Google Meet vs. Zoom – Forbes Advisor

Google Meet and Zoom are popular video conferencing solutions that share many of the same features. Both platforms can be used for virtual events and meetings as well as team collaboration. Yet, when you take a closer look at Google Meet vs. Zoom, you'll find there are distinct differences.

We conducted an in-depth review of Google Meet and Zoom to help you make an informed choice for your video conferencing needs. Overall, both Google Meet and Zoom are excellent solutions; however, the best one for you will depend on your unique business requirements.

Google Meet vs. Zoom: At a Glance

Google Meet

4.9

Google Meet

4.9

Paid plans range

$0 to $18

per month (plus custom-priced Enterprise option)

Participant capacity

Up to 250

Meeting limit

Unlimited

View Details

Pros

Strong platform security
14-day free trial available for paid plans
Generous cloud storage

Cons

Low participant capacity
Several features require Chrome Extensions
Recording not available on free plan

Zoom

4.9

Zoom

4.9

Paid plans range

$0 to $19.99

per month per license

Participant capacity

Up to 1,000

Meeting limit

Unlimited

View Details

Pros

Supports large audiences
Easy to set up and use
1,000+ app integrations available

Cons

Paid plans are pricey
Limited cloud storage
Security issues

How Google Meet vs. Zoom Stack Up

	Google Meet	Zoom
Price	$0 to $18 per month per user (plus custom-priced Enterprise option)	$0 to $19.99 per month per user
Participant Capacity	Up to 250	Up to 1,000
Meeting Time Limits	Up to 24 hours (free plan limits group meetings to one hour)	Up to 30 hours (free plan limits group meetings to 40 minutes)
Screen, App and Document Sharing	✔	✔
Virtual Backgrounds	✔	✔
Chat	✔	✔
Pin/Spotlight Certain Participants	✔	✔
Breakout Rooms	On paid plans	✔
Record Meetings	On paid plans	✔
Whiteboard	Available with Google Jamboard	Built in
Polls	On paid plans	On paid plans
Closed Captioning	✔	Third-party app required
Meeting Filters	Available via a Chrome extension	Filters available for appearance and lighting
Meeting Transcripts	Available via a Chrome extension	Available on Business and Enterprise plans
Cloud Storage for Recordings	15 GB to unlimited storage per user	1 GB to unlimited storage per user on paid plans
Security	Encryption in transit and at rest; two-step verification	TLS encryption, AES-265 encryption for real-time content; end-to-end encryption optional
Integrations	200+	1,000+
Attendance Reports	Enterprise plan only	On all paid plans

Google Meet and Zoom both offer a wide range of in-demand video conferencing tools, including screen and app sharing, meeting recordings, meeting transcripts, chat, participant spotlight and virtual backgrounds.

Zoom meeting capacity scales up to 1,000 participants, while Google Meet tops out at 250. Both providers impose relatively tight time limits on group meetings for their free plans. Zoom offers free users up to 40 minutes, while Google Meet's free plan allows up to one hour for group meetings.

Breakout rooms and meeting recordings are available on all Zoom plans but only on paid plans with Google Meet. Both platforms require paid plans for polling.

Google Meet has built-in tools for live closed captions; you must use a third-party app for closed captioning in Zoom meetings. Google Meet offers intelligent noise cancellation on all its paid plans; this feature is only offered through Zoom's desktop client for Windows and macOS.

Zoom includes built-in appearance and lighting filters with every plan; these features are available on Google Meet through a downloadable Google Chrome extension. Whiteboards and waiting rooms are standard with all Zoom plans but require Chrome extensions with Google Meet.

Google Meet offers considerably more storage for cloud recordings than Zoom. Paid Google Meet users receive 30 GB to unlimited cloud storage on Google Drive. With Google Meet, even free users get 15 GB of storage. Free Zoom users do not get cloud storage, and paid users only get 1 GB per user on Zoom's Pro and Business plans; Zoom Enterprise clients receive unlimited cloud storage.

Pricing

Google Meet, formerly known as Google Hangouts, is available for free as a stand-alone app. You can also get Google Meet as part of the Google Workspace bundle of business and personal productivity tools.

Google Workspace, formerly known as Google Suite, comes with top Google software, including Gmail, Calendar, Chat, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms and Sites. The key advantage of going with a paid Google Workspace plan is that all the apps offered work seamlessly together.

Prices and top features for Google Meet and Google Workspace plans are shown in the chart below.

	Google Meet	Google Workspace Business Starter	Google Workspace Business Standard	Google Workspace Business Plus	Google Workspace Enterprise
Price	$0	$6 per user per month	$12 per user per month	$18 per user per month	Custom Pricing
Group Meeting Max Duration	1 hour	24 hours	24 hours	24 hours	24 hours
One-on-One Meeting Max Duration	24 hours	24 hours	24 hours	24 hours	24 hours
Max Participant Capacity	100	100	150	250	250
Custom Business Email	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Meeting Recording	-	-	✔	✔	✔
Attendance Tracking	-	-	-	✔	✔
Google Drive Storage	15 GB per user	30 GB per user	2 TB per user	5 TB per user	Unlimited

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