Google Meet vs Whereby

What Google Meet is

Google Meet runs video meetings in the browser, included with Google Workspace and tightly linked to Calendar. There is nothing to install for participants — a link opens in a tab — which removes most of the friction when meeting people outside the organisation. The Calendar integration is the practical advantage: every event carries a join link automatically. Feature depth is modest next to dedicated conferencing products, but for organisations already on Workspace it costs nothing extra.

What Whereby is

Whereby runs video meetings entirely in the browser, with no download and no account needed for guests.

What Google Meet is built to do

No install required

Participants join from a browser tab, including guests outside the organisation.

Calendar integration

Every Google Calendar event carries a join link without any extra step.

Live captions

Real-time captions and translated captions during the call.

Included with Workspace

No separate licence for organisations already paying for Workspace.

Choose Google Meet if

• Anyone with a personal Google account: free group calls up to 100 people for 60 minutes, 1:1 calls with no time limit
• Teams already on Google Workspace — every business plan extends group meetings to 24 hours
• Companies that need recording and noise cancellation, which start at Business Standard (150 participants)

Skip Google Meet if

• Your free group meetings run past 60 minutes — that is the trigger for a paid plan
• You need recording on the cheapest paid tier: Business Starter (100 participants) does not include it
• You want more than 500 participants: that requires Enterprise (1,000 participants)

Choose Whereby if

• Quick calls with no downloads: free rooms for 4 participants up to 30 minutes
• Consultants who want a permanent room link for 100 participants: Pro $10.99/month
• Product teams embedding video via API, billed by usage

Skip Whereby if

• You host group calls longer than 30 minutes on Free
• You are a small team under 3 hosts — Business requires a 3-host minimum
• You need webinars for thousands; the cap is 200 on Business

Google Meet: pros & cons

• No install, joins from a calendar link
• Included with Workspace at no extra cost
• Reliable at typical meeting sizes
• Fewer features than dedicated platforms
• Recording requires higher tiers
• Large webinars are not its strength

Whereby: pros & cons

• Guests join with a link, no install
• Rooms have stable URLs
• Embeddable into your own product
• Fewer features than full meeting platforms
• Participant limits on lower plans
• Not aimed at large webinars