alfaview vs Pencil Spaces

alfaview provides video conferencing for online meetings, webinars, virtual events, and online or hybrid education. Schools can use it for classes, lectures, and training in virtual classrooms that educators can leave open around the clock. Teachers can be highlighted as VIPs, and participants can raise a virtual hand. Rooms include screen sharing with audio, group chat, file sharing, a whiteboard, waiting rooms, and up to 50 breakout rooms. Licenses are priced by booked room, not participant, and user numbers can be unlimited; the free plan is for private individuals, while regular non-private use requires a license. Plans include Free at €0, One at €1 per month, Professional at €3.90 per month, and Premium at €9.90 per month. The service lists browser access and apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. It also lists Outlook integration, an API, a PHP SDK, and single sign-on. alfaview says its infrastructure is in German data centers, its processes comply with GDPR, and communications and stored data are encrypted.

Pencil Spaces is an online classroom for tutoring that combines live teaching, collaboration, session recording, and lesson management. Its browser-based classroom has persistent whiteboards, video calling, built-in resources, document annotation, and interactive web content. Teachers can manage student views and permissions, use waiting and breakout rooms, and receive private alerts when a student goes idle or switches tabs. Scheduling includes attendance tracking, automated scheduling, reminders, and engagement insights. Sessions can be recorded locally or in the cloud; cloud recording storage is 90 days on Expert and 12 months on Master. Starter is free, a 14-day trial is available, and paid plans start at $4/mo. Enterprise starts at $1,000/mo, with custom pricing from $0.002 per participant minute. Prices are in USD per session hour, not per person, and charges begin when a second person joins a Space. Some mobile features may be unavailable.