Around

Snapshot Verdict

Around is a minimalist video conferencing tool designed to get out of your way. Instead of the traditional "wall of faces" found in Zoom or Microsoft Teams, Around crops participants into small, floating circular frames. It is built specifically for remote teams who need to collaborate on a shared screen or document without sacrificing screen real estate. While it lacks the enterprise-level feature depth of major competitors, it offers a vastly superior user experience for focused, creative work.

Product Version

Version reviewed: Desktop Client (updated late 2023/early 2024)

What This Product Actually Is

Around is a communication platform that rethinks the visual hierarchy of video calls. In a standard video meeting, the application usually takes over a large portion of your screen. Around does the opposite. By default, it uses "Floating Frames"—circular crops of participants' faces that float on top of whatever other windows you have open.

The software uses AI-driven auto-cropping that follows your face, ensuring that your background is largely hidden and the focus remains on you. This design philosophy assumes that the meeting isn't the primary task; the work you are doing together—coding, designing, or writing—is what matters.

Acquired by Miro in 2022, Around has increasingly integrated with collaborative whiteboarding, though it remains a standalone application. It includes standard features like screen sharing, chat, and "rooms," but delivers them through an interface that feels more like a modern messaging app than a corporate teleconferencing suite.

Real-World Use & Experience

Using Around feels fundamentally different from using Zoom. When you join a call, the main application window often disappears, replaced by small circles that you can drag around your desktop. If you are a designer using Figma or a developer in VS Code, you can keep your colleagues' faces visible in the corners of your screen while having 90% of your workspace available for the actual task.

The audio quality is a highlight. Around uses aggressive background noise suppression that performs remarkably well in open offices or homes with ambient noise. It also features a "Signal" mode that uses AI to detect if you are speaking while muted, providing a subtle visual cue rather than a jarring pop-up.

Collaboration is handled through a "Campfire" view when you need to focus on everyone, but the tool shines in "Work Mode." During screen shares, the shared window stays central while the floating heads remain interactive. You don’t have to toggle between the shared screen and the participants; the UI layers them intelligently. The integration with Miro is seamless, allowing teams to launch a shared whiteboard directly within the Around interface without switching apps.

Standout Strengths

• Floating frames maximize screen workspace.
• AI auto-cropping hides messy backgrounds.
• Superior background noise suppression technology.

The primary strength of Around is its spatial efficiency. By stripping away the bulky UI of traditional video apps, it reduces the cognitive load of managing windows. You don't have to choose between seeing your team and seeing your work.

The AI-assisted framing is also a significant quality-of-life improvement. Because the software crops specifically to your face, it removes the "distraction" factor of a teammate's bedroom or home office. This creates a more professional, focused atmosphere without requiring everyone to use artificial blur filters that often look glitchy.

Finally, the product’s aesthetic is clean and modern. It uses dark modes, sleek typography, and subtle animations that make the tech feel invisible. For teams that suffer from "Zoom fatigue," the low-profile nature of Around acts as a psychological relief.

Limitations, Trade-offs & Red Flags

• Feature set lacks enterprise depth.
• High CPU usage on older machines.
• Mobile experience is significantly limited.

Around is not a one-to-one replacement for Zoom in a large corporate environment. It lacks advanced webinar features, complex breakout room management, and the robust administrative controls that IT departments usually demand. It is designed for small to medium-sized teams doing high-touch collaborative work, not for 500-person "all-hands" meetings.

Performance can be an issue. Despite its minimalist appearance, the real-time AI cropping and noise cancellation require a decent amount of processing power. Users on older hardware, particularly older MacBooks, may notice their fans spinning up or slight lag when multiple heavy applications are open alongside Around.

Lastly, the mobile app is a secondary experience. Around is built for the desktop-first worker. If your job involves joining many calls while on the move, you will find the mobile interface cramped and lacking the "floating" magic that makes the desktop version unique.

Who It's Actually For

Around is built for "builders." This includes software engineering squads, design agencies, and creative content teams. If your typical meeting involves two to six people looking at a specific document, piece of code, or design mockup, Around is arguably the best tool on the market.

It is also an excellent choice for remote-first companies that value a "heads-down" culture. Because the interface is so unobtrusive, it encourages shorter, more tactical syncs rather than long, drawn-out presentations. It is not for sales teams doing external demos to conservative clients, nor is it for large-scale educational lectures where the speaker needs to manage hundreds of participants.

Value for Money & Alternatives

Around offers a generous free tier that covers the needs of most small teams, including unlimited one-on-one meetings and a respectable limit on group call duration. Following its acquisition by Miro, the pricing structure has remained accessible, often bundled with or positioned alongside Miro’s collaborative tools.

For a team that already uses Miro for whiteboarding, Around is a no-brainer. It provides a level of integration that competitors can't match. Even as a standalone free product, it provides more utility for collaborative work than the restricted free versions of big-box competitors.

Value for money: great

Alternatives

• Zoom — The industry standard for stability and large-scale meetings.
• Gather — A gamified, 2D proximity-based chat for virtual offices.
• Discord — Excellent for persistent voice channels and low-latency screen sharing.

Final Verdict

Around is a specialized tool that does one thing exceptionally well: it makes video calling feel like a background process rather than a main event. If you are tired of losing your screen to a grid of faces, and your work happens primarily in digital workspaces, Around is the most meaningful upgrade you can make to your daily workflow. It trades broad corporate features for surgical focus and elegant design.