The only way I see my friends and family now is through video chat apps, and there are certainly many to choose from these days. Zoom was the trending video app in the past few weeks, but since Google Meet is now free for everyone, you should move your conversations to it instead of Zoom.

Google Meet was designed for enterprises as a way to host employee meetings and company-wide webinars, and it has many features that make it worth adopting as your favorite chat app.

5 reasons why Google Meet is better than Zoom for the average user:

No extensions or apps required on desktop:

The first and biggest reason to switch to Google Meet is that Zoom requires installing an app or browser extension, depending on your device. Zoom remains unstable unless you disable the pop-up blocker, which most browsers leave on by default these days because pop-ups are the worst.

Google Meet requires an app on Android and iOS, but when using a computer, all you need to get started with meet.google.com, in any major browser — Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Safari — is to click 'Allow' when Google Meet requests access to your microphone and camera.

Easier to add friends:

Zoom has meeting IDs and passwords to join, but Google Meet takes a different approach. After creating your meeting URL, you grant entry to new members instead of forcing them to remember a password. This method is better for two reasons:

Keeping out unwanted people: The meeting organizer can accept or deny new arrivals. If the organizer doesn't recognize the name on the Google account, they can refuse that person's entry to the meeting.

Easier to add new people: If you are welcoming new members to a meeting, such as a volunteer organization, anyone in the call can identify the person requesting to join.

Simplified user interface:

Zoom is praised for its low learning curve, but Google Meet has an even lower learning curve in most cases, starting with how to open a video call. Instead of appearing in a new window like Zoom, Google Meet stays in the same tab where you started the call, or opens in a new tab from the same window if you open a Meet URL sent to you.

Moving on to actual call controls, Zoom has more powerful controls for things like annotating on screen sharing, which can be useful for classrooms and other work-related meetings. Google Meet makes screen sharing very simple: you click 'Present Now', then select either the entire screen or a specific window. To end screen sharing, click the large 'Stop Presenting' button in the middle of the Meet window, or press 'Stop' in the accompanying notification.

Meet places its controls reasonably, where you can find them in the bottom bar or in the options menu. The text labels on the main controls are larger and easier to read than Zoom's as well.

No time limit on calls until September:

Zoom's free tier has a 40-minute limit before Zoom kicks everyone out. This is an area where Google Meet excels — it has no time limit on meetings, and as of September, the free time limit will be 60 minutes.

More stable and secure:

Zoom has had its fair share of security concerns in the past few months. While it works to fix its security flaws, Meet has been designed securely from day one because it is intended for businesses handling sensitive work, such as healthcare and finance. Meet also has encryption for video and recordings, and prevents anonymous users from joining calls.

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2 May 2020 Last updated: 3 May 2020

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