In short, we think you’ll love Hangouts for easy one-on-one chats, but Meet is a better fit for groups or video meetings. Using Google Hangouts is free and simple. All you need is your Gmail account, and you’ll automatically have access. However, anyone participating in your calls or messages needs to have Hangouts too. You won’t be able to send external messages or video call anyone who doesn’t have Hangouts. Google Hangouts is very easy to use if you want to send a quick message or call someone using Wi-Fi. Hangouts especially shines as a group-chat app. While it only allows 25 people on a video call, you can have six times that many people in a text-based group. A friend of mine uses Hangouts on her iPod Touch to connect with friends over Wi-Fi. It’s almost like having a mini phone-plan at your fingertips, for free. Google Meet also allows you to dial in on your phone if you don’t have access to Wi-Fi. This feature is really nice if you don’t have an internet connection but still want to catch that work call. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to disable the chat feature in Google Meet even if you’re hosting the meeting. This feature is highly requested by users and might change in the future. Both Zoom and Microsoft Teams allow the meeting hosts to turn off the chat feature in meetings. Another benefit to the basic plan is more meeting participants (up to 250) than your standard Zoom meeting. That’s one hundred more than you’re able to have in a Google Hangouts meeting. For a platform that only costs $8 per month, it’s not a bad deal. If you’re looking for a free platform that’s easy to use with just a few friends, then Google Hangouts is the better option. Anyone has full access to Hangouts with a Gmail account. Interested in more apps for online meetings? Check out these five great video conferencing apps.
