Now everyone can use Google Meet for free

Google has announced that its premium video conferencing product Google Meet will be available for everyone for free. Starting in early May, anyone with a Gmail account can sign up for Meet and enjoy many of the same features available to G Suite business and education users, such as simple scheduling and screen sharing, real-time captions and layouts that adapt to your preference including an expanded tiled view. 

Beginning next week, Google will be gradually expanding its availability to more and more people over the following weeks. This means you might not be able to create meetings at meet.google.com right away but you can sign up to be notified when it’s available. Going forward, Meet will be available to anyone for free on the web at meet.google.com and via mobile apps for iOS or Android. If you use Gmail or Google Calendar, you’ll be able to easily start or join from there too.

If you have an existing Google Account (for example, if you’re a @gmail.com user), sign in at meet.google.com to get started. If you don’t have a free Google Account, it only takes a minute to create one using your work or personal email address of choice (Google require this step as a security measure and you’ll only need to do this once).

Meetings are limited to 60 minutes for the free product but it won’t be enforced until after 30 Sept. Creating a trusted meeting space is important and being mindful when sharing meeting links in public forums can help create a safe experience for all attendees. Here’s how Google Meet keeps your video conferences protected. For more tips on how to use Meet securely and effectively, visit Google’s Help Center. 

For organisations that aren’t already G Suite customers, Google has a new solution called G Suite Essentials. G Suite Essentials is perfect for teams that need access to Meet’s more advanced features, such as dial-in phone numbers, larger meetings and meeting recording. G Suite Essentials also includes Google Drive for easy and secure access to all of a team’s content and Docs, Sheets and Slides for content creation and real-time collaboration. 

Through 30 Sept, G Suite Essentials and all of these advanced features are available free of charge. If you’re interested in G Suite Essentials, complete this form to get in touch with our sales team. Google is providing three ways for new and current enterprise customers to access Meet through 30 Sept: 

1. Free access to Meet’s advanced features for all G Suite customers, such as the ability to live stream for up to 100,000 viewers within your domain.
2. Free additional Meet licenses for existing G Suite customers without any amendments to their current contract.
3. Free G Suite Essentials for enterprise customers. 

If your school already uses G Suite for Education, your administrator can enable Meet at no additional cost. If your school doesn’t use G Suite for Education, you can sign up here. Teachers can also learn how to make distance learning effective here.

With this announcement, it’s now easier for everyone to stay connected and productive in the comfort and safety of their own homes.