The Best Roam Alternatives in 2026

The best alternatives to Roam (ro.am), the virtual office, in 2026 are Katmai for teams that want to see each other in a photorealistic 3D office instead of a map of rooms, and Gather and Kumospace for an avatar office you move around in. The rest: SoWork for the lowest-cost avatar office with a free plan for up to 10 members, Sococo for a classic floor-plan office closest to Roam's structure, and WorkAdventure for open source and self-hosting.

This guide is published by Katmai, and Katmai is ranked first. Prices and plan terms below come from each vendor's own pricing page in October 2026; check them before you buy.

Why teams look for a Roam alternative

Roam is a room-based virtual office: your company appears as a map of offices and rooms, and one plan at $19.50 per active member per month bundles the office with chat, scheduling, an AI note taker, a screen recorder, an all-hands theater and an AI assistant. Teams usually move on for one of these reasons:

No sense of place. Roam's own comparison marks it "No" on avatar movement and on proximity audio; you click into rooms rather than walk over to someone.
No free plan and no annual option. Roam bills monthly and offers a 14-day free trial.
More bundle than you need. If your team already runs on Slack, Zoom and Calendly, much of the bundle overlaps.
Price. Roam's pricing page says the price rises to $20.88 per active member per month in 2027.

Roam alternatives at a glance

Platform	Best for	Presence model	Free plan or trial	Paid pricing
Katmai	Teams that want to see each other, not icons	Photorealistic 3D with live video	Demo-led	One plan, every feature, priced after a demo
Gather	Small teams that want a playful office	2D pixel-art avatars, proximity video	30-day free trial, no free plan	Per member
Kumospace	A polished spatial office	Spatial avatars, proximity audio	Free up to 5 members; 14-day trial	Business from $16 per user per month
SoWork	The lowest-cost avatar office	2.5D isometric avatars	Free up to 10 members; 7-day trial	Basic and Premium, per member
Sococo	The structure closest to Roam's	Top-down floor plan of rooms	14-day trial	$13.49 per seat per month, annual, 10-seat minimum
WorkAdventure	Open source and self-hosting	2D pixel-art avatars	Free up to 10 users	Business from €8 per user per month

1. Katmai: presence instead of a map

Where Roam shows your company as a map of rooms, Katmai puts everyone in a photorealistic 3D office in the browser, with live video of each person and spatial audio. You see who is at their desk, walk over and talk, and clients join by link with no account or download. Katmai's team configures your office and adds your users after a demo, and one plan includes every feature. See the full comparison: Katmai vs Roam.

Pros: real faces in a real-feeling place; professional in front of clients; nothing for guests to install.

Cons: demo-led, no free plan; built for teams of roughly 10 or more; photoreal rendering wants reasonably modern machines (system requirements published).

Best for: teams that chose Roam for structure but miss actually being together.

2. Gather: walk over instead of clicking in

Gather is the original avatar office: a pixel-art map where video opens when you walk up to someone. Gather 2.0 adds persistent chat, meetings and AI meeting notes, with deep map customization. In February 2026 co-founders Phillip Wang and Jinen Kamdar and the AI team joined Figma, and Gather now runs as an independent company led by Sam Smith. More: Katmai vs Gather.

Pros: spontaneous, walk-up conversations; highly customizable maps; 30-day free trial.

Cons: no free plan; a game-style look; fewer built-in tools than Roam's bundle.

Best for: small teams that want the casual run-into-each-other feel Roam does not have.

3. Kumospace: spatial and polished

Kumospace is a spatial office with a modern look: proximity audio and video, rooms with doors for private conversations, multiple floors on the Business plan, and desktop and mobile apps. The free plan covers up to 5 registered members, and Business starts at $16 per user per month with a 14-day free trial. Both co-founders also run Fonzi AI, a recruiting startup, while Kumospace continues to sell. More: Katmai vs Kumospace.

Pros: proximity audio Roam lacks; free plan for very small teams; desktop and mobile apps.

Cons: avatars rather than faces; the free plan stops at 5 members.

Best for: small teams that want movement and proximity with a professional look.

4. SoWork: the budget avatar office

SoWork is a 2.5D virtual office with avatars and proximity conversations, Slack-style team chat, calendar integration, and AI summaries, transcripts and action items on its Premium plan. The free plan covers up to 10 members with a 30-minute limit per meeting, there is a 7-day free trial, and teams over 100 move to a custom Enterprise plan. More: Katmai vs SoWork and SoWork alternatives.

Pros: free plan for up to 10; AI meeting features on Premium; low cost per member.

Cons: a game-style isometric look; 30-minute meeting cap on the free plan.

Best for: budget-conscious small teams.

5. Sococo: the original floor plan

Sococo has been around since 2007 and is the closest to Roam's model: a top-down floor plan of offices and meeting rooms where you can see who is where. It has its own video and also works with Zoom, Webex, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. Pricing starts at $13.49 per seat per month, prepaid annually, with a 10-seat minimum and a 14-day trial. ESW Capital acquired Sococo in 2019 through a prepackaged Chapter 11 reorganization into its Think3 portfolio, and visible development has slowed since. More: Katmai vs Sococo and Sococo alternatives.

Pros: structured floor plan like Roam's; works with the video tool you already use.

Cons: annual prepay and a 10-seat minimum; the interface and pace of development lag newer products.

Best for: teams that want Roam's structure without the bundle.

6. WorkAdventure: open source and self-hosted

WorkAdventure is the open-source option: a pixel-art 2D office with proximity video that you can run on your own servers or use as a hosted service. The hosted free plan covers up to 10 users, and Business starts at €8 per user per month.

Pros: full control of data and hosting; self-hostable; very customizable maps.

Cons: self-hosting needs someone to run it; a game-style look.

Best for: engineering-led teams with data residency requirements.

How to choose

You want to see your team, not icons on a map: Katmai.
You want walk-up conversations with avatars: Gather or Kumospace.
You want the lowest cost: SoWork.
You want Roam's structure without the bundle: Sococo.
You need open source or self-hosting: WorkAdventure.

FAQ

What is the best alternative to Roam?

For teams that want to see each other in a real-feeling office rather than a map of rooms, Katmai. Gather and Kumospace suit teams that want avatars and proximity audio, and Sococo is closest to Roam's room-based structure.

Is there a free alternative to Roam?

Roam has no free plan. SoWork is free for up to 10 members, Kumospace for up to 5 registered members, and WorkAdventure for up to 10 users or self-hosted.

How much does Roam cost?

Roam's single plan is $19.50 per active member per month, billed monthly, with a 14-day free trial. Roam's pricing page says the price rises to $20.88 in 2027.

Does Roam have avatars or proximity audio?

No. Roam is room-based, and its own comparison marks it "No" on avatar movement and on proximity audio.

What is the difference between Roam and Gather?

Roam is a room-based map bundled with chat, scheduling and AI tools at one monthly price. Gather is an avatar office where you walk up to people to start a conversation, priced per member with a 30-day free trial.