Google Meet Vs Zoom, Which Video Conferencing App Is Better?

Zoom and Google Meet, each has its advantages and disadvantages. (photo: Business Insider)

JAKARTA - During the pandemic, learning and work were shifted to distance, as a meeting medium, various groups chose video conferencing applications.

Currently, Google Meet and Zoom are the best options. However, the tricky part is deciding which one to use. Here's a comparison of Google Meet and Zoom that VOI quoted from MakeUsOf, Tuesday, July 13.

Google Meet vs Zoom Subscription Fee

One of the best advantages that Google Meet has over Zoom is its ability to start a meeting without the need to download an app. Getting started with Google Meet doesn't take long as users only need a Google account.

Google Meet does offer payment options for meetings that are longer or with more participants, but it's not as comprehensive as Zoom. While Zoom offers more features on its platform and thus has more plans for users to choose from.

The free version of Google Meet can accommodate up to 100 participants at a time in a one hour meeting duration. For one-on-one meetings, users can host up to 24 hours without any interruption. Users can also make unlimited video conference calls.

In addition to the free plan, Google Meet also offers two additional plans. The first upgrade plan is Google Workplace Essential which starts at $8 per month. This plan accommodates up to 150 participants and a meeting duration of up to 24 hours, no matter how many people are present in the meeting. Users can also enjoy access to Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

There's also Google Workplace Enterprise, allowing up to 250 participants and users to hold meetings for 24 hours no matter how many people are present. In addition, users also have access to more security and Google support. Anyone interested in this package will need to contact the sales team to negotiate a price.

Switching to Zoom, it might be confusing to read about Zoom's package options as they offer a wide variety of services in addition to meeting options such as webinars, calls and rooms.

There are five different Zoom Meeting packages, namely Basic, Pro, Business, Zoom United Business, and Enterprise. All plans have the option to pay in monthly or full year installments.

The Basic plan is accessible for free and allows up to 100 participants to join. The only drawback to this is that team meetings can last only 40 minutes. After reaching this time limit, the meeting will end automatically. One-on-one encounters have no time limit and are unlimited.

The Zoom Pro plan allows 100 participants to join, but these meetings can last up to 30 hours at a time. The price is 149.90 US dollars for a year or 14.99 US dollars per month. Users can also stream to social media and up to 1GB of cloud recording storage.

Meanwhile, the Business plan allows up to 300 participants at once at a price of US$199.90 per year or US$19.99 per month. Additional features of this plan allow users to include corporate branding, managed domains, transcription of records, plus all the features included in the Pro plan.

Zoom United Business is more of a combination of Zoom and Zoom Phone meetings. It costs 300 US dollars per year or 30 US dollars per month for up to 300 participants. Users get all the same features as the Business plan including managed domains, corporate branding, and record transcripts.

The final price plan for Zoom Meetings is Enterprise which is USD 240 per year or USD 19.99 per month and allows up to 500 participants at a time. At this price, users can get unlimited cloud storage.

Features of Zoom vs Google Meet

Zoom is a more comprehensive platform and offers a variety of features that will enhance user video conferencing. While Google Meet isn't as powerful, it still has advantages that Zoom can't match.

Choosing a platform will depend on the user's personal needs as a business and what they want to get out of the video conferencing solution.

Accessibility

Users can launch Google Meet with one click when logging into a webpage or Gmail account. That's a distinct advantage over Zoom, which requires people to download their app.

If all users need is a quick and easy call to check-in with a colleague or talk to a friend, they don't need all the features that Zoom has to offer.

Options On Application

Zoom and Google Meet provide an intuitive viewing experience that allows users to have up to 49 webcams on the screen at once. Users can also choose to view hosts or select specific participants.

Apart from that, Google Meet offers advanced features like live text, noise cancellation, background blur mode, low light mode and more.

Meanwhile, Zoom offers four viewing options such as gallery view, active speaker view, floating thumbnails, and side-by-side screen sharing mode.

Integration

It's understandable that Google Meet is better able to integrate with Google services and apps like Google Calendar. It also allows users to integrate meetings with other video conferencing platforms such as Skype for Business.

However, Zoom has most of the same integrations as Google Meet for Google services like Google Calendar and Google Drive.

Not only that, it has many other useful integrations like, Salesforce, Facebook Workplace, Skype for Business, and Microsoft Outlook. If users need to access more than just Google services, Zoom is a better choice.

Conclusion

Google Meet is the ideal platform if users need quick access to a video conferencing platform that integrates with all of the user's favorite Google services.

For users looking for video conferencing software that has more features, such as integration and customization, Zoom is a great choice.