The Google Meet vs Teams Guide: The Pricing, Pros and Cons

In today’s world of remote work, being able to collaborate virtually is essential. If you’re looking for collaboration software for your team, you may be deciding between Google Meet vs Teams. Both offer features that enable remote work and collaboration, but each has unique advantages and disadvantages. 

When it comes to Google Meet vs Microsoft Teams, it’s not a super straightforward comparison. Google Meet is a video conferencing app that’s part of Google’s larger Workspace ecosystem. Microsoft Teams, on the other hand, is an all-in-one platform. Still, these two are popularly used by businesses small and large for improved collaboration and productivity. 

If you’re looking to learn more about Google Meet vs Teams, read on! We’ll discuss the features of each, compare pros and cons, and even take a look at pricing. By the end, you should have a pretty good idea of which one will best meet your needs. 

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Google Meet Features

Google Meet is a video conferencing platform developed by Google. With Meet, users can hold online meetings, video calls, and virtual events. Meet’s intuitive interface makes it easy to use from the get-go. Plus, it integrates with all of Google Workspace’s applications. Key features of Google Meet include:

• High-quality video and audio
• Integration with Google Workspace 
• Screen sharing
• Meeting recording (available on certain Google Workspace Plans)
• Real-time captioning
• Chat functionality during meetings
• Security features like encrypted calls, host controls, and secure meeting links

Google Meet is used by businesses, educational institutions, and individuals for remote work, online learning, and video calls. Google Meet on its own is free, but with a paid subscription to Google Workspace, you get many more features and collaboration tools. 

Microsoft Teams Features

Microsoft Teams is an all-in-one collaboration and communication platform developed by Microsoft. It’s part of the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity tools and integrates tons of different features and functionalities for better team collaboration and communication. Unlike Meet, Teams encompasses much more than just video conferencing. Key features include: 

• Team chat, including one-on-one chats and group conversations
• Video and audio calls
• File sharing and real-time collaboration with other Microsoft 365 apps like Word and Excel
• Channels for organizing conversations within teams
• Meetings
• Integration with a wide range of third-party apps
• Enterprise-grade security to protect data and privacy

Microsoft Teams is used by tons of businesses, educational institutions, and other organizations for better communication and productivity both in office and remotely. It has numerous helpful features, but because of this, Microsoft Teams does have a steep learning curve. 

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Google Meet Pros and Cons

When comparing Google Meet vs Microsoft Teams, it’s important to look at both the pros and cons of each. Both platforms offer benefits that many organizations appreciate, but each one also has certain drawbacks. Here are the pros and cons of Google Meet:

Pros:

• User-friendly: Google Meet is easy to use with an interface that is intuitive. Setting up a meeting is quick and simple and participants can join without downloading any software or logging in. 
• Google Workspace Integration: If your organization relies heavily on Google Workspace, Meet’s integration with other Google services will be a major benefit. 
• Accessibility: Google Meet also provides many accessibility features, such as live captioning, that work across multiple devices. 
• Security: Google Meet offers security features for the platform, including meeting encryption and host controls to manage security settings. 
• No additional software: Google Meet works directly in a web browser with no need to install additional software. 

Cons: 

• Limitations in free version: While the basic plan for Google Meet is free, it lacks many advanced features. Meeting recordings and meetings over 60 minutes are only available in paid plans. 
• Less robust: Google Meet is an excellent conferencing platform if you don’t need all the bells and whistles. However, it lacks many advanced features found in Microsoft Teams, like breakout rooms and advanced collaboration tools. 
• Dependence on Google: To have the best experience with Google Meet, you need to use it in tandem with other Google Workspace applications. However, if your team relies on other platforms, this may be a drawback. 

Microsoft Teams Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Integration with Microsoft 365: Microsoft Teams integrates with Microsoft 365 apps, like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. This seamless integration gives your team easy access to shared files and collaborative editing within the platform.
• Comprehensive collaboration tools: Microsoft Teams makes collaborating so much easier. Collaboration tools include chat, video and audio calls, file sharing, and collaboration in a single platform. 
• Meeting features: Microsoft Teams supports large meetings, webinars, and live events. Plus, it provides advanced meeting features like breakout rooms, meeting recordings, live captions, and transcription. 
• Security: Microsoft Teams offers enterprise-grade security features, such as data encryption, multi-factor authentication, and compliance with industry standards. Admin controls make managing user access and data security easy. 
• Third-party integration: When comparing Google Meet vs Microsoft Teams, one difference you’ll notice is third-party integration. In addition to other Microsoft 365 applications, Teams integrates with numerous third-party apps. 

Cons:

• Complexity: Microsoft Teams offers a lot of features, but it’s also pretty complex to learn, with a steep learning curve in order to use all functions well. 
• Resource intensive: Microsoft Teams tends to consume a large number of resources, including tons of memory and processing power. This is especially true during video calls and file sharing. 
• External collaboration: Microsoft Teams makes collaborating within your organization easy. However, providing guest access to clients or partners can be difficult to set up. 

 

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Pricing and Plans

When deciding between Google Meet vs Teams, it’s important to consider pricing and plans. Both offer free versions with plans that add more features and benefits. 

Google Meet’s base plan is free, offering limited features for individuals and businesses. To access more features, you’ll need to subscribe to Google Workspace, which comes with access to tons of features and apps. Here’s a breakdown of Google Meet’s pricing and plans:  

• Business Starter: At $6/user/month, the Business Starter plan comes with 30GB of pooled storage per user, custom business email addresses, a participant cap of 100 per meeting, meeting whiteboards, and a meeting length of up to 24 hours. Google Workspace apps like Docs, Sheets, and Slides provide collaborative features for content creation, as well as shared notes. 
• Business Standard: At $12/user/month, the Business Standard plan comes with everything in the Starter plan, plus 2TB of pooled storage per user, 150 participants per meeting, meeting recordings, noise cancellation, and appointment booking pages. 
• Business Plus: At $18/user/month, the Business Plus plan comes with everything in the Standard plan, plus 5TB of pooled storage per user and 500 participants per meeting. 

In comparison, here’s a breakdown of Microsoft Teams’ pricing and plans: 

• Microsoft Teams Essentials: For $4/user/month, the Essentials plan provides you with up to 300 participants per meeting, 10 GB of cloud storage/user, unlimited chat, file sharing, task management, polling, live captions, meeting whiteboards, and meeting recordings. 
• Microsoft 365 Business Basic: For $6/user/month, the Business Basic plan provides you with everything in the Essentials plan, plus identity, access, and user management for up to 300, custom business email, web and mobile versions of apps like Excel and Word, 1TB of cloud storage/user, 10 additional apps like Sharepoint and Bookings, and anytime phone and web support. 
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard: For $12.50/user/month, the Business Standard plan provides you with everything in Business Basic, plus Desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, webinars with attendee reporting and registration, collaborative workspaces to co-create, and video editing.

Key Feature Comparisons

Now that we’ve compared pricing and plans, let’s take a look at how Google Meet vs Microsoft Teams compares when it comes to key features: 

• Security: Google Meet offers encryption of meetings in transit, host controls, and access controls. However, it does not provide any anti-malware or anti-phishing features. In comparison, Microsoft Teams offers meeting encryption in transit and at rest, anti-malware and anti-phishing functions, access controls, and host controls. Overall, Teams has the more robust security features. 
• Meeting recording: Both Teams and Meet offer meeting recordings for participants who couldn’t attend the live meeting. For Meet, recordings only come with the Business Standard Plan and above, while Teams offers recordings with the Microsoft Teams Essentials plan. 
• Meeting features: Google Meet offers screen sharing, whiteboards, real-time captioning, and in-meeting chat. In comparison, Microsoft Teams offers screen sharing, whiteboards, live captions, breakout rooms, and meeting transcriptions. 
• Team chat: Both Google Meet and Microsoft Teams provide team chat and collaboration. Microsoft Teams organizes team chat into channels within teams to allow for focused discussions on specific topics or projects. 

Google Meet vs Teams Verdict

When deciding between Google Meet vs Microsoft Teams, the right platform will depend on your specific business needs. If you rely heavily on other Google apps and prefer a clean, easy-to-use platform, Google Meet might be right for you. On the other hand, if you need a platform with tons of features for team collaboration, Microsoft Teams is a great choice.

If you need help deciding between Google Meet vs Teams or with comparing other business communication platforms, OneStop Communication is here to help. We’ll put together pricing quotes from top providers to help you handle all your business telecom needs, whether that’s VoIP, business internet, or phone service. 

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