Video conferencing technologies have a knack for surprising us- from allowing us to change backgrounds on video calls to using AI to add effects, such as mustaches, hair, party hats, etc. to our faces. However, what often goes unnoticed is the fact that they have revolutionized how we interact with one another. This radical change is not restricted to digital communication alone but has swept through cross-functional activities such as employee onboarding, training, online classrooms, webinars, etc.
To keep up with the times, video conferencing technologies are packed with features, come with dedicated hardware, third-party integrations, and a variety of subscription plans. The matrix of options, features, and pricing makes it quite a hassle to choose the right one for your business because the dedicated hardware and software integrations don’t always play nice with one another.
In this blog post, we take a close look at the two most popular conference room technologies- Zoom and Google Meets with the goal of helping you choose the right one based on your business needs.
If you are asking why not include Teams, don’t worry. We have covered it in an earlier blog post Is Microsoft Teams Suitable For Your Business?
If you are already familiar with their features and pricing, you can move directly to the comparison of Google Meet and Zoom and our recommendations.
Zoom
Zoom is a video communications solution that integrates video conferencing, online meetings, webinars, and online group interactions into a single cloud-based platform. This cloud-based platform is designed keeping in mind the modern-day businesses that have many remote employees as well as global clients.
Zoom Plans And Pricing
Zoom has a complicated pricing structure with a variety of different offerings- Zoom Meetings, Zoom Phone, Zoom Events & Webinar, Zoom Rooms, Zoom United. To keep things simple, we will look only at Zoom Meetings.
Here are the pricing plans of Zoom Meetings:
| Plan | Pro | Business | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price/user/month | $14.99 | $19.99 | $19.99h |
| Condition | Purchase up to 9 licenses per account | Starting at 10 licenses for $199.90/month | Starting at 50 licenses for $999.50/month |
For the latest pricing visit the pricing page: https://zoom.us/pricing
Zoom Features
Here’s a list of the features of Zoom:
| Plan | Pro | Business | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Participant capacity | 100 | 300 | 500 1,000 Enterprise+ |
| License count | 1-9 | 10-99 | 50+ |
| Technical support | Ticket & live chat | Ticket, live chat,& phone | Ticket, live chat, & phone |
| Billing cycle and terms | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual | Annual agreements only |
| Unlimited group meetings | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Unlimited one-on-one meetings | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Group meeting duration | 30 hours | 30 hours | 30 hours |
| Recording | Local & 1 GB cloud (per license) | Local & 1 GB cloud (per license) | Local & Unlimited cloud |
| Telephone dial-in | Toll-based | Toll-based | Toll-based |
| Screen sharing | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Breakout rooms | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Virtual background | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Personal Meeting ID | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Private & Group chat | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Host controls | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Co-Annotation on screen share | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Remote keyboard & mouse control | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Whiteboarding | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Multi-share | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| TLS encryption | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| AES-256 Encryption for real-time content | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Waiting room | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Built into Zoom for home devices | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Pin multiple people | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Spotlight multiple people | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Filters | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Polling | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Co-host & alternate host | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Assign meeting scheduler | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| REST API | Pro REST API Rate Limits | REST API Rate Limits | REST API Rate Limits |
| Skype for Business (Lync) interoperability | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Streaming | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Reporting | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| User management | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Live transcription | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Admin portal | ✔ | ✔ | |
| LTI integration | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Recording transcripts | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Branding | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Managed domains | ✔ | ✔ | |
| SSO | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Language interpretations | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Executive business reviews | ✔ | ||
| Bundle discounts | ✔ | ||
| Includes Webinar 500 | ✔ | ||
| Zoom Whiteboards | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Google Meet
Google Meet (formerly known as Google Hangouts) is Google's enterprise video communications solution. It is part of Google Workspace, a suite of productivity and collaboration tools. Meet is fully integrated with other Google Workspace apps allowing you to host secure video meetings quickly and easily.
Google Meet Plans And Pricing
Google Meet comes with your Google Workspace account so the pricing is actually a non-issue if you are already using Google Workspace.
| Plan | Business Starter | Business Standard | Business Plus | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $6/user/month | $12/user/month | $18/user/month | Contact Sales |
However, if you are not a Google Workspace user, then you can get Meet at:
| Plan | Google Workspace Individual | Google Workspace Enterprise |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99/month starting April 2022 | Custom Pricing |
For personal use, Google offers a free version of Meet that can be accessed by signing in to your Google account similar to how you access Gmail, Google Photos, or other Google products. The free version has limited features and is especially lacking in terms of the security and management features required by businesses, so we are not including it in our evaluation.
For the latest pricing information refer to https://apps.google.com/meet/pricing/
Google Meet Features
Here’s a list of the features of Google Meet:
| Plan | Google Workspace Individual | Google Workspace Enterprise |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99/month starting April 2022 | Custom Pricing | 1:1 meeting length (max) | 24 hours | 24 hours |
| Group meeting length - 3+ participants (max) | 24 hours | 24 hours |
| Meeting participants (max) | 100 | 250 |
| Number of meetings | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Join from a browser | ✔ | ✔ |
| Invite external participants | ✔ | ✔ |
| Native mobile and tablet apps | ✔ | ✔ |
| Live closed captions (multiple languages) | ✔ | ✔ |
| Share your screen and present | ✔ | ✔ |
| Adjustable layouts | ✔ | ✔ |
| Meeting recording saved to organizers' Google Drive | ✔ | ✔ |
| Intelligent noise cancellation | ✔ | ✔ |
| Dial-in phone numbers (supported countries) | ✔ | ✔ |
| Hand raise | ✔ | ✔ |
| Breakout rooms | ✔ | ✔ |
| Polls | ✔ | ✔ |
| Q&A | ✔ | |
| Attendance reports | ✔ | |
| Live streaming in-domain | 100,000 viewers | |
| Customer support | 24/7 online support and community forums | 24/7 online support and community forums |
| Anti-abuse features | ✔ | ✔ |
| Encryption in transit and at rest | ✔ | ✔ |
| 2-step verification | ✔ | ✔ |
| Advanced Protection Program Enrollment | ✔ | ✔ |
| Alert center | ✔ | |
| Vault: retain, archive and search data in Drive | ✔ | |
| Context-aware access | ✔ | |
| Security dashboards | ✔ | |
| Security health | ✔ | |
| Investigation tool | ✔ | |
| Data Loss Prevention (DLP) for Drive | ✔ | |
| Endpoint management | ✔ | |
| Data regions | ✔ | |
| Access Transparency | ✔ | |
| Self-help online and community forums | ✔ | ✔ |
| 24/7 Standard support | (English only) | (available in multiple languages) |
| 24/7 Priority support (1 hour target response time for critical issues) | ✔ | |
| Designated Google advisor | (minimum 1000 seats) | |
| Premium Support with Technical Account Manager | Available for purchase | |
| Google Drive storage | 15 GB per user | Unlimited |
| Drive for desktop | ✔ | ✔ |
| Shared drives | ✔ |
Key Comparisons Between Google Meet And Zoom
Both Meet and Zoom offer a wide range of features that can make choosing one over the other rather difficult. So we will evaluate important features from a business perspective to make the process of selection a little easier.
Features
Basic video conferencing features such as screen sharing, meeting recording, chats, transcripts, and virtual backgrounds are available in both Meet and Zoom. Zoom offers a capacity of up to 1,000 participants while Meet is limited to 250. Another set of features, namely breakout rooms and polls, that are important for virtual meetings are available on both Zoom and Meet.
While Zoom requires third-party applications for closed captioning, it is a built-in feature in Meet. On the other hand, waiting rooms and whiteboards are standard features on Zoom but Google Meet requires Chrome extensions for them. With respect to cloud recordings, Google Meet is miles ahead offering storage of 30 GB to unlimited on Google Drive. While Zoom offers only 1 GB storage for Pro and Business plans with the unlimited option available only on the Enterprise plan.
With most of the features being comparable, the participant limit and ready availability of waiting rooms and whiteboards make Zoom the more suitable choice for very large virtual events such as webinars, virtual conferences, etc.
Security
Zoom offers TLS encryption and for real-time content, it offers AES-256 encryption, while end-to-end encryption is optional. Much of Zoom’s security features are rather new, implemented in 2020 after it a faced a barrage of attacks and meeting disruptions dubbed “Zoombombing”. Availability of end-to-end encryption, waiting rooms, and password protection for meetings have all made Zoom meetings a lot more secure than they were a couple of years ago.
Google Meets, on the other hand, has always had a stellar reputation for security. Encryption of data at rest and in transit, advanced protection program enrollment, and two-factor authentication (2FA) make Meet secure. In addition, the enterprise plan comes with advanced security features such as Data Loss Prevention (DLP), security alert center, security dashboards, and access and endpoint management.
From past experiences, a few notable examples being the state-sponsored disruption of meetings, flawed encryption, and misleading of customers with respect to end-to-end encryption, the security reputation of Zoom has been less than desirable. While Meet, as part of the Google Workspace environment, benefits from the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) defense-in-depth principles, ensuring a much more secure communication experience.
Integrations
Zoom offers a large number of integrations with over 1000 apps such as Salesforce, Dropbox, Calendly, Stripe, etc. Because of the number of integrations it offers, it is able to offer more business features.
Google Meet integrates with most major apps such as Trello, Slack, WordPress, Zapier, etc. In all, it integrates with over 200 apps. However, its most important integration is with other Google Workspace apps, allowing you to seamlessly host meetings from Gmail and Calendar, launch meeting notes, or save recordings and transcripts in Drive with just a click or two.
User Friendliness
Both Google Meet and Zoom are very user-friendly. Both require an account to set up and host meeting sessions. Both allow meetings to be started right away or scheduled for a future date. Participants can join the meeting by simply clicking the meeting link sent by the host. Neither requires any software to be downloaded to join the meeting, but the meeting experience for Zoom is better on the Zoom Meetings app. However, for joining meetings on mobile devices, both Meet and Zoom require you to download their respective apps.
Since Google Meet is browser-based, the user experience is the same across devices. So you get the same functionality and user experience on mobile devices as you do on desktop. On the other hand, the functionality and user experience for Zoom differs based on the device you use and whether you use the desktop app or web browser version.
So Which Is Better For Business Google Meets Or Zoom?
Zoom meetings can accommodate substantially more participants than Google Meet. In addition, it offers a greater number of features and integrations than Meet does. So if your virtual meetings are highly interactive or if you organize virtual classes and webinars, Zoom is the obvious choice.
But, if your requirement is to hold small to medium-sized virtual meetings, weekly standups, one-on-one chats, and interviews, then Google Meets will serve you well. Additionally, for businesses that need to maintain a high level of security or have stringent compliance requirements, Meet would be the better choice since Google offers better security systems and controls.
Do you need help configuring, securing, and managing your video conferencing technology? Reach out to us by clicking the button below to find out how we can help security and overall management of your video conferencing software and hardware.
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About The Author
Hari SubediMarketing Manager at Jones IT
Hari is an online marketing professional with a focus on content marketing. He writes on topics related to IT, Security, Small Business, and Mindfulness. He is also the founder and managing director of Girivar Kft., a business services company located in Budapest, Hungary.