Google Meet alternatives: 11 video conferencing tools compared
People look for a Google Meet alternative when meetings are the only part of Google Workspace they use, when the free tier's 60-minute limit gets in the way, or when the buyer must control where the video platform runs. They move to a dedicated meeting product, to a vendor that publishes its own plans, or to software they can host themselves.
Short answer: The first three alternatives to Google Meet in our video conferencing software ranking are Zoom Workplace, Webex and Whereby. Smaller vendors fill the top three places where the category offers them, and the household names start at place 4. Choose Zoom Workplace if you want a meetings-first product and guests already know the client. All 11 alternatives below are ranked products from Best Video Conferencing Software in 2026, and each says where it differs from Google Meet.
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Pricing: Free for Google accounts; paid tiers bundled into Workspace per user per month
Established in: United States
Built for: Organisations already running mail, calendar and documents on Google Workspace
Not for: Buyers wanting a standalone meeting tool without a suite
01
Why buyers look past Google Meet
01
The free tier ends meetings at 60 minutes
Google's Meet page says anyone with a Google Account can host up to 100 participants for up to 60 minutes per meeting at no cost, with no limit on one-to-one and mobile calls. Longer or larger meetings, recording and live streaming sit in the paid Workspace plans. A group that meets for 90 minutes weekly outgrows the free tier at once.
02
The paid plans are bought as a Workspace bundle
The pricing page lists Starter, Standard and Plus per user per month (EUR 6.80, 13.60 and 21.10 on the page we fetched, excluding tax, with introductory discounts), each including mail, storage and the Gemini assistant. Participant caps rise with the bundle: 100, 150 and 500, then 1,000 on Enterprise, which is quoted. A team that only wants video pays for the rest of the suite as well.
03
Self-hosting and sovereign options are outside the product
Meet runs as a service from Google. Its terms name Google Ireland Limited as the contracting party for users in the EEA and Switzerland. A buyer who needs the platform on its own servers, or in a hosting setup it controls, has to look at vendors that sell that, such as Tixeo and Pexip, or at open source projects.
you are building video calls into your own application
#12
03
What each one does differently
1
Zoom Workplace
United States · Published
A meetings product sold on its own, with a free Basic plan limited to 40 minutes and 100 participants per meeting. Paid tiers raise the limit to 30 hours, and Business allows 300 participants. It is billed per user per month, annually, but the pricing page we fetched showed no amounts. Zoom is not a mail suite.
Switch from Google Meet if you want a meetings-first product and guests already know the client.
The free plan allows up to 100 attendees but ends meetings at 40 minutes, so it is stricter than Meet's 60. Paid plans are bought per host licence, and Enterprise, quoted by sales, lifts the cap to 1,000 attendees. We could not verify paid plan amounts. Webex does not come with an office suite.
Switch from Google Meet if you need a host-licence model and a 1,000-attendee ceiling without a Workspace bundle.
Browser-based rooms with published USD prices: Free allows 4 participants and 30 minutes, Pro costs 10.99 per month for 100, and Business costs 13.99 per host from 3 hosts for 200. Rooms are fixed URLs. It is a small product for client calls and does not bundle mail or storage.
Switch from Google Meet if you want permanent room links for clients and a flat per-host price.
Meetings sold by participant count (10 up to 250) in Standard and Professional plans, with a 14-day trial without a card. The free plan allows 100 participants and up to 60 minutes, matching Meet's limit. Paid features such as breakout rooms start at Professional. Prices did not render for us, so amounts are unchecked.
Switch from Google Meet if you want meetings priced by size of room instead of a full office suite.
Open source (Apache-2.0 on GitHub) and free on meet.jit.si with no account. You can also run your own instance, or use the hosted offering the team behind it now runs. The Jitsi trademark belongs to 8x8. It is a plain meeting tool with chat and screen sharing, not a calendar or office suite.
Switch from Google Meet if you want free meetings without accounts or want to host the server yourself.
A French vendor selling TixeoCloud, TixeoPrivateCloud and TixeoServer (on-premises). Every plan lists end-to-end encrypted video and ANSSI CSPN certification. Plans start from 10 organisers on the cloud edition and 50 on the others, and prices are not published. Meetings are unlimited in number and duration.
Switch from Google Meet if you need end-to-end encryption and a private-cloud or on-premises deployment.
Secure meetings for defence, government, justice and healthcare, deployable so that data stays self-contained. It is also an interoperability layer that connects meeting rooms to Microsoft, Google and Zoom. Pexip is bought through sales, resellers or cloud marketplaces, with no published price. It is not a walk-up tool for a ten-person team.
Switch from Google Meet if you run classified or regulated meetings or must connect rooms across platforms.
Meetings are included with RingEX plans, so you buy video as part of a phone and messaging system. Add-ons are priced separately: Town Halls from 30 USD a month for 500 attendees, Rooms from 39 per room, and Events Pro at 99 per organiser. The RingEX plan price itself needs a sales configuration.
Switch from Google Meet if you are replacing the phone system as well as video.
An open source virtual classroom, built around teaching rather than business calls, with whiteboard, polls, breakout rooms and shared notes. You install it on your own server or buy commercial hosting. Moodle Cloud and Canvas use it as their default virtual classroom. It has no calendar, mail or office suite, and is a weaker fit for sales calls.
Switch from Google Meet if you teach classes and want to run the server yourself.
Peer-to-peer, end-to-end encrypted calling and conferencing that needs no relay server, under GPLv3 or later and funded by donations. Accounts need no personal details. It offers screen sharing and group video, but no scheduling, no admin console and no vendor to buy support from, so it fits individuals rather than departments.
Switch from Google Meet if you want private calls with no account data and no vendor.
A developer platform, not a meeting app. You build video into your own product with its SDK and pay per participant minute: 10,000 minutes are free each month, then rates between 0.0015 and 0.004 USD appear on the page. Recording and live streaming are billed separately. Nobody gets a join link without your software.
Switch from Google Meet if you are building video calls into your own application.
Google Meet stays the right choice for an organisation already on Workspace, where Meet comes with Calendar and the paid plan covers mail and storage in one invoice. Its free tier suits short meetings: 60 minutes and 100 participants with only a Google Account needed, and guests can join by signing in or being admitted by the host. Paid plans go to 24-hour meetings and 500 participants, and Enterprise to 1,000. If most staff use Gmail and Calendar, a separate meeting product adds a second vendor for little gain.
05
What moving off Google Meet involves
01
Find out who uses what beyond Meet
Before you cancel anything, list which Workspace products each person uses. Meet is included in every plan, so dropping it saves nothing unless you also drop the bundle. A move makes sense for a team that already runs mail elsewhere or for a group that only needs meetings. Calendar invites will have to be recreated with the new tool's links.
02
Recordings, dial-in and room hardware
Recording, live streaming and international dial-in numbers sit in the paid Meet plans, so check where yours are stored and export them first. If you use meeting-room hardware, check whether the new product connects to it. Pexip sells interoperability with Google, Microsoft and Zoom rooms, and RingCentral sells Rooms as an add-on.
03
Set a limit test before you commit
The free plans differ in the limits that bite: Meet 60 minutes and 100 participants, Zoom Basic 40 minutes, Webex Free 40 minutes, Whereby Free 30 minutes and 4 participants. Run your longest regular meeting on a trial account, with the number of guests you really invite, before moving everyone.
06
Questions about replacing Google Meet
6 answers
How long can a free Google Meet call last?
Google's Meet page says up to 60 minutes per meeting with up to 100 participants for anyone with a Google Account. One-to-one calls and mobile calls have no time limit. Paid Workspace plans list a maximum meeting length of 24 hours.
What does Google Meet cost?
Meet is included in Google Workspace. On the pricing page we fetched, in euros and excluding tax, Starter was 6.80, Standard 13.60 and Plus 21.10 per user per month, with introductory discounts for the first three months. Enterprise is quoted by Google's sales team.
Which Google Meet alternative can I host myself?
Jitsi Meet (Apache-2.0) and BigBlueButton are open source and can run on your own server. Tixeo sells TixeoServer, an on-premises edition, and its private cloud is hosted by Tixeo. Jami needs no server at all because calls are peer-to-peer.
Is there a free alternative with longer meetings?
Jitsi Meet is free on meet.jit.si with no account, and Jami is free and donation funded. Of the commercial free plans we checked, Zoho Meeting's matches Meet's 60 minutes for 100 participants, while Zoom Basic and Webex Free stop at 40 minutes.
Which alternative has the highest participant limit?
Meet's Enterprise edition lists 1,000 participants. Webex Enterprise also lists up to 1,000 attendees. Zoho Meeting sells up to 250, Zoom Business lists 300 participants and Whereby Business 200. RingCentral's Town Halls add-on lists up to 10,000 attendees for large broadcasts.
Which alternative is built for regulated or classified meetings?
Pexip describes itself as built for classified communications in high-security environments and says no third party, not even Pexip, processes the data.
Tixeo lists ANSSI CSPN certification and end-to-end encryption on all plans. Both sell through sales contacts, so ask for a quote and current certificates.
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Sources
Checked 19 October 2026
Google Meet product page: free tier: 100 participants, 60 minutes, no limit on 1:1 and mobile calls; paid features; encrypted streams.
Google Workspace pricing: Starter, Standard, Plus per user per month; participant caps 100/150/500/1000; 24-hour meetings; Enterprise quoted.
Google terms: Google Ireland Limited as contracting party for EEA and Switzerland users.
Zoom pricing: Basic free 40 minutes and 100 participants; 30 hours on paid tiers; Business 300 participants; billed annually per user per month.
Webex pricing: Free plan 100 attendees and 40 minutes; Enterprise quoted, up to 1,000 attendees; host licences.
Whereby Meetings pricing: Free, Pro and Business prices, participants, room URLs, 30-minute free limit, 14-day trial.
Founder of The Knowledge Engineers and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page on this site; research and drafting are AI-assisted.
Author and fact-checker: Sebastiaan Smits. This page was last reviewed on 2 November 2026; our review process is public.
