You, most probably, want to know which one, out of these three, will be the perfect buy for your business.
Or perhaps you have questions about their features, pros and cons, and pricing. 

In this article, we’ll answer the question everyone is asking in the 2020 pandemic – What’s the best online conferencing software to use for both personal and business use?

But before we dive into the features and pricing, let’s take a quick look at each of these tools and their growth during COVID-19.

 

1. Zoom vs Google Meet vs Webex: Introduction

 Zoom

Zoom will forever be associated with the coronavirus lockdown, has exploded into the public consciousness after the introduction of social distancing measures.

Because of coronavirus and nationwide lockdowns, Zoom surpassed 300 million daily Zoom meeting participants.

That’s up 50 percent from the 200 million the company reported earlier this month and a huge jump from the 10 million back in December.

But a series of missteps have turned some Zoom users away, many of whom may now be considering alternatives like Cisco Webex and Google Meet.

 Google Meet

Google Meet, previously known as Hangout, is Google’s video conferencing solution.

Amid the pandemic, Google Meet surpassed 50 million downloads. According to Google, Meet’s peak daily usage has grown by 30 times since January 2020. And now, this video conferencing app hosts 3 billion minutes of video meetings every day.

 Cisco Webex Meeting

Cisco Webex offers one of the most secure video conferencing platforms on the market, making it a very appealing video conferencing solution.

When the coronavirus-led lockdowns forced employees to work from home, Webex registered a record 324 million attendees in March and still has usage more than doubling in the Americas.

 

2. Free limitations Google Meet vs Zoom vs Webex

Google Meet, Zoom, and Webex – all three video conferencing tools have a free plan, but with certain limitations.

Where Google Meet offers a meeting time limit of sixty minutes for its free users, Zoom and Webex each offer 50 and 40 minutes of the time limit.

This means that free users of these video conferencing solutions can’t hold a conference for more than the stipulated meeting time limit.

Furthermore, each of these tools offers a participant size limit of 100. Here’s a tabular analysis of free limitations of Google Meet, Zoom, and Webex

Features	Google Meet	Cisco Webex	Zoom Video
Direct Web Access	Yes	No	No
Participants limit	100	100	100
Meeting Time Duration	60 Minutes	50 Minutes	40 Minutes
Screen Sharing	Yes	Yes	Yes
Recording Support	No	No	Yes
Multiple participants on a single screen	Yes	Yes	Yes
Availability	Web, Android, iOS	macOS, Android, iOS, and Windows	macOS, Android, iOS, and Windows

 

Who’s got an Edge on Free Limits?

  Google Meet: With 60-Minutes of meeting duration, Google Meet is a step-ahead of both Webex and Zoom’s free plan. As for the other features, all three giants are offering pretty much the same services.

But if recording support is a priority for your business, Zoom’s free plan may suit your team better because both Webex and Meet don’t offer that in the free plan.

 

3. Security: Google Meet vs Zoom vs Webex

 Google Meet

Google meet is touted as one of the most secure video conferencing tools pertaining to its encryption measures.

All Meet data is encrypted in transit by default between the google and client on both the web browser and iOS or Android apps. Recorded meetings are also stored as encrypted data in Google Drive by default.

Google Meet adheres to security standards such as Datagram Transport Layer Security (DLTS), Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP), and Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

 

 Cisco Webex Meeting

Like Google Meet, the Cisco Webex platform also protects user data by encrypting stored and shared content during meetings.

All communication in the Cisco Webex is encrypted both in transit and at rest. It uses the TLS 1.2 protocol for all media streams including VoIP, screen share, video calling, and document sharing.

Once configured by the users, Webex Meeting protects all user data using SHA-2 protocol and encrypts all passwords for recording and meeting. The files are encrypted with master keys that are based on AES 256 and hardware security modules.

 Zoom

Zoom has recently been in the limelight for its security concerns. A lot of users reported security breaches and data theft issues. However, Zoom has released the 5.0 version to address such concerns and now uses AES 256-bit GCM encryption to enhance its security standards.

Yet, the app is still seeing Zoombombing issues, which calls for more robust security features than the current one.

Who’s got an Edge on Security?

Cisco Webex & Google Meet: In terms of Security, both Cisco Webex Meeting and Google Meet wins. Zoom loses many points because of past security issues, and

 

4. Interface & Ease of Use: Google Meet vs Zoom Vs Webex

 Google Meet

Google Meet’s interface is simple and clear. Users can start, join, or plan meetings through the right panel of the screen, and the interface as clear buttons that can be used for adjusting the audio, video, and other general settings.

Image Source: Google

The best thing about Google Meet’s interface is it’s quite sorted. You see very limited options on the start screen and the other options are located at different (but easy to locate places). The clean interface makes Meet very easy to use as compared to other video conferencing tools.

 

 Zoom

If a user has already installed the Zoom app, participating in a meeting hardly takes two clicks and five seconds. Even with the web app, it’s so easy to join the meeting.

Zoom’s interface is clutter-free. But one aspect that makes it more interesting is that the admins can review information about the participant’s connectivity during the call. The host can easily recognize if a participant is having a problem with their internet connection.

As for the participants, they can connect and chat with the host. The host has quick access to multiple features such as creating a waiting room, adding new participants, turning on/off participant’s microphones, enabling chat, and more. Despite these many options, Zoom’s interface doesn’t feel overwhelming and one can easily navigate.

 

 Cisco Webex 

Cisco’ Webex has a very intuitive interface that looks similar to other services during a phone call. There’s a clear dashboard where you chose to start, join, or plan a meeting. On the right side of the screen, there are options to schedule meetings and review previously scheduled meetings.

When you’re planning a conference or meeting via Webex, you can use standard functions such as date, time, and meeting duration, and also send invites to the participants. Furthermore, there’s an option to add meeting agendas as passwords to enable restricted access.

 

Who’s got an Edge on Interface?

It’s a tie: All these three giants exceed in terms of interface. They all focus on making it clear, easy-to-use, and have a sharp learning curve.

 

5. Plans & Pricing: Google Meet vs Zoom Vs Webex

When it comes to choosing the best video conferencing tool for your business, pricing is the most important aspect. When two tools have relatively similar features, it’s the price that breaks the tie. Companies often look for flexible and cost-effective software that fits their budget and also allows them to scale whenever required.

 Google Meet Pricing

Google Meet is a part G Suite, which means it’s available for free for all businesses having G Suite subscription. Starting at $10 per user/month, Google offers a basic tier plan of all G Suite apps bundled with the cloud storage capacity of 30 GB. There’s also the Business and Enterprise plan – the $20 per user/month plan offers 1 TB cloud storage, whereas the $25 offers unlimited cloud storage, advanced management options, and enhanced security.

Plan Name	Cost	Participant Limit	Meeting Duration
Free	$0	100	60 Minutes
G Suite Essentials	$10 USD per active user/month*	150	300 Hrs
G Suite Enterprise Essentials	$20 USD per active user/month*	250	300 Hrs

 

Zoom Video Conferencing

The zoom starts at $14.99 per month/host for the pro plan – which is considered an ideal plan for a small team of 100 participants and meeting a time limit of 24 hours. Zoom offers the most extensive video conferencing features with the Business tier plan starting at $19.99 per host per month.

 

Plan Name	Cost	Participant Limit	Meeting Duration
Basic	Free	100	40 Minutes
Pro	$14.99/mo/host	100	24 Hrs
Business	$19.99 /mo/host	300	24 Hrs
Enterprise	$19.99 /mo/host	500	24 Hrs

 

 Cisco Webex Pricing

As Google meet, the Webex meeting is also an integrated Webex service. So, if you’re already using Webex solutions, it’s a great choice.

Webex has multiple pricing plans named as Agile User, Power User, and Modern Workspace. Starting at $16.82 per host per month, the Agile User plan offers unlimited toll dial-in, unlimited meetings, 10 GB of cloud storage, and up to 1000 participants in each meeting.

At $40.71 & $55.73 per host per month, the Power User and Modern workspace plan offer additional features such as cisco video cloud, content management, Webex assistant, and more.

 

Plan Name	Cost	Participant Limit	Meeting Duration
Free	$0	100	50 Minutes
Agile User	$16.82 per host per month	1000	24 Hrs
Power User	$40.71 per host per month	1000	24 Hrs
Modern Workspace	$55.73 per host per month	1000	24 Hrs

 

Who’s got an Edge on Pricing?

 Google Meet:

Comparing the price of these three video conferencing tools is difficult since Zoom as a standalone web/video conferencing app, costs much more than Webex and G Suite, which are integrated collaboration suites. At $6 per user/month, G Suite’s Google Meet offers similar features at a cheaper rate. So, when it comes to pricing, Google meet is the undisputed winner.

 

6. Screen Sharing and Controlling: Google Meet vs Zoom vs Webex

 Google Meet

On Google Meet, users can share their whole screen or a specific window, or chrome tab during the meeting. Through screen sharing, one can share documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and more. When you share a chrome tab, it shares the tab’s audio by default. Hence, when you can play an online video as well.