM |
| Free account with no time limitation and access to all available features. | PRICE | Free account with a 40-minute limitation. Paid Pro account with no time limitation. |
| Participants remain in the waiting room until hosts open a small group with a minimum of 3 people. Breakout room requires a minimum of three people (one host needed) Participants can message everyone and their small group publicly. Private messages cannot be sent between guests. Guests can only send a private message to an administrator or host. Hosts can mute audio, turn off video, or remove a participant. | SAFEGUARDING | Participants remain in the waiting room until hosts allow them in. Hosts can disable chat or allow participants to message hosts only, everyone publicly, or everyone publicly and privately. Hosts can mute audio, turn off video, or remove a participant. |
| Alpha team training, Alpha best practices training, training videos and read support articles available. | TRAINING | Register for basic Zoom training, watch training videos, and read support articles. |
| Help website access, chatbot support and NAO support available to all users. | SUPPORT | Free account has help website access only. Paid account has help website, live chat and support tickets. |
| Admins and hosts use the same login credentials for Alpha Now as they do for MyAlpha. An Alpha course and respective course link is automatically generated for admins and hosts running an Alpha using the Alpha Now app. | MYALPHA CONNECTION | Hosts need to create a Zoom meeting after creating an Alpha in MyAlpha. |
| Participants can choose between three data saving modes within the mobile app to reduce their data usage. The Standard mode (default option) allows the user to have the best available audio and video quality for the group video. The Alpha Talk video will be displayed in 720p resolution. The Low mode reduces the video quality for the group video. The Alpha Talk video will be displayed in 360p resolution. The Lowest mode removes the user’s video output and shares their audio only. The Alpha Talk video will be displayed in 240p resolution. | REDUCING DATA USAGE | Participants can choose to join a meeting using audio only. |
| Hosts can spotlight themselves as the main speaker on the screen. | SPEAKER VIEW | Hosts can spotlight themselves or other participants as the main speaker on the screen. |
| Hosts can play the Alpha Video from within the Alpha Now app allowing participants to view it simultaneously without having to leave the platform. | THE ALPHA VIDEO | Hosts must share their screen to play the Alpha video. Alternatively, participants can watch the Alpha video on their own. |
| A maximum of 2000 participants can join per Alpha session. A maximum of 49 participants can join per small group. | NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS | A maximum of 300 participants can join per meeting. Paid add-on available for up to 500 or 1000 participants. |
Running Alpha online on Web comparison
| Running Alpha Session | Alpha Now | Zoom |
| Start session | A host opens the waiting room Hosts wait till at least two other people in their small group has joined then started session | All hosts join the same Zoom meeting Admit guests as they join the waiting room Or Each small group has their own Zoom meeting Hosts of the small group join the respective Zoom meeting Admit guests as they join the waiting room |
| Intro | A host broadcasts themself to welcome everyone A host broadcasts a worship video from Vimeo | A host spotlights themself to welcome everyone A host screenshares a worship video from YouTube |
| Watch Alpha video | A host inputs the Alpha Vimeo link and broadcasts it to everyone to watch in the app | A host screenshares the Alpha video for everyone to watch in the app Or A host puts the Alpha Vimeo link the chat Everyone watches the Alpha video on Vimeo Everyone comes back to Zoom to discuss the video |
| Small Group discussion | N/A, everyone is already in small groups | Host creates breakout rooms Everyone joins their assigned breakout room Or N/A, each small group has their own Zoom meeting that people are already in |
| Prayer Ministry | Hosts can invite participants to a breakout room (minimum 3 people must accept including a host) | Host can invite participants to a breakout room |
| Ending the session | Host clicks the End session button Or If the host forgets, the admin can click End for All button on the dashboard | Host clicks End Meeting for All button |
Apps comparison (Web)
| Category | Feature | Alpha Now Web Browser App | Zoom Desktop App | Zoom Web Browser App |
| Account | Join session directly from link | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Join session without login | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Guest login | Email + password, Google, Facebook | Email + password, Google, Facebook | ||
| Admin, Host, Helper login | Email + password | Email + password, Google, Facebook | Email + password, Google, Facebook | |
| Upload profile picture | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Change language | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Language support | English Spanish (Latin America) | Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) English French German Italian Japanese Korean Portuguese Russian Spanish Vietnamese | Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) English French German Italian Japanese Korean Portuguese Russian Spanish Vietnamese | |
| Alpha management | Create a recurring Alpha | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Share the Alpha link | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Preassign small groups | ✓ | Only for participants with a Zoom account | ||
| Waiting Room | Guests can join waiting room before scheduled Alpha time | Host must open the waiting room first | ✓ | ✓ |
| Enable/disable waiting room | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Host see list of all participants in the waiting room | Only see names of those in your group and hosts. Can see the total joined per group | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Admit participants from the waiting room | Host choose to admit all participants and close the waiting room for their small group. Once done, users will join straight into the small group without entering a waiting room | Host can choose to admit some participants while leaving others in the waiting room. Host is notified each time a new participant is in the waiting room | Host can choose to admit some participants while leaving others in the waiting room. Host is notified each time a new participant is in the waiting room | |
| Configure who goes into the waiting room | All participants go to the waiting room | Host can choose who can bypass the waiting room | Host can choose who can bypass the waiting room | |
| Alpha session | Grid View | Shows up to 25 people at once | Shows up to 49 people at once | Shows up to 49 people at once |
| Speaker View | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Change audio/video settings | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Reactions | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Screenshare | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Host abilities | Spotlight speaker | Host can broadcast themself as the main speaker | Host can spotlight anyone as the main speaker | |
| Host can mute audio, turn off video, or kick out a participant | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| End session | Host can end just their small group. An admin can end the session for all small groups. | Host can end the session for all participants or make someone else the host when they leave | Host can end the session for all participants or make someone else the host when they leave | |
| Chat | Send message to everyone | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Send message to small group | ✓ | |||
| Private messaging between host/admin and guests | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Private messaging between guests | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Send emoji | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Send file, image, GIF | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Breakout Room | Host creates breakout room | Manually select people. Create one breakout room at a time | Manually select, autogenerate, or participants can choose their room. You can create multiple breakout rooms at the same time | Manually select, autogenerate, or participants can choose their room. You can create multiple breakout rooms at the same time |
| Breakroom created | 3 people minimum (including one host) | No minimum | No minimum | |
| Host can end the breakout room | Breakout room closes when there are no more hosts in the room | Host can end breakout room after a countdown, or manually end them | Host can end breakout room after a countdown, or manually end them | |
| Countdown timer | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Broadcast message to all breakout rooms | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| MyAlpha Integration | Single Sign-on (SSO) with same MyAlpha login | ✓ | ||
| Autocreate the Alpha from MyAlpha | ✓ | |||
Apps comparison (Mobile)
| Category | Feature | Alpha Now Android/iOS Apps | Zoom Android/iOS Apps |
| Data Consumption | Audio only session | Data Consumption mode: Lowest for audio only group video session with 240p Alpha video | Phone call into the meeting or run Zoom in the background. Participants can’t see the Alpha video if shown in Zoom |
| Reduce Alpha video quality | Data Consumption mode: Normal = 720p Low = 480p Lowest = 240p | Participants can’t control the Alpha video resolution within Zoom. They can if they watch the Alpha video on their own outside Zoom | |
| Reduce session data usage | Data Consumption mode: Normal = no bandwidth restrictions Low = reduced bandwidth Lowest = audio only for group video | Phone call into the meeting or run Zoom in the background for audio only session | |
| Account | Join session directly from link | ✓ | |
| Join session without login | ✓ | ||
| Guest login | Email + password, Google, Facebook | ||
| Admin, Host, Helper login | Email + password | Email + password, Google, Facebook | |
| Upload profile picture | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Change language | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Language support | English Spanish (Latin America) | Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) English French German Italian Japanese Korean Portuguese Russian Spanish Vietnamese | |
| Alpha management | Create a recurring Alpha | ✓ | |
| Share the Alpha link | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Waiting Room | Guests can join waiting room before scheduled Alpha time | Host must open the waiting room first | ✓ |
| Enable/disable waiting room | ✓ | ||
| Host see list of all participants in the waiting room | ✓ | ||
| Admit participants from the waiting room | Host can choose to admit some participants while leaving others in the waiting room. Host is notified each time a new participant in the waiting room | ||
| Configure who goes into the waiting room | All participants go to the waiting room | Host can choose who can bypass the waiting room | |
| Alpha session | Grid View | Shows up to 4 people at once | Shows up to 4 people at once |
| Speaker View | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Change audio/video settings | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Reactions | ✓ | ||
| Screenshare | ✓ | ||
| Host abilities | Spotlight speaker | Host can spotlight anyone as the main speaker | |
| Host can mute audio, turn off video, or kick out a participant | ✓ | ||
| End session | Host can end the session for all participants or make someone else the host when they leave | ||
| Chat | Send message to everyone | ✓ | ✓ |
| Send message to small group | ✓ | ||
| Private messaging between host/admin and guests | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Private messaging between guests | ✓ | ||
| Send emoji | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Send file, image, GIF | ✓ | ||
| Breakout Room | Host creates breakout room | Manually select, autogenerate, or participants can choose their room. You can create multiple breakout rooms at the same time | |
| Breakroom created | 3 people minimum (including one host) | No minimum | |
| Host can end the breakout room | Breakout room closes when there are no more hosts in the room | Host can end breakout room after a countdown, or manually end them | |
| Countdown timer | ✓ | ||
| Broadcast message to all breakout rooms | ✓ | ✓ |