Do You Absolutely Need Zoom?

Updated 7/14/2026

Zoom has taken over the world of video conferencing, and at this point, most businesses that do any video meetings at all, use it. But did you know that there is a video conferencing tool that comes with your Google Workspace subscription -- without the extra cost?

Google Meet comes bundled inside the most common Google Workspace subscriptions and contrary to common belief, Google Meet's Workspace version does NOT require your meeting participants to have a Google Account: you can invite anyone to your meeting, regardless of the type of email account they have.

The different editions of Google Workspace however come with different capabilities for Google Meet so check out what you need and choose accordingly.

In the Google Workspace Business Starter edition, you get Google Meet with these additional capabilities over the Gmail . com version of Google Meet:

• The ability to hold video meetings with non-Google users (Gmail . com doesn't allow non-Google users)

• 100-participant video meetings

• No time limit on 3-way video meetings (Gmail . com has a 60-min limit)

• US or international dial-in phone numbers

• Digital whiteboarding (with 3rd parties)

In the Google Workspace Business Standard edition, you get Google Meet with these additional capabilities:

• 150-participant video meetings

• Recording capability

• Meeting recordings saved to Google Drive which then can be downloaded or shared

• AI notetaking

• US or international dial-in phone numbers

• Digital whiteboarding (with 3rd parties)

• Noise cancellation

• Studio lighting (better video even in low-light conditions)

• Polling

• Q&A

• Breakout rooms

• Hand-raising

In the Google Workspace Business Plus edition, you get Google Meet with these additional capabilities:

• 1000-participant video meetings

• Attendance tracking

In the Google Workspace Enterprise edition, you get Google Meet with this additional capability:

• 500-participant video meetings

• In-domain live streaming

We have been using Google Meet for client meetings, and it has served the business without needing an extra Zoom subscription.

Give it a try if you haven't yet and let us know what you think.

Need help with Google Workspace? Contact me for a free first consult: 

https://www.kloudgem.com/get-in-touch/contact  

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