Best Video Conferencing Software 2021

Zoom vs. Google Meet

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

Video conferencing software enables group video and audio meetings. With features such as in-meeting chat, screen sharing, and webinars, this software is essential for businesses of all sizes and industries.

This article compares two of the most popular video conferencing platforms in the world, Zoom and Google Meet. We’ll compare the platforms’ features, usability, pricing, and customer support. Throughout the article, we’ll 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.

Zoom & Google Meet Comparison Summary

Zoom and Google Meet were tested in-house by SoftwarePundit. After testing, Zoom received a SoftwarePundit Analyst rating of 92, and Google Meet received a rating of 89.

Zoom received a higher rating because it’s the most advanced and feature-rich video conferencing software that we tested. On the other hand, Google Meet is significantly more basic, but it’s mostly free and extremely easy to use.


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

CriteriaAnalyst RatingFeaturesUsabilityPricingCustomer Support
Zoom9210989
Google Meet89810108

Zoom is a popular video conferencing software with more than 300 million daily users. With features like screen sharing, video recording, chat, breakout rooms, hand-raising, and more, Zoom can support even the most advanced meetings. Zoom’s main drawback is that the platform has had notorious security issues, though the vast majority of users will not come across this problem.

Google Meet is one of the best video conferencing software tools on the market today, though it does not have as many features as some alternatives. It’s the easiest tool to use, both for internal and external meetings. We found that Google Meet’s biggest disadvantage is that it requires a fairly strong internet connection to use, and is therefore prone to lagging.

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

You'll prefer Zoom if:

  • You need higher participant limits for your video meetings
  • You want more advanced features like breakout rooms and webinars
  • You have a larger budget for your video conferencing software

Try Zoom Today

You'll prefer Google Meet if:

  • You already use Gmail or Google Workspace for your business
  • You only need up to 100 participants in your meetings
  • You do not need to utilize webinars for your business

Try Google Meet Today


Table of Contents

Who Should Purchase Zoom?

If you want one of the foremost and most feature-rich video conferencing software platforms on the market, Zoom should be one of your top contenders. It has participant limits between 100 and 1,000, depending on your plan, and includes features not found in other platforms like remote control and breakout rooms.

Zoom’s add-on features can get expensive, especially for smaller businesses. However, you’ll certainly get what you pay for in terms of the included features. It’s much more advanced and feature-rich than Google Meet, and more modern than other alternatives like Skype.

Who Should Purchase Google Meet?

If your company uses Gmail or Google Workspace, choosing Google Meet is a no-brainer. It is the easiest video conferencing tool to use, and scheduling meetings if you already use Gmail takes just a few clicks. Because Google Meet is browser-based, there is no holdup while joining meetings from a link, where almost every other platform will try and prompt you to download an application first.

Google Meet is either free or costs $8 per user per month, which is very affordable. Google Meet is one of the least feature-rich tools, as there are no webinar capabilities, but it will get the job done for most small businesses. We highly recommend it for businesses due to the ease of use and low cost.

Zoom & Google Meet Price Comparison

Zoom is priced per year, while Google Meet is priced per user per month. Compared to other software tools, Zoom is slightly more expensive, while Google Meet is extremely affordable.

Zoom Pricing Details

Zoom pricing costs between $149.90 and $240 per license per year. There are Audio Conferencing and Large Meeting add-ons that come at a fairly high yearly cost.

Free
  • Free
  • Up to 100 participants
  • Unlimited 40-minute meetings
  • Unlimited one-on-one meetings with no time limit
  • Private and group chat
  • Video recording
  • Waiting rooms
Pro Plan
  • $149.90 per license per year
  • Group meetings for up to 30 hours
  • Social media streaming
  • 1GB cloud recording per license
Business Plan
  • $199.90 per license per year
  • Up to 300 participants
  • Single sign-on
  • Recording transcripts
  • Company branding
  • Managed domains
  • Language interpretations
Enterprise Plan
  • $240 per license per year
  • Up to 500 participants
  • Unlimited cloud storage

Google Meet Pricing Details

Google Meet only costs money if you use Google Workspace, and it costs $8 per user per month. If you’re simply using Google Meet, however, the platform is entirely free.

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

Zoom & Google Meet Feature Comparison

While the two platforms have similar features, Zoom has more features in general, including webinars, higher attendee limits, and appearance touch-ups. However, Google Meet is much more user-friendly, and the pricing can be more attractive depending on your number of employees.

Zoom's Top Features

Zoom’s best features are the waiting rooms and webinars. Additional features like individual and group chat, as well as background edits, provide a wide range of meeting features that not all video conferencing alternatives provide.

For a more in-depth look at Zoom’s features, read our full Zoom review.

Webinars

Webinars are a helpful tool if you’re broadcasting to a wide audience of external attendees. It’s a more formal environment than a regular video meeting. Depending on your webinar plan, you can host up to 10,000 attendees. Google Meet does not have this feature.

During webinars, you’ll be able to:

  • Interact with attendees
  • Run audience engagement reports
  • Enable live streaming
  • Enable cloud recordings
  • Utilize CRM and marketing automation integrations
Zoom Meeting

In-Meeting Capabilities

The view of what an active meeting looks like is shown below.

Zoom Waiting Room

During meetings, hosts and participants—depending on the features enabled by the host—will be able to send chats to individuals or the whole group, share their screens, send reactions, and more.

Additional Features

Some of Zoom’s additional features are:

  • Waiting rooms and meeting passwords
  • Face blurring
  • Background noise suppression
  • Virtual backgrounds
  • Breakout rooms

Google Meet's Top Features

Google Meet has features that make video meetings effortless, like closed captioning, scheduling directly from your Google Calendar, and dial-in options for those who want to join meetings but do not have access to their laptops.

Read the full Google Meet review for a more in-depth overview about Google Meet’s features.

Scheduling Meetings

To schedule a meeting with Google Meet, you’ll create a calendar event in your Google Calendar and then click the “Add Google Meet video conferencing” button.

Google Meet Create Meeting

Compared with Zoom, this process is much more straightforward. It’s also incredibly easy to add guests to a meeting—you will simply input their email addresses and the invite will be sent directly to them.

Dial-In

If participants are unable to join a meeting from their laptop or via the mobile application, they can choose to dial into the meeting with their phone. Attendees will simply click on the meeting invite, and from there they will see a phone number and a PIN.

Participants will then be able to participate in the meeting via audio even though other participants are utilizing video.

Closed Captioning

The closed captioning feature provides meeting attendees with a real-time transcription of what participants are saying in a meeting. While this feature is not completely flawless, it provides a fantastic written overview of what is being said during a meeting, which is helpful for participants who may be hard of hearing or deaf.

Google Meet Transcription

Bottom Line

Zoom is the better platform overall, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best choice for all businesses. It’s slightly less user-friendly than Google Meet and the add-on features can get pricey quickly.

On the other hand, Google Meet is more elementary, but its ease of use is extremely valuable. Particularly if you send meeting invites to external clients or participants, they will find it easy to join, where they’d be prompted to download software with almost every other alternative.

  • Zoom is a more mature software that allows for more advanced meeting functions.
  • Google Meet is the easiest-to-use platform for those who use Gmail or Google Workspace.

If you’re interested, visit Zoom or Google Meet 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.

*