Sococo is the original virtual office. Founded in 2007, it invented the concept of a persistent presence map for distributed teams before the cloud infrastructure, browser video, or broadband penetration existed to make it work properly. Today it operates as a legacy enterprise product that routes video through Zoom or Webex rather than providing its own.
Roam is a fully integrated platform built from scratch on modern infrastructure, with native video, AI-native features, and nine products at one price.
Sococo was founded in 2007 — three years before Zoom existed, four years before WebRTC made browser-based video practical, and during a period when most distributed teams were still coordinating by phone and email. The founders had the right idea at the wrong time. They saw that remote teams needed a persistent visual representation of where people were and what they were doing, and they built it. That insight was genuinely ahead of its moment.
The product launched publicly around 2010 as a top-down floor plan map where teammates appeared as avatars in rooms, with a knock feature to request entry and multi-screen sharing built in. For its era, this was remarkable. Enterprises like JetBlue used it. The category Sococo invented would not become mainstream for another decade.
The problem is that Sococo was architected for the technology of 2007, not 2025. Rather than building native video as the technology matured, Sococo took the path of integrating with Zoom and Webex — meaning the product became a coordination layer on top of tools you already pay for, rather than a replacement for them. The ownership history reflects a product that has never fully found its footing: Sococo was acquired by Scaleworks, and the Sococo team was subsequently acquired by Virbela. The product continues to operate under an acting CEO and serves a loyal but declining enterprise customer base.
Roam is at $3 million in ARR, grew 148% in 2025, and is projecting more than 200% growth in 2026. Sococo does not publish ARR figures, but industry estimates put the product in decline.
Sococo’s founding team built a genuinely pioneering product. They invented the virtual office category in 2007 and deserve credit for seeing the problem before anyone else. But after multiple acquisitions — first by Scaleworks, then with the team absorbed into Virbela — the original founders are no longer involved. The product today operates under an acting CEO with no stated development roadmap and no AI capabilities on the horizon.
Roam was founded by Howard Lerman, who previously founded Yext and took it public at a $2 billion valuation. Lerman is fully focused on Roam — not a board member or advisor operating at arm’s length, but the active founder-CEO leading product, strategy, and day-to-day execution. Sococo invented the category. Roam is building where that category was always headed.
Both Roam and Sococo provide always-on company presence, a persistent visual map of who is working and where, click-to-join meetings, multi-floor support, dedicated meeting rooms, calendar integration, and SSO/SCIM for enterprise provisioning. Both are designed as virtual offices for teams of 50 or more. The core concept — seeing your whole company on a map, knowing who is available without asking — is the same. Sococo invented it. Roam built it for the current decade.
1. Sococo invented the category, but the technology has moved on. The virtual office concept that Sococo pioneered in 2007 was limited by what was technically possible at the time. Browser-based video did not exist. Cloud infrastructure was primitive. Broadband was not universal. Sococo built the best product it could with 2007 technology and then largely preserved that architecture as the world changed around it. Roam was built from the ground up on modern infrastructure — native browser video, real-time presence, AI as a first-class concern — without the weight of fifteen-year-old architectural decisions.
2. No native video. Sococo’s most significant limitation is that it has no video of its own. All video calls in Sococo route through Zoom or Webex integrations. This means Sococo is a presence and coordination layer on top of tools you already pay for, not a replacement for them. If you use Sococo, you are paying for Sococo and Zoom. Roam’s video is fully native — Drop-In Meetings, meeting rooms, Theater (all-hands for up to 3,000), and On-Air (virtual events) are all built into the platform. Most teams that switch to Roam eliminate their Zoom subscription entirely.
3. No AI of any kind. Sococo has no AI features and no public AI roadmap. Roam has AI agents as permanent residents of the office map — they have their own offices, can be addressed by voice or chat, and are available throughout the workday. Roam also includes native AI note taking and an AI assistant. For teams that are embedding AI into daily workflows, Sococo cannot participate in that transition.
4. Multiple ownership changes. Sococo has changed hands more than once — acquired by Scaleworks, with the team subsequently acquired by Virbela. The product currently operates under an acting CEO. For teams making a long-term infrastructure decision, the ownership history of a platform matters. Roam is founder-led, actively growing, and on an expanding product roadmap.
5. Annual billing and 10-seat minimum. Sococo requires annual billing to access its best rates and has a 10-seat minimum. Roam bills monthly with no lock-in, charges only for active members, and has no seat minimum. Every new Roam member gets a 14-day individual trial. Inactive members during vacations, leaves, or quieter periods are never billed.
6. No map customization. Sococo’s floor plan is limited in how much it can be customized. Roam has a SimCity-style map editor that lets teams build their office layout, brand it with their logo and colors, and organize it by department or function across unlimited floors.
7. Platform breadth. Sococo covers presence and routing to Zoom or Webex. Roam includes nine integrated products at one price: Drop-In Meetings, Theater (virtual all-hands for up to 3,000), Lobby (meeting scheduler), AInbox (AI-native enterprise chat), Magic Minutes (AI note taker), Magicast (screen recorder), On-It (AI assistant), and On-Air (virtual events). Teams running Sococo alongside Zoom, Slack, Loom, and Calendly can replace all of them with Roam.
8. Professional but frozen in time. Sococo’s floor plan aesthetic is professional in a way that Gather’s pixel art is not. But professional and current are different things. The interface looks and behaves largely as it did in 2015. For teams that want a virtual office that feels like it was built for the way distributed companies actually operate today — with AI, async tools, and mobile access — Sococo is a significant step backward from what is now possible.
| Feature | Roam | Sococo |
|---|---|---|
| Presence model | ✅ Room-based | ⚠️ Top-down floor plan |
| Native video | ✅ Yes, built-in | ❌ No, via Zoom or Webex only |
| Proximity / spatial audio | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Click-to-join drop-in meetings | ✅ Yes, avg 8 min | ✅ Yes, knock feature |
| Multi-floor support | ✅ Yes, unlimited | ✅ Yes |
| Spotlight search | ✅ Yes, any floor instantly | ❌ No |
| Physical office tags (hybrid) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| AI agents on map | ✅ Yes, own offices, voice, chat | ❌ No |
| Mobile experience | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Limited |
| Private office per member | ✅ Yes, personal shelf | ⚠️ Desk only |
| Game room | ✅ Yes, 18 titles, leaderboard | ❌ No |
| Whiteboard in rooms | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| 3D chat (group typing indicators) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Video stories (24hr) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Spotify / Apple Music display | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Do not disturb (auto-detect) | ✅ Yes, automatic | ⚠️ Manual only |
| Out of office / will return | ✅ Yes, date and time | ⚠️ Basic status only |
| GitHub (PRs on map) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Figma (comments on map) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Calendar integration | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Map editor | ✅ Yes, SimCity-style | ⚠️ Limited |
| SSO / SCIM | ✅ Yes, both | ✅ Yes, both |
| API / developer platform | ✅ Yes, MCP server | ❌ No |
| Active AI roadmap | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Active founder leadership | ✅ Yes, Howard Lerman, Yext IPO $2B | ❌ No, multiple acquisitions, acting CEO |
| Product | Roam | Sococo |
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Office Map | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Video Conferencing | ✅ Yes, Drop-In Meetings native | ❌ No, via Zoom or Webex only |
| Virtual All Hands | ✅ Yes, Theater up to 3,000 | ❌ No |
| Meeting Scheduler | ✅ Yes, Lobby | ❌ No |
| Enterprise Chat | ✅ Yes, AInbox | ⚠️ Basic chat only |
| AI Note Taker | ✅ Yes, Magic Minutes | ❌ No |
| Screen Recorder | ✅ Yes, Magicast | ❌ No |
| AI Assistant | ✅ Yes, On-It | ❌ No |
| Virtual Events | ✅ Yes, On-Air | ❌ No |
| Category | Roam | Sococo |
|---|---|---|
| Price per seat/mo | $19.50 | $13.49-$24.99 |
| Free tier | ❌ No | ❌ No, 10-seat minimum |
| Billing cadence | ✅ Monthly only | ⚠️ Annual required for best rate |
| Usage-based | ✅ Yes, active members only | ❌ No, per seat |
| Guests free | ✅ Yes, always | ❌ No |
| Per-member trial | ✅ Yes, 14 days each | ❌ No |
| Single plan, all features | ✅ Yes, all 9 products | ❌ No, tiered |
| ARR trajectory | $3m, growing 148% in 2025 | Declining, no public figures |
The most common reasons teams look for a Sococo alternative are the Zoom dependency (paying for two tools to do one job), the absence of AI features, the annual billing requirement, and a product that has not materially evolved in several years. Roam addresses all of these. For teams that want to keep Zoom but need a more modern presence layer, Gather or Kumospace are worth evaluating — though neither offers AI features either. Roam is the only alternative in the category that is native video, AI-first, and actively expanding its product surface.
Does Roam integrate with Zoom like Sococo does? Roam has its own native video and does not require Zoom. When you join an external Zoom or Google Meet call, Roam automatically sets your status to Do Not Disturb — so teams transitioning from Sococo can keep using Zoom for external calls while adopting Roam’s native video for internal ones. Most teams eliminate Zoom entirely within a few months.
How does Sococo’s pricing compare to Roam? Sococo ranges from $13.49 to $24.99 per seat per month on annual billing, with a 10-seat minimum. Roam is $19.50 per seat per month on monthly billing with no minimum, and bills only for active members. For most teams the effective cost difference is small, but Roam’s flexibility and the elimination of a separate Zoom subscription typically makes Roam meaningfully cheaper in total.
Does Sococo have AI features? No. Sococo does not offer AI agents, AI note taking, or an AI assistant. Roam is the only virtual office platform with AI agents as permanent office residents.
What happened to Sococo’s ownership? Sococo has changed hands multiple times. The company was acquired by Scaleworks, and the Sococo team was subsequently acquired by Virbela. The product currently operates under an acting CEO. The core platform continues to serve existing customers but has not materially expanded its feature set in several years.
Can Roam support the same floor plan structure as Sococo? Yes. Roam supports unlimited floors with a SimCity-style map editor that can reproduce a floor-plan layout. Roam also adds spotlight search across all floors, physical office tags for hybrid teams, and a map editor that lets teams brand and customize their office — none of which Sococo offers.
Is Sococo still a good choice for enterprise teams? Sococo works for enterprise teams with a deep Zoom investment and no urgency to change their video infrastructure. For any enterprise team evaluating new tooling — especially those considering AI adoption — Sococo’s frozen feature set and lack of a development roadmap make it difficult to recommend as a long-term platform.