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Google Meet vs TeamViewer: What are the differences?
Introduction
Google Meet and TeamViewer are two popular communication and collaboration tools used by individuals and businesses for different purposes. While both platforms serve to connect people and enable remote collaboration, they differ in various aspects. The key differences between Google Meet and TeamViewer are outlined below:
Purpose and Features: Google Meet is primarily designed for real-time communication, allowing users to conduct video meetings, webinars, and conferences. It focuses on providing a seamless audio and video experience with features like screen sharing and chat. On the other hand, TeamViewer is a remote access software that enables users to control and access remote devices for technical support, file sharing, and remote desktop access. It offers advanced functionalities such as file transfer, remote printing, and VPN connections.
Usage and Accessibility: Google Meet is a web-based platform that can be accessed through a web browser or mobile app. It requires a Google account and can be used for free or subscribed to as part of Google Workspace (formerly G Suite). TeamViewer, on the other hand, requires installation on both the host and remote devices. It supports Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android platforms, providing flexibility in accessing and controlling remote devices across different operating systems.
Security and Privacy: Google Meet and TeamViewer have different approaches to security and privacy. Google Meet ensures security through encryption and offers features like participant authentication and meeting locks. It complies with various privacy and security standards. TeamViewer, as a remote access tool, also incorporates encryption protocols and password protection for secure remote connections. It emphasizes strong authentication and end-to-end encryption to protect sensitive data during remote sessions.
Collaboration and Integration: Google Meet is tightly integrated with other Google Workspace applications like Google Calendar, Gmail, and Google Drive, facilitating seamless collaboration and scheduling of meetings. It allows participants to join meetings directly from these apps. TeamViewer, on the other hand, focuses more on remote access and support. While it offers some collaboration features like file transfer, it is not as extensively integrated with productivity applications.
Meeting and Connection Limitations: Google Meet offers different plans and has specific limitations on the number of participants allowed in a meeting, ranging from 100 to 250 participants depending on the subscription level. It also has a time limit on the meeting duration for free users. TeamViewer, as a remote access software, doesn't impose strict limitations on the number of connections or participants in a session. It allows multiple simultaneous connections based on the license purchased.
User Interface and Experience: Google Meet provides a simple and intuitive user interface, emphasizing ease of use and accessibility. It focuses on video and audio quality for a smooth communication experience. TeamViewer, on the other hand, has a feature-rich interface with more options and controls for remote access and support. It includes advanced features like file transfer, session recording, and remote control settings, which may require a slightly steeper learning curve for some users.
In Summary, Google Meet is a web-based communication tool primarily used for video meetings and conferences, emphasizing ease of use and integration with Google Workspace. TeamViewer, on the other hand, is a remote access software that enables users to control and access remote devices, focusing more on technical support and collaboration across different operating systems.
I have a google account and use google classroom. I want to give classes online, including screen-sharing, and going in and out of multiple documents on screen.
Even though I am paying for my google account, I still want to explore which of these two tools is best for what I want to do. My classes vary from 5 to 20 persons per class, three times per week, and have a duration of 2 times 45 min.
I’m in the same boat as a teacher. I researched both, used both, I like Zoom much better. I like to compare it to Google having the lite version of an app while Zoom is the paid version. Zoom allows the “Host” to control every aspect from password protecting your room to the host admitting people in individually. I know Zoom is normally paid but has a limited free version. Hope this helps but Zoom seems much further ahead.
I own an Escape Room. Since right now everyone is practicing social distancing, I would like to run my Escape Room games virtually. I would like to allow approx 4 users to log in to play. They can chitchat a few minutes before their game to get to know each other. Then once the game begins, I will introduce myself and give them the plot to their escape game. I will have a wide-angle camera mounted to the wall to show the room, and as the game master, carry a tablet or webcam around as players talk to me and direct me to show them certain items in the room, move in for closeups in certain areas, try lock combinations, etc. I will be their hands while they solve the puzzles. I am not sure if Google Hangouts Google Meet or Zoom is better for this. I did try it yesterday using google hangout meet and it was good, but I think there may have been a wifi issue where it was choppy. Just trying to figure out the best option. Thank you! Catherine
I would suggest Zoom: - quality sound and audio is great - simple to set up and invite people + it doesn't matter if they have a microsoft, google, etc. email account or operating system - recently it added a couple of security options which could be handy in your situation = for example 'lock meeting' - once all your participants have logged in you can 'lock the meeting' to prevent others from entering. Another on is the enable waiting room, where participants can 'wait' before you allow them in the meeting.
Google meet, as well as zoom are amazing platforms for online meetings. But I will try to explain the pros and cons of both according to your needs.
Network requirements: Google meet requires considerably more bandwidth than zoom, and it isn't a great choice if you have poor internet, or if there are more than 25 or 30 participants. While zoom is pretty lightweight and can support large groups (say about 80) with little to no internet instability.
UI: Zoom and google meet have decent UI, but assuming that participants will be using mobiles, they might have a hard time with chatting in zoom as it takes up a lot of space to view all contents.
Security: Even though both zoom and google meet provide 100% encrypted connections, I personally think google meet is somewhat better due to the flaws in the recent zoom security patches.
Battery consumption: Google meet hogs up your battery when uploading your video and also your video quality, unlike zoom will not be adjusted based on your network, meaning, even if you have poor internet, google meet will upload your video in high quality, sometimes leading to lag and hangs.
NOTE: If you are using the free version of zoom, your meeting will automatically end after 40 minutes. So either keep your games small, or buy the premium version.
In the end I think zoom will be a better choice according to your needs, but if you plan on buying zoom, I recommend you read other reviews about zoom. Enjoy and stay safe!
Zoom has lot more features and higher quality. Agree with the other people's advice. Make sure to realize it is 40 min limit for free account - but you can do monthly Zoom subscription and try it out or only use during pandemic and cancel subscription once this is over if you need to.
Pros of Google Meet
- Free35
- Integrated with G Suite15
- Group video call14
- Gmail server integration10
- Good to make phone calls10
- Instant Messaging9
- Easy to add and remove contacts9
- Unlimited Storage (Premium version)7
- Easy setup6
- User friendly mobile app6
- Record (Premium Feature)6
- Accessible from the Browser5
- Saves the chats for future reference5
- Browser extension5
- No pornography3
- Google Meet is never buggy2
- Cool emoji extensions2
- Amazing captions2
- 16 people show at the same time2
- Meet has the best quality in terms of participant view2
Pros of TeamViewer
- Easy to use2
- Free2
- Whiteboard option1
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Cons of Google Meet
- Quality isn't great9
- Really high CPU utilization during video/screenshare5
- No client annotation on shared screen2
- Not great sound quality2
- Difficult to share video with audio2
- Needs to take measures to improve the ecosystem2
- Auto-added to G Cal invites1
- Needs better support and rollout process1
- No interactions activities1
- Overheat cpu on Android1
- No desktop client1
- No desktop client1