Google Meet limits group video calls to one hour for free users

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Google Meet users with a free Gmail account can no longer make unlimited group video calls. According to a recently updated Google support page, free users will have group video calls limited to one hour (away). Previously, that limit was 24 hours, or maybe there was no real limit. However, individual calls can continue throughout the day, as can group calls initiated by paying Meet users.

According to Google, all participants in a group video call initiated by a free Google Meet user will be notified that the call is about to end 55 minutes after the call begins. The host will need to upgrade their account to a paid plan, which starts at $ 6 per month, if they wish to continue the conference, for up to 24 hours. If not, it will end five minutes later, which is 60 minutes. Of course, you can always initiate another group call which will allow you to connect remotely for another hour.

However, there are no changes to the participant limit. So free users can still add up to 100 attendees to a meeting, including themselves. For paying users, Google offers up to 250 participants in a video call depending on their edition of Google Workspace.

Google has stopped unlimited group video calls for free Meet users

Google made Meet free for all in April last year, as the COVID-19 pandemic showed the importance of video conferencing platforms. At the time, the platform had no duration limits for group video calls for free users. All Meet calls could be made around the clock.

However, the company said it will impose a one-hour limit at the end of September. But, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to affect human life throughout last year, Google extended that deadline to March 2021 and again to June 2021. It looks like there will be no more extensions.

However, a one-hour limit shouldn’t be a problem for most users. Many companies usually try to keep meetings lasting less than an hour. But for people who casually catch up on Meet, conversations can sometimes go on for hours. This limit could be annoying in these cases.

However, Google Meet is even more generous than the other popular Zoom video conferencing platform on this front. The latter limits group calls to just 40 minutes for free users. Microsoft Teams, meanwhile, allows free users to make group video calls for up to an hour. All three platforms have a limit of 100 participants.

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