Google Hangouts vs. Google Meet: What’s the difference?

Google Hangouts has existed since 2013, but the application was increasingly transferred to Google Meet from 2017. Meet thus represents an expanded business version of Hangouts.

Google Hangouts vs. Google Meet

The two applications Hangouts and Meet from Google differ in a few points.

• Google Hangouts launched in 2013 and was integrated with Google+ until 2019. After that, however, it was shut down.

• Hangouts is still available on this website.

• The messenger service is suitable for video conferences for up to ten participants and chats for up to 150 participants. A valid Google account is required to use it.

• When video conferencing increased during the Corona pandemic, Google focused on business meetings with Google Meet.

• The Google Meet app has been around since 2017. It replaced Google Hangouts in 2022.

• Google Meet is thus more business-focused, although it is now accessible to all for free.

• In addition, depending on the contract, up to 250 participants can take part in a video conference.

• Further functions added with Meet are, for example, artificially generated subtitles.