Are you struggling to compare the Google Meet premium tiers and decide which Workspace plan is right for you? You’re not alone. After all, Google Meet isn’t a standalone service offered by Google; it’s part of a robust toolkit, Google Workspace, which offers access to a host of apps and solutions.
While plenty of other factors might influence which Workspace plan is right for you, such as how much storage you need or your security requirements, Meet features can make a huge difference in your choice.
After all, Google Meet is quickly becoming one of the most popular collaboration and conferencing tools. That’s particularly true now that Google has begun updating Meet with new Gemini capabilities (like an AI notetaker), live captions, stacked emojis, and on-the-go calling.
If you plan to empower your team with a Google Workspace subscription, this guide will show you exactly which Meet features you can access on every plan.
Google Meet Premium vs Free: What’s the Difference?
The Google Meet premium features you can access for your conferencing sessions will vary depending on which Google Workspace plan you choose. As mentioned above, Google doesn’t “sell” Google Meet as a separate product. It comes as part of the full Google Workspace suite, which includes access to Google’s other tools, like Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Calendar.
While there’s no free plan for Google Workspace, there is still a way to access Google Meet for free as an individual user. However, you’ll only be able to engage in meetings for up to 60 minutes, with up to 100 participants. You will get access to standard features like screen sharing and adjustable layouts, plus a handful of virtual backgrounds.
Upgrading to a paid Google Workspace plan, gives you access to longer meeting sessions, support for more participants, and Google Meet premium features.
Google Meet Premium Features
Google Meet Premium features are the advanced conferencing features only available to customers using a paid Meet plan. The exact combination of features you can access will vary depending on your chosen subscription, but some key capabilities include:
- Breakout Rooms: With breakout rooms, moderators can divide participants into smaller groups during conversations during team meetings.
- Polls and Q&A Sessions: Moderators can allow users to vote on topics during meetings with polls or host Q&A sessions via chat.
- Live streaming: On premium tiers, moderators can stream meetings live, allowing other users to watch the conversation without joining the call.
- Recording: Meet premium users can record meetings for others to watch later.
- Attendance tracking: Team leaders can access reports to see who attended their meetings and streams.
- Meeting enhancements: On premium Meet tiers, you can have one-on-one and group calls for up to 24 hours, support up to 24 co-hosts, and access noise cancellation features.
Plus, Google Workspace plans also include access to features like dial-in numbers and dial-out services, portrait touch-up options for video calls, and translated captions.
Compare Google Meet Premium Tiers: Business and Enterprise
Google Workspace plans with premium Meet features are currently separated into four options. The three primary business plans range from $6 to $18 per month (paid annually), while the Enterprise plan incurs a custom price based on your specific needs.
Here’s an overview of the premium features in Google’s “Business” and Enterprise plans.
Business Starter
Google Workspace Business Starter, available for $6 per month, allows for up to 100 participants in Meet conversations and a maximum meeting time of up to 24 hours. You’ll also get 30GB per user of storage in Drive, 24/7 online customer support, and a 99.99% uptime guarantee.
From a Google Meet perspective, this plan offers the fewest advanced features. You can leverage “anonymous joins” in conversations and dial-in and dial-out services. There’s also the option to control Slides for presentations in Meet, and you can leverage digital whiteboarding services.
Business Standard
For $12 per month per user, the Business Standard version of Google Workspace upgrades your Meet experience significantly. This is the first plan that gives you access to breakout rooms, and the option to record your meetings. You’ll also get 2TB of cloud storage per user (ideal for meeting recordings), support for 150 meeting participants, and security management controls.
Other Google Meet Premium features in the Standard plan include:
- Intelligent noise cancellation
- Polls and Q&A Sessions
- Support for multiple co-hosts
- Portrait touch-ups for video meetings
- Transcripts and translated captions
- 1080p video streaming
Business Plus
For $18 per month per user, Business Plus doesn’t add much to the Google Meet Premium features in the Standard plan. All core Meet features are the same; the only major difference is that you can access attendance tracking.
On the plus side, you do get extra security features for all of your Google Workspace apps, and a meeting participant limit of 500 people. Plus, you’ll access 5TB of file storage (so you can hold onto all of your meeting recordings.
Enterprise Plans
As you might expect, the custom-priced enterprise plans for Google Workspace unlock a lot of extra features for not just Meet, but a range of Google apps. You’ll be able to host Meet conferences for up to 1,000 users, and you’ll gain access to in-domain live streaming.
If you need more storage to preserve your meeting recordings, you can request an upgrade to your standard 5TB per user amount here. Plus, you’ll gain access to enterprise-level security features to help protect your meeting and business data.
