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:

For the latest pricing visit the pricing page: https://zoom.us/pricing

Zoom Features

Here’s a list of the features of Zoom:

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.

However, if you are not a Google Workspace user, then you can get Meet at:

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:

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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