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Google Hangouts [EOL] vs Zoom Workplace Business comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 27, 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 [EOL]
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zoom Workplace Business
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
233
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Meetings (1st)
 

Featured Reviews

Mariana-Piñeres - PeerSpot reviewer
Customer Success Manager Latam at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
Recording and transcription enhance global client meetings
Google Hangouts sometimes consumes significant resources. When comparing it to WhatsApp on desktop for calls, there are instances when Google Hangouts freezes or stops working, but switching to WhatsApp runs smoothly. This might be related to the resources Google Hangouts requires. The service occasionally experiences lag issues where the image gets frozen or the voice transmission becomes interrupted. When these issues occur, possibly due to internet connectivity or other factors, WhatsApp continues to function properly while Google Hangouts does not perform well.
Yifate Yusuf - PeerSpot reviewer
Team Lead at GE
Unified communication has transformed our collaboration and consistently boosts project delivery
The best features Zoom Workplace Business offers include screen sharing, clear video and audio, online meetings, large-scale events, call management, mobile apps, unified communication platform, and collaboration. The feature I find myself using the most is an AI-powered collaboration platform that is used to streamline communication, increase employee engagement, optimize in-person time, and improve productivity. The screen sharing is very effective and a helpful tool where we are able to screen share with our colleagues and discuss different tasks and project management ideas. Collaboration has become very efficient, and remote working has also become efficient and prevalent in my organization. We have been able to save a lot of time using Zoom Workplace Business. It has been a game-changer. Zoom Workplace Business elevates the experience with Zoom AI Companion included at no additional cost. It is designed to help employees be more productive, collaborate better, enhance their skills, and unlock time savings.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"When you get a meeting invitation, it's very easy to just join and go."
"The screen sharing is the most valuable feature. It ties in with Google docs and Google sheets so that we can work on a single document as a whole group of us at once. That's the biggest feature we rely on."
"Communication platform that's effective in project planning, project status communication, and virtual meetings. Setting it up is straightforward."
"I find it valuable that Google Hangouts is a lightweight tool that doesn't take up a lot of memory and doesn't require a lot of resources."
"We use Google Hangouts to chat and exchange some quick information."
"The most valuable feature of Google Hangouts for me is content sharing."
"The ease of navigation is good, as we can easily share data and screens."
"Google Hangouts is an excellent tool."
"Zoom Workplace Business offers unlimited time with the business plan, which allows us to keep our Zoom room open all day."
"The initial setup was very easy...The solution is worth the money."
"The best thing about Zoom is that it is very easy to use."
"Zoom is incredibly easy to install. You can download it immediately on a mobile phone or go to the website. You don't need a lot of IT skills to get it running."
"Screen Sharing is the most valuable feature in Zoom for me."
"The solution is great it meets all of our needs, most people have the solution, and it is convenient to use."
"The Mozilla extension is useful to schedule meetings."
"The sharing and recording, are the most valuable features of Zoom."
 

Cons

"The algorithm should be improved to automatically deal with poor connections in a better way."
"There should be more space for multiple users at a time so that multiple people can connect, can share, and even transfer control to another colleague, employer, student, etc."
"Google Hangouts should add a feature to show how someone connects, such as via a laptop or phone. If you know if someone is using a laptop you can ask them to share their screen."
"Google Hangouts restricts you to those with a Gmail account."
"We don’t have any complaints."
"The only issue with the solution is that we can't split the video of participants into separate screens, which can make it difficult to manage the cameras of participants."
"There could be more precise instructions for beginners using the solution."
"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."
"Some integration with other products does not work well."
"The only limitation in Zoom is related to the time limit for a call, which is about 40 minutes."
"You can use Teams more to collaborate with your coworkers. I think Zoom could add some of these features in addition to simple video conferencing."
"The solution needs to have a feature that allows you to take over another person's screen. right now, that's not possible. This is important for our purposes due to the act that we are often using the solution to troubleshoot issues for our clients. If we could just take over their screen and go in and fix issues, it would make troubleshooting infinitely easier."
"We are more inclined to work with Microsoft Teams."
"The user interface is old-fashioned, especially when there are many participants and a lot of tiles appear."
"One of the main concerns is the difficulty of using it on your mobile device."
"Yesterday, we had a call, but Zoom closed after 20 or 25 minutes, and we didn't get any alerts. That could be because there was a time limit set. There should be an option, like a button, that allows us to increase or reduce the meeting time."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"We access the solution through Google Workspace. It is inexpensive to use."
"There is an annual subscription to use this solution."
"We pay an annual license to use the solution."
"For individual use, there's no license requirement as such. For storage or some other purposes, if I go beyond 15 GB, then I need to buy something."
"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."
"Google Hangouts has reasonable pricing, but I don't use the paid version because I only have a small budget, though you get more features from the paid version."
"We are a small team and a small organization such as ours just uses the free version of Google, so there's no cost associated with Google Hangouts at the moment."
"Zoom is free to use."
"The cost of Zoom is approximately $150 USD annually."
"The personal version that I was using is available free of charge."
"The solution is affordable."
"We do not incur a licensing fee."
"It is an inexpensive product."
"Zoom is free."
"Zoom is available with an open license that can support meetings of up to 40 minutes."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Marketing Services Firm
18%
Manufacturing Company
14%
University
10%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Performing Arts
14%
Marketing Services Firm
10%
University
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise18
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business99
Midsize Enterprise33
Large Enterprise105
 

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?
Google Hangouts comes as a package, so it's difficult to say or comment on the price of this particular product.
What needs improvement with Google Hangouts?
Sometimes when we have a call and need to share audio or play a video, we find it challenging to switch from sharing the complete desktop to only a particular Chrome tab, as it doesn't support audi...
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?
I cannot say anything about pricing, setup costs, and licensing of Zoom Workplace Business since it is handled globally for us.
 

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 Zoom Video Communications, Cisco, TeamViewer and others in Virtual Meetings. Updated: January 2026.
882,594 professionals have used our research since 2012.