Technology that allows us all to stay connected while we’re apart keeps us safe and productive. We’ve seen how video meetings can bring people together over the last few months, whether we’re working with teammates, talking with healthcare professionals, sharing with loved ones, or learning from home.
Many of the same features are shared by Google Meet and Zoom, two popular video conferencing solutions. Virtual events and meetings, as well as team collaboration, are all entirely feasible with both platforms. When you compare Google Meet vs. Zoom, even so, you’ll start noticing some significant differences. Both Google Meet and Zoom provide such a comprehensive set of video conferencing features, including screen and app sharing, meeting recordings, transcripts, chat, participant spotlights, and virtual backgrounds.
Zoom meetings can accommodate up to 1,000 people, while Google Meet has a limit of 250. For their free plans, both providers limit group meetings to a certain amount of time. Zoom’s free plan allows users to meet for up to 40 minutes, while Google Meet’s free plan allows users to meet for up to one hour.
Google Meet, previously known as Hangouts Meet, is a Google video-communication service. It’s one of two apps that take over the role of Google Hangouts, with the other being Google Chat.
Google formally launched Meet in March 2017 after being invite-only and quietly releasing an iOS app in February 2017. The service was announced as a video conferencing app for up to 30 people, dubbed an “enterprise-friendly” version of Google Hangouts. A web app, an Android app, and an iOS app were all released at the same time.
While the above features were decided to add to Google Meet to improve the original Hangouts app, some standard Hangouts features were removed, such as viewing attendees and chatting at the same time. The number of video feeds allowed at one time was also reduced to eight, to those that had recently used their microphone being given priority. In addition, rather than resizing the video feeds to fit, features like that of the chatbox were changed to overlay one another.
Between January and April 2020, the use of Meet grew by a factor of 30 during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 100 million users per day accessing Meet. As a result, Google picked up its usual 60-minute limit for unpaid accounts.
Zoom Video Communications, Inc., commonly abbreviated as Zoom an, is a San Jose, California-based communications technology company. It uses a cloud-based peer-to-peer software platform to provide video telephony and online chat services for teleconferencing, telecommuting, distance education, and social relations.
After quarantine measures are put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, Zoom’s software usage saw a significant global increase. Its software products have been closely watched by the public and the media for security and privacy concerns.
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| Feature | Google Meet | Zoom |
| Purpose | Video meetings, integrated with Google Workspace | Video meetings, webinars, virtual events |
| Launch Year | 2017 | 2013 |
| Target Audience | Google Workspace users, education, small-medium teams | Businesses, education, large teams, and enterprises |
Both platforms offer excellent features, but there are differences in how they cater to user needs.
| Feature | Google Meet | Zoom |
| Meeting Time Limit | Free: 60 minutes | Free: 40 minutes |
| Participants Limit | Up to 500 participants with Enterprise plan | Up to 1,000 participants with Large Meetings add-on |
| Screen Sharing | Yes | Yes |
| Recording | Premium plans only, saved to Google Drive | Available for free and paid users, saved locally or to cloud |
| Breakout Rooms | Yes (Enterprise plans only) | Yes (available in most plans) |
| Chat Features | In-meeting chat, live captions | Advanced chat, polls, Q&A for webinars |
| Integrations | Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides) | Apps like Salesforce, Slack, Microsoft Teams |
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| Aspect | Google Meet | Zoom |
| Encryption | End-to-end encryption for all meetings | Optional end-to-end encryption |
| Two-Factor Authentication | Yes | Yes |
| Privacy Issues | Strong compliance with GDPR and HIPAA | Faced issues in early 2020 but improved since |
Conclusion: Google Meet is generally preferred for higher security needs due to its integration with Google’s secure cloud infrastructure, while Zoom has made significant strides to address past privacy concerns.
| Plan | Google Meet Pricing | Zoom Pricing |
| Free Plan | Up to 60 minutes per meeting, 100 participants | Up to 40 minutes per meeting, 100 participants |
| Basic Plan | Part of Google Workspace ($6/month/user) | Pro: $14.99/month/host |
| Advanced Plan | Enterprise: Custom pricing | Business: $19.99/month/host |
| Add-ons | Live streaming, increased storage | Webinars, large meeting add-ons |
| Use Case | Google Meet | Zoom |
| Education | Built-in live captions; ideal for schools using Google Classroom | Popular for virtual classrooms with breakout rooms |
| Small Teams | Affordable and integrates well with Google apps | Free version works well for smaller teams |
| Large Organizations | Enterprise-grade security; limited participants compared to Zoom | High participant limits; ideal for large-scale webinars |
| Webinars and Events | Basic support for webinars | Advanced tools like polls, Q&A, and branded webinars |
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| Your Needs | Best Choice |
| You use Google Workspace | Google Meet |
| You need advanced webinar tools | Zoom |
| You want free meetings over 40 minutes | Google Meet |
| You’re hosting a large event | Zoom (supports up to 1,000 participants) |
| You prioritize privacy and security | Google Meet |
Both Google Meet and Zoom are exceptional video conferencing tools, each with its strengths. Google Meet is the go-to platform for those already invested in Google Workspace, offering simplicity and security. On the other hand, Zoom is ideal for large teams, organizations, and those requiring advanced features like webinars and large meeting capacities.
Zoom is a better video conferencing platform than Google Meet because it supports a longer running time, a larger number of participants, and better video quality. Despite the fact that its premium plans are relatively expensive, the free basic plan allows you to make satisfactory video calls.
Everyone with a Google Account can host a video meeting for free, inviting up to 100 people and meeting for up to 60 minutes.
Devoteam G Cloud claims that “Zoom is less secure than Google Meet. It encrypts messages but does not do so from beginning to end. “In transit,” messages are encrypted. This means that only between your device and Google’s servers are they encrypted.”