Best Video Conferencing Software 2021

Google Meet vs. Microsoft Teams

Is Google Meet or Microsoft Teams the better solution for you? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you select the best video conferencing software for your business.

No matter your business size or industry, video conferencing software is a necessity to enable meetings while all participants are not in the same geographic location. With features like screen sharing, in-meeting chat, and recording, video conferencing software is crucial for meetings between internal and external teams.

This article compares two similar video conferencing platforms, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. We’ll compare the platforms’ features, usability, and pricing, and include our expert recommendations to help you pick the best software for your business.

Our recommendations are based upon extensive research, discussions with small businesses, and dozens of hours spent hand-testing the leading video conferencing software platforms. Learn more about our research process here.

Google Meet & Microsoft Teams Comparison Summary

Google Meet and Microsoft Teams were tested in-house by SoftwarePundit. These tools are very similar, so differences between them are likely going to be the factors that will make your decision. After testing, Google Meet received a SoftwarePundit Analyst rating of 89, and Microsoft Teams received a rating of 91.

Google Meet received a slightly lower rating because it does not offer webinar capabilities, which is something you can add with Microsoft Teams. Google Meet’s video quality was also much more variable. Both tools are very user-friendly and offer most of the same capabilities in the free plans.


Here’s a breakdown of our review criteria and how Google Meet and Microsoft Teams stacked up in each category.

CriteriaAnalyst RatingFeaturesUsabilityPricingCustomer Support
Google Meet89810108
Microsoft Teams9110898

Google Meet is the most user-friendly video conferencing platform. It’s straightforward to both schedule and attend meetings, and the interface is very intuitive. Google Meet’s main drawback is that we found that the video quality varies significantly, while we did not encounter this issue while testing Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Teams is very popular, with around 145 million daily active users. If your team uses Office 365, it’s the most logical choice of video conferencing tools. Along with standard video and webinar features, Microsoft Teams includes real-time collaboration in Office applications as well as more than 250 integrated applications and services.

Here are a few quick points to summarize who we recommend each tool for:

You'll prefer Google Meet if:

  • You already use Gmail or Google Workspace for your business
  • You do not need webinars for your business
  • You do not need chats to be saved after meetings end

Try Google Meet Today

You'll prefer Microsoft Teams if:

  • You already use Office365 or Microsoft for your business
  • You’d like chat transcripts after meetings have finished
  • You’re interested in webinar capabilities

Try Microsoft Teams Today


Table of Contents

Who Should Purchase Google Meet?

If you’re interested in a hassle-free browser-based video conferencing tool, Google Meet is an excellent option for many small businesses. If you utilize Gmail, you can add video conferencing to any calendar meeting with just a few clicks. External participants will be emailed a link to join, and they won’t have to spend time downloading software to join meetings instantly.

Google Meet is free as a standalone product or costs $8 per user per month with Google Workspace, which is very affordable for smaller teams. We highly recommend it for freelancers and very small businesses due to the ultimate ease of use and low cost.

Who Should Purchase Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams is one of the top video conferencing tools because of its wide range of features, low monthly cost, and relative ease of use. We found that the biggest drawback—which is more of an annoyance than a drawback—is that you’ll be constantly prompted to download an application before you can join from your browser.

If you’re on the hunt for a well-known video conferencing platform with all the features a small business will likely ever need, Microsoft Teams is a reliable option.

Google Meet & Microsoft Teams Price Comparison

Both Google Meet and Microsoft Teams are entirely free. The paid plans only start if you bundle the video conferencing applications with other tools offered by Google or Microsoft. Both are priced per team member, so you’ll want to do a cost benefit analysis depending on your number of employees.

Google Meet Pricing Details

Google Meet is either free or costs $8 per user per month. The Business Plan, which has expanded participant limits and more advanced features, has custom pricing.

Google Meet
  • Free
  • Up to 100 participants
  • 24-hour 1:1 meeting length
  • 1-hour multiple participant meeting length
  • Unlimited meetings
  • Within-call group chat
  • Live closed captioning
Google Workspace Essentials
  • $8 per user per month
  • 24-hour meeting length for all meetings
  • 150 participants
  • Dial-in phone numbers
  • Hand-raising
  • Breakout rooms
  • Attendance reports
  • Polls and Q&A
Business Plan
  • Custom pricing
  • 250 participants
  • Live streaming in-domain
  • Advanced security measures
  • Premium support available for purchase

Microsoft Teams Pricing Details

Microsoft Teams pricing is free for 100 participants and hour-long calls. The paid plans cost $5 per user per month or $12.50 per user per month depending on which applications you want.

Microsoft Teams
  • Free
  • Video conference calls
  • 60 minute meeting duration
  • 100 participants allowed
  • Free chat
  • Cloud storage
Microsoft 365 Business Basic
  • $5 per user per month
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Microsoft OneDrive
  • Microsoft SharePoint
  • Microsoft Exchange
Microsoft 365 Business Standard
  • $12.50 per user per month
  • All Office apps and services
  • Tools available across all devices

Google Meet & Microsoft Teams Feature Comparison

The two platforms have very similar features. Microsoft Teams does have the webinar features while Google Meet lacks that aspect, as we’ve mentioned above.

Otherwise, Microsoft Teams has higher participant limits in the paid plans. Microsoft Teams has a participant capacity of 300 in the paid plans, while Google Meet’s Enterprise Plan only allows for 250 participants.

Top Features: Google Meet

Google Meet’s best features are the easy meeting creation and straightforward scheduling capabilities. There’s also live closed captioning in multiple languages.

To learn even more about Google Meet, check out our full Google Meet review.

Scheduling Meetings

Scheduling meetings with Google Meet is even easier than it is with Microsoft Teams. You’ll create a calendar event in your Google Calendar and select the “Add Google Meet video conferencing” button.

Google Meet Create Meeting

It’s incredibly easy to add internal or external guests to a meeting—you will simply input their email addresses and the invite will be sent directly to them. You can also add locations, descriptions, attach files to meeting invites, and more.

During Meetings

During meetings, the view in Google Meet is much the same as it is in Microsoft Teams. Participants’ windows are displayed in the middle, and you can chat, view the participant list, or use a collaborative whiteboard application on the right.

Google Meet Meeting

Closed Captioning

During testing, we found that the Google Meet closed captioning feature, while not flawless, works fairly well and makes meetings more accessible.

Google Meet Transcription

Top Features: Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams offers webinars, full-featured meetings, and chat transcripts. Participants can either dial into the meeting with a phone or join via desktop or application.

For a more in-depth overview about Microsoft Teams, read the full Microsoft Teams review.

Webinars

Microsoft Teams’ most advanced plan includes webinar functionality, which allows customers to:

  • Have one or multiple presenters
  • Share audio, video, and content
  • Engage with audience members
  • Create poll questions for audience
  • Create breakout rooms

This is of particular importance as Google Meet does not include this feature.

Meetings

Though scheduling meetings with Microsoft Teams is very slightly more time-consuming than it is with Google Meet, the meeting functionality is largely similar.

Microsoft Teams Transcription

Meeting Transcripts

Microsoft Teams saves in-meeting chats and a timed log of all actions taken during a meeting. It can be extremely helpful to reference what was said during a meeting, so this is a beneficial nuance. Google Meet deletes chats as soon as the meeting ends, so this functionality is not available in Google Meet.

Microsoft Teams Transcription

Bottom Line

The bottom line is that you should pick the video conferencing tool that aligns with your current suite of software tools. If you use Google applications, pick Google Meet, and if you use Microsoft applications, Microsoft Teams is the better option.

If your current suite of tools is not a factor, we found that Microsoft Teams has a slight edge over Google Meet due to superior video quality and the ability to add webinar functionality to your video conferencing plan.

  • Google Meet is a slightly more straightforward platform with standard features
  • Microsoft Teams is a reliable, intuitive, and more feature-rich tool

If you’re interested, visit Google Meet or Microsoft Teams today to get started.

Katelyn Anderson

Katelyn is a Junior Research Analyst at SoftwarePundit, where she conducts in-depth analyses of technology markets & products and writes software-related content. She graduated summa cum laude with degrees in English and Psychology. Her main areas of interest are content creation, user experience, and search engine optimization. You can connect with Katelyn on LinkedIn.

Katelyn is an expert in several software categories including:

  • Accounting software
  • Integration software
  • Live chat software
  • Vacation rental software
  • Video conferencing software

Get the latest from SoftwarePundit

We'll share our latest software reviews, technology tips, and deals.

*