Are you struggling to compare the Google Meet premium tiers and decide which Workspace plan is right for you? You're not alone. After all, Google Meet isn't a standalone service offered by Google; it's part of a robust toolkit, Google Workspace, which offers access to a host of apps and solutions.
While plenty of other factors might influence which Workspace plan is right for you, such as how much storage you need or your security requirements, Meet features can make a huge difference in your choice.
After all, Google Meet is quickly becoming one of the most popular collaboration and conferencing tools. That's particularly true now that Google has begun updating Meet with new Gemini capabilities (like an AI notetaker), live captions, stacked emojis, and on-the-go calling.
If you plan to empower your team with a Google Workspace subscription, this guide will show you exactly which Meet features you can access on every plan.
The Google Meet premium features you can access for your conferencing sessions will vary depending on which Google Workspace plan you choose. As mentioned above, Google doesn't "sell" Google Meet as a separate product. It comes as part of the full Google Workspace suite, which includes access to Google's other tools, like Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Calendar.
While there's no free plan for Google Workspace, there is still a way to access Google Meet for free as an individual user. However, you'll only be able to engage in meetings for up to 60 minutes, with up to 100 participants. You will get access to standard features like screen sharing and adjustable layouts, plus a handful of virtual backgrounds.
Upgrading to a paid Google Workspace plan, gives you access to longer meeting sessions, support for more participants, and Google Meet premium features.
Google Meet Premium features are the advanced conferencing features only available to customers using a paid Meet plan. The exact combination of features you can access will vary depending on your chosen subscription, but some key capabilities include:
Plus, Google Workspace plans also include access to features like dial-in numbers and dial-out services, portrait touch-up options for video calls, and translated captions.
Google Workspace plans with premium Meet features are currently separated into four options. The three primary business plans range from $6 to $18 per month (paid annually), while the Enterprise plan incurs a custom price based on your specific needs.
Here's an overview of the premium features in Google's "Business" and Enterprise plans.
Google Workspace Business Starter, available for $6 per month, allows for up to 100 participants in Meet conversations and a maximum meeting time of up to 24 hours. You'll also get 30GB per user of storage in Drive, 24/7 online customer support, and a 99.99% uptime guarantee.
From a Google Meet perspective, this plan offers the fewest advanced features. You can leverage "anonymous joins" in conversations and dial-in and dial-out services. There's also the option to control Slides for presentations in Meet, and you can leverage digital whiteboarding services.
For $12 per month per user, the Business Standard version of Google Workspace upgrades your Meet experience significantly. This is the first plan that gives you access to breakout rooms, and the option to record your meetings. You'll also get 2TB of cloud storage per user (ideal for meeting recordings), support for 150 meeting participants, and security management controls.
Other Google Meet Premium features in the Standard plan include:
For $18 per month per user, Business Plus doesn't add much to the Google Meet Premium features in the Standard plan. All core Meet features are the same; the only major difference is that you can access attendance tracking.
On the plus side, you do get extra security features for all of your Google Workspace apps, and a meeting participant limit of 500 people. Plus, you'll access 5TB of file storage (so you can hold onto all of your meeting recordings.
As you might expect, the custom-priced enterprise plans for Google Workspace unlock a lot of extra features for not just Meet, but a range of Google apps. You'll be able to host Meet conferences for up to 1,000 users, and you'll gain access to in-domain live streaming.
If you need more storage to preserve your meeting recordings, you can request an upgrade to your standard 5TB per user amount here. Plus, you'll gain access to enterprise-level security features to help protect your meeting and business data.
One thing to keep in mind is Google does offer unique pricing plans for specific organizations, such as non-profit, and educational companies. The pricing for these unique plans is a little different. For instance, Google Education customers can access a fully-featured version of Meet, with a handful of premium features for free.
The "Education Fundamentals" (free) plan comes with all of the features of Business Starter, including dial-in and dial-out options. It also adds support for multiple co-hosts. Google's Education Standard plan, for $3 per month, is similar to the Business Standard plan.
Alternatively, the Teaching & Learning Upgrade plan, and Education plus plans include all of the features available for Google Meet (outside of AI upgrades). This means you get translated captions, 1080p video, live streaming and more on both.
When you compare Google Meet premium features and pricing in the Workspace plans mentioned above, you might notice something.
None of these plans include access to Gemini for Meet as standard. If you want to enable access to Gemini in Workspace and Meet, you have a couple of options. The first option is to purchase the "Google AI-powered Meetings and Messaging" add-on.
This will cost an extra $10 per month, per user, on top of your current Workspace plan, and enables the following features in Google Meet:
If you want to extend the capabilities of Google Gemini beyond Google Meet and Chat, you can choose a Google One AI subscription instead. This will cost you $19.99 per month and enable access to Gemini features in apps like Gmail, Google Docs, and Sheets.
As you can see from the comparison above, the "Premium" features available for Google Meet don't change much between some Google Workspace plans. The biggest difference is between Business Starter and Standard. Upgrading to Standard will give you a lot more crucial features for business meetings, like polls, breakout rooms, live streaming, and recording.
Beyond that, each plan upgrade only unlocks a couple of new features, as well as access to support for a larger number of meeting participants, and more storage.
If you're looking for the lowest priced plan that offers the best range of Google Meet premium features, then Workspace Standard is probably a good choice. However, upgrading to the Plus plan or Enterprise plan may be a good option for companies with larger teams, and more storage needs.
Is there a premium version of Google Meet?
Although there's no stand-alone "Premium Google Meet" plan, companies and users can access premium features like recording and audio enhancements in paid Google Workspace plans. Premium Workspace plans also deliver more storage space, and support more meeting participants.
What are the prices for Google Meet Premium?
Google Workspace offers a range of premium Workspace plans, starting with Business Starter at $6 per month, Business Standard at $12 per month, and Business Plus at $18 per month. There are also customizable Enterprise plans, and plans for specific industries (like Education) available.
What are the differences between different Workspace editions?
Most Google Workspace plans offer access to similar features, such as meeting, chat, and productivity tools. However, more advanced (expensive) tiers can offer advanced security features, premium meeting tools, and increased storage space on Google Drive.