Google Hangouts vs Skype vs Zoom

Overview

Skype

Stacks17.3K

Followers13.5K

Votes653

Google Hangouts

Stacks75

Followers58

Votes0

Zoom

Stacks1.8K

Followers1.9K

Votes155

Google Hangouts vs Skype vs Zoom: What are the differences?

Audio and Video Quality: Google Hangouts has a reputation for inconsistent audio and video quality, especially in larger groups. Skype offers better audio and video quality in comparison, ensuring a smoother experience for users. Zoom, on the other hand, provides high-definition video and audio quality, making it superior in terms of clarity and reliability.
Participant Limit: Google Hangouts allows up to 150 participants in a video call, while Skype offers a limit of 50 participants. Zoom stands out by allowing up to 1000 participants in a single meeting, making it ideal for large-scale conferences and webinars.
Screen Sharing Features: While all three platforms offer screen sharing capabilities, Zoom provides more advanced features like the ability to choose specific application windows for sharing. Skype and Google Hangouts offer basic screen sharing options without the same level of customization.
Security and Privacy: Zoom faced criticism for security and privacy concerns, especially during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Skype is known for its strong encryption and security measures, ensuring a safer communication environment. Google Hangouts also maintains a high level of security but has fewer customization options compared to Skype.
Integration with other Tools: Google Hangouts seamlessly integrates with other Google Workspace tools like Gmail and Google Calendar, making it convenient for users already using these platforms. Skype integrates with Microsoft Office applications, providing a cohesive experience for Microsoft users. Zoom offers integrations with various third-party apps and services, enhancing its versatility.

In Summary, Google Hangouts, Skype, and Zoom differ in overall quality, participant limits, screen sharing features, security measures, and integration capabilities.

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Detailed Comparison

Skype	Google Hangouts	Zoom
Skype’s text, voice and video make it simple to share experiences with the people that matter to you, wherever they are.	Message contacts, start free video or voice calls, and hop on a conversation with one person or a group.	Zoom unifies cloud video conferencing, simple online meetings, and cross platform group chat into one easy-to-use platform. Our solution offers the best video, audio, and screen-sharing experience across Zoom Rooms, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and H.323/SIP room systems.
Calling- Make free Skype to Skype calls or call mobiles and landlines home and abroad at low rates.;Video- Catch up face to face or get a whole group together on a video call.;Messaging- You're always in the loop with instant messaging, voice messaging and sending texts.;Sharing- Send photos, videos and files of any size.	-	Join anywhere, on any device; Powerful meeting security; Unparalleled usability
Statistics
Stacks 17.3K	Stacks 75	Stacks 1.8K
Followers 13.5K	Followers 58	Followers 1.9K
Votes 653	Votes 0	Votes 155
Pros & Cons
Pros 258 Free, widespread 147 Desktop and mobile apps 110 Because i have to :( 57 Low cost international calling 56 Good for international calls Cons 5 Really high CPU utilization during video/screenshare 3 Not always reliable 3 Birthday notifications are annoying 3 Outdated UI 3 The worst indicator noises of any app ever	No community feedback yet	Pros 25 Web conferencing made easy 16 Remote control option 13 Draw on screen 12 Very reliable 11 In-meeting chat is pretty good Cons 20 Limited time if you are a basic member 14 Limited Storage 11 Hate how sharing your screen defaults to Full Screen 10 Quality isn't great (Free) 9 No cursor highlight on screenshare.
Integrations
No integrations available	No integrations available	Slack Okta Google Chrome Safari Firefox Microsoft 365 Gmail

What are some alternatives to Skype, Google Hangouts, Zoom?

Discord

Discord is a modern free voice & text chat app for groups of gamers. Our resilient Erlang backend running on the cloud has built in DDoS protection with automatic server failover.

Google Meet

It is the business-oriented version of Google's Hangouts platform and is suitable for businesses of all sizes. It allows users to dial in phone numbers to access meetings, thus enabling users with slow internet connection to call in.

Jitsi

Jitsi (acquired by 8x8) is a set of open-source projects that allows you to easily build and deploy secure videoconferencing solutions. At the heart of Jitsi are Jitsi Videobridge and Jitsi Meet, which let you have conferences on the internet, while other projects in the community enable other features such as audio, dial-in, recording, and simulcasting.

Webex

Collaborate with colleagues across your organization, or halfway across the planet. Meet online and share files, information, and expertise. Collaborate from wherever you are with Webex mobile apps for IPhone, iPad, Android, or Blackberry. If you can get online, you can work together.

Viber

It is a cross-platform instant messaging and voice over IP application provided as freeware for the Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS platforms.

Jami

It is a free software for universal communication which respects freedoms and privacy of its users. Its main goal is to provide a communication framework and end-user applications to make audio or video calls, send text messages and make generic data transfers. It makes this possible via multiple paradigms: a modern decentralized approach using a DHT to find peers or classical centralized SIP as a soft-phone.

WebRTC

It is a free, open project that enables web browsers with Real-Time Communications (RTC) capabilities via simple JavaScript APIs. The WebRTC components have been optimized to best serve this purpose.

TeamViewer

Its aproprietary software for remote control, desktop sharing, online meetings, web conferencing and file transfer between computers.

Hangouts

It is a communication platform which includes messaging, video chat, and VOIP features.

GoToMeeting

It is an online meeting, desktop sharing, and video conferencing software package that enables the user to meet with other computer users, customers, clients or colleagues via the Internet in real time.

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Google Hangouts vs Skype vs Zoom: What are the differences?

Audio and Video Quality: Google Hangouts has a reputation for inconsistent audio and video quality, especially in larger groups. Skype offers better audio and video quality in comparison, ensuring a smoother experience for users. Zoom, on the other hand, provides high-definition video and audio quality, making it superior in terms of clarity and reliability.
Participant Limit: Google Hangouts allows up to 150 participants in a video call, while Skype offers a limit of 50 participants. Zoom stands out by allowing up to 1000 participants in a single meeting, making it ideal for large-scale conferences and webinars.
Screen Sharing Features: While all three platforms offer screen sharing capabilities, Zoom provides more advanced features like the ability to choose specific application windows for sharing. Skype and Google Hangouts offer basic screen sharing options without the same level of customization.
Security and Privacy: Zoom faced criticism for security and privacy concerns, especially during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Skype is known for its strong encryption and security measures, ensuring a safer communication environment. Google Hangouts also maintains a high level of security but has fewer customization options compared to Skype.
Integration with other Tools: Google Hangouts seamlessly integrates with other Google Workspace tools like Gmail and Google Calendar, making it convenient for users already using these platforms. Skype integrates with Microsoft Office applications, providing a cohesive experience for Microsoft users. Zoom offers integrations with various third-party apps and services, enhancing its versatility.

In Summary, Google Hangouts, Skype, and Zoom differ in overall quality, participant limits, screen sharing features, security measures, and integration capabilities.