Compare the features of Zoom (umn.zoom.us) and Google Meet (meet.google.com) to help you decide which tool is best for your needs. Google Meet natively integrates with Gmail and Google Calendar, but Zoom offers many additional features.
Note: Health Care Component (HCC) members must take a training course about HCC requirements and wait up to one business day for access to their HCC Zoom accounts.
In this article:
- When to Use
- Recording Capability
- Screen Sharing
- Accessibility
- Maximum Number of Participants
- Who Can Host?
- Who Can Attend?
- Data Considerations
- Additional Features
- Learn More
When to Use
Zoom
- Professional meetings and interviews that you want recorded
- Hosting webinars
- Large meetings
Google Meet
- When needing automatic language translation
- Smaller, informal meetings
- One-on-one meetings or interviews
Recording Capability
Zoom
- Yes, though some restrictions may apply for those who work with HIPAA data
Google Meet
- Yes, for non-HCC staff and faculty only
Screen Sharing
Zoom
- Simultaneous screen sharing (the meeting host can allow multiple people to share the screen at the same time).
- Annotation of screen sharing
Google Meet
- Only one person may share their screen at a time
Accessibility
Zoom
- Automatic live transcription is available
Google Meet
- Automatic caption translation is available
- Automatic captioning is available
Maximum Number of Participants
Zoom
- Up to 300 people in meetings
- Up to 1000 people in webinars
Google Meet
- Students: up to 100 people
- Staff and faculty: up to 1000 people
Who Can Host?
Zoom
-
All faculty, staff, and students can host meetings.
- Only faculty and staff can host webinars.
Google Meet
- Faculty, staff, and students can host a Google Meet.
Who Can Attend?
Zoom
- Anyone can attend meetings and webinars, including individuals outside of the University.
Google Meet
- Anyone can attend meetings and webinars, including individuals outside of the University. However, users in China may have difficulty joining.
Data Considerations
Data usage for each of these applications varies widely based on factors such as how many people are attending the meeting and meeting settings used. For a benchmark on measuring how your device will perform with each of these applications, refer to the following resources:
Additional Features
Zoom
- Initiate virtual breakout sessions:
- Meeting participants can be placed in breakout rooms to hold small-group discussions. Refer to Zoom: Manage Breakout Rooms.
- Set up a meeting poll:
- View responses to questions you pose in real time.
- See Zoom: Polling for Meetings
- Chat with all meeting participants, chat with a certain role (i.e. panelists) or to specific individuals
- Go to In-Meeting Chat
- Share a whiteboard for group annotation
- View Share a Whiteboard
- Allow Q&A in webinar
- Set up a webinar with registration (optional)
- Spotlight a speaker
- Set a primary active speaker for all participants
- See Spotlight Video
- Pin a speaker
- Set your view to a specific speaker; this does not affect other participants
- View Pin Video
Google Meet
- In-meeting chat with all meeting participants
- Initiate virtual breakout sessions:
- Meeting participants can be placed in breakout rooms to hold small-group discussions.This feature is for staff and faculty only.
- Spotlight a speaker
- Set a primary active speaker for all participants
- Pin a speaker
- Set your view to a specific speaker; this does not affect other participants
- Hide other participant's video
- Share a whiteboard (Jamboard) for group annotation