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Google Hangouts vs Zoom comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Google Hangouts
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zoom
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
209
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of Google Hangouts is 0.4%, down from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zoom is 11.1%, down from 14.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

Pratiksha Volvoikar - PeerSpot reviewer
Simplified meeting management with intuitive layout options and an easy setup
I use Google Meet to set up meetings. I also use it to block my calendar for times when I am unavailable, such as during lunch We use Google Meet along with Google Calendar, which really helps with productivity. I appreciate that sharing the nine-digit code for meetings is simpler compared to…
Kallol Chaudhuri - PeerSpot reviewer
Helped us tremendously in collaborating with each other and getting our work done and offers the breakout rooms feature.
We are a team located across various locations. Not in the same geographic location. We are distributed. And it's not possible to physically travel and meet people. Sometimes it's simply not possible. But Zoom has helped us tremendously in collaborating with each other and getting our work done. Without Zoom, it would have been very, very difficult. The breakout rooms feature is also helpful. For example, I have a meeting attended by hundreds of people and want to create subgroups. I typically use it for different role-play scenarios during training if we are trying to conduct some training on presentation skills. So there's a large group, which is initially trained by an instructor. Then you get instructions that the room will be split into smaller breakout rooms. I'll give you a topic, and you'll practice in these smaller groups. That's one way I use it. So it's like a simulation of a real brainstorming session I'd have in a physical space.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten...Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten based on the number of users we have."
"We use Google Hangouts to chat and exchange some quick information."
"The most valuable features are that you don't have to create a separate account, it's easy to use, and you don't have to enter an ID or password to start video conferencing."
"The solution is extremely stable."
"Google Hangouts is an excellent tool."
"The initial setup is very easy."
"I find the sound quality of Google Meet a valuable feature. You can join Google Meet with just your phone. You only need the link of the meeting to join."
"The video call feature is the most valuable."
"The most valuable feature is how stable Zoom is. Compared to other collaboration tools, I haven't seen Zoom crash often. Zoom is also better in terms of security. From a usability perspective, a user's perspective, the overall experience of using Zoom is very good. It's a simple, fast, very seamless solution, and pretty lightweight."
"One of the most valuable features is the user interface. With every new update, they introduce new useful features."
"The most valuable feature is the sharing capabilities. Whether it's a simple screen for PowerPoint or sharing videos, it works really well."
"Zoom helps us because it provides a whiteboard during the meeting. This is a very good feature."
"I like Zoom's ease of use and how easy it is for non-tech people to interface with it. Other video conferencing solutions can be somewhat challenging for non-tech people, so you often end up waiting for people to connect."
"It is a stable product."
"The solution is stable."
"The solution is very user friendly and flexible."
 

Cons

"Not a ten because there's room for improvement. Sometimes there is disconnectivity."
"Maybe they should offer more security features."
"Sometimes, due to system restrictions, I can't use blur effects or other filters."
"Google Meet should extend the time limit for a meeting from five minutes to at least thirty-five minutes."
"The solution can be improved by integrating other tools."
"It would be great if this solution could be added to smart TVs. We would also like the ability to broadcast to a YouTube channel when having a meeting or session using this solution."
"Can be improved by including a larger library of video filters and adding custom filters."
"The way it works with anonymous users should be improved. That could be strengthened to let anonymous users do more."
"In the next release, I would like to see better security."
"The product's stability needs improvement."
"If Zoom added the feature of Zoom Phone so that I can use it as a phone, it would be much better."
"I find while using Zoom sometimes there is a lot of disturbance while on the call. There is a lot of network issues, and sometimes the screen freezes, and you have no way of figuring out what went wrong. You have to restart the computer all over again, or you lose some of the words that someone was saying during the meeting, such as what the person is trying to say in the midst of that conversation. Additionally, there have been times it has disconnected and was not able to start."
"I'd like to have the recording functionality in the free version so that we don't need any licensing in order to access it."
"It takes time to acclimate end users to the product."
"Zoom could be more scalable."
"The performance could be better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This solution is available for free with the opening of a Google account."
"We access the solution through Google Workspace. It is inexpensive to use."
"There is no license cost."
"I think there is a need for payment for licensing, but as students, we didn't have to pay for it when we were using it. Our professors were the ones paying for it since they needed to record the sessions."
"We pay an annual license to use the solution."
"I don't need to buy Google Hangouts separately because it comes free with Google Workspace, and it is also available for my personal Gmail ID."
"I use the free version of the solution."
"I pay $6 per user per month for Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Hangouts."
"Zoom is licensed as a subscription model and it is available on a monthly or yearly basis."
"The solution is affordable."
"Zoom is free."
"We have subscribed to a package for Zoom and it is a monthly payment."
"The version I am using of Zoom is free."
"We generally have a strict budget so the pricing for Zoom is reasonable."
"Zoom can be used for free."
"A licensing fee is required."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
97%
Computer Software Company
1%
Financial Services Firm
0%
Retailer
0%
Educational Organization
92%
University
1%
Financial Services Firm
1%
Computer Software Company
1%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Google Hangouts?
It's integration with Google is the valuable feature.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Hangouts?
I can't comment on the pricing as I have no idea about it.
What needs improvement with Google Hangouts?
The filtering is good. That said, sometimes, due to system restrictions, I can't use blur effects or other filters. The chat feature could be improved to allow tagging users for notifications.
LucidChart vs LucidSpark for brainstorming sessions over Zoom
Hi @Krista Thompson ​ - Yes, LucidSpark is a much more nimble and, in some ways, user-friendly tool than LucidChart. LucidSpark is designed to do a better job managing multiple users participating ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zoom?
There is a concern about the free version's forty-five-minute limit. For education use, having more affordable access through institutions would be beneficial.
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Fortinet, Veeva, Proofpoint, Box, Ticketmaster, Trend Micro, Caesars Entertainment, Santa Clara University, Pandora, Stanford Continuing Studies
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Hangouts vs. Zoom and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.