Google Meet Alternatives 2026: 5 Free Options
Google Meet alternatives: Jitsi Meet, BigBlueButton, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and 1 more. Prices and licenses checked October 22, 2026.
•3 min read•Team Chat, Meetings & Phone
Verdict:Google Meet's free plan gives 60-minute group meetings with up to 100 participants, and it is free for anyone with a Google account. Leave it when you need calls to run longer than an hour on a free tier, when your team is not on Google, or when you want to run the server yourself. Microsoft Teams Free matches Meet's 60-minute and 100-participant limits, so the swap only makes sense if your company already pays for Microsoft 365. Zoom Basic is shorter, with 40-minute meetings, and its Pro plan costs $14.16 a user a month billed annually. Webex Free caps meetings at 40 minutes as well, so it is a step back on time. Jitsi Meet is free and open source under Apache-2.0, and self-hosting it removes the per-user fee, but you then run the server. BigBlueButton is the choice for courses, since it is built into Canvas, Moodle Cloud and Schoology and is free to self-host. Keep Meet if your team lives in Gmail and Calendar and the hour-long limit is enough.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jitsi Meet | Free (free; meetings on meet.jit.si limited to 95 minutes from October 9, 2026) | Web browser, Self-hosted | Self-hosted calls with no account | Docs only |
| BigBlueButton | Free (Free to self-host; commercial hosting is sold by third parties and bigbluebutton.org lists no prices) | Self-hosted, Web browser | Schools and course platforms | Docs only |
| Zoom | Free (Basic plan: meetings up to 40 minutes and 100 participants, 3 AI meeting summaries a month, 5 clips of up to 2 minutes); paid from $14.16 per user/month, billed annually (Pro; $16.99 billed monthly) | Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | Teams that already use Zoom rooms | Docs only |
| Microsoft Teams | Free (Teams Free: group meetings up to 60 minutes and 100 participants) | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | Teams already in Microsoft 365 | Docs only |
| Webex | Free (Free plan: unlimited meetings up to 40 minutes and 100 attendees, local recording, unlimited whiteboards and messaging) | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | Teams wanting an alternative with a free tier | Docs only |
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Good fit if
- Your team is already in Microsoft 365 and wants the same free limits (Microsoft Teams is the pick)
- You want to run your own meeting server (Jitsi Meet is the pick)
- You teach a course in Moodle or Canvas (BigBlueButton is the pick)
- You want a paid plan that you can budget per user (Zoom is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Google Meet features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Google Meet today: Free (Free plan: up to 100 participants and 60 minutes per group meeting) (Google Meet pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Why people look for Google Meet alternatives
Free Google Meet group meetings are capped at 100 participants and 60 minutes each, while 1:1 and mobile calls have no time limit. Up to 1,000 participants, 24-hour group calls, 1080p video, recordings and transcripts, noise reduction, polls and breakout rooms are all labelled premium. They are available only on certain Google One, Workspace Business and Workspace Enterprise plans, and the product page gives no tier-by-tier breakdown.
Jitsi Meet
Compared with Google Meet: Free and open source under Apache-2.0, with no per-user fee to self-host. Meet's free plan allows 60-minute group calls, while the hosted meet.jit.si service caps meetings at 95 minutes from October 9, 2026.
Price: Free (free; meetings on meet.jit.si limited to 95 minutes from October 9, 2026) (Jitsi Meet pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser, Self-hosted. Apache-2.0 (open source).
Project activity: 30.2k GitHub stars · latest release stable/jitsi-meet_11248 (Sep 14, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Self-hosted calls with no account.
BigBlueButton
Compared with Google Meet: LGPL-3.0 and free to self-host, built into Canvas, Moodle Cloud and Schoology. Meet suits a general office, while BigBlueButton fits a school or course platform.
Price: Free (Free to self-host; commercial hosting is sold by third parties and bigbluebutton.org lists no prices) (BigBlueButton pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Self-hosted, Web browser. LGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 9.3k GitHub stars · latest release v4.0.0 (Oct 14, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Schools and course platforms.
Worth knowing: Aimed at teaching: built into Canvas, Moodle Cloud and Schoology.
Zoom
Compared with Google Meet: Basic caps meetings at 40 minutes and 100 participants, shorter than Meet's free 60-minute group calls. Pro is $14.16 a user a month billed annually.
Price: Free (Basic plan: meetings up to 40 minutes and 100 participants, 3 AI meeting summaries a month, 5 clips of up to 2 minutes); paid from $14.16 per user/month, billed annually (Pro; $16.99 billed monthly) (Zoom pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android. Proprietary.
Best for: Teams that already use Zoom rooms.
Microsoft Teams
Compared with Google Meet: Teams Free allows group meetings up to 60 minutes and 100 participants, the same limits as Meet's free plan. It fits a team already in Microsoft 365, while Meet fits one on Google accounts.
Price: Free (Teams Free: group meetings up to 60 minutes and 100 participants) (Microsoft Teams pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android. Proprietary.
Best for: Teams already in Microsoft 365.
Webex
Compared with Google Meet: The free plan allows meetings up to 40 minutes and 100 attendees, shorter than Meet's 60-minute group calls. Enterprise pricing is contact-sales only, so the free tier is the only priced option here.
Price: Free (Free plan: unlimited meetings up to 40 minutes and 100 attendees, local recording, unlimited whiteboards and messaging) (Webex pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android. Proprietary.
Best for: Teams wanting an alternative with a free tier.
Which one to pick
- Your team is already in Microsoft 365 and wants the same free limits: Microsoft Teams
- You want to run your own meeting server: Jitsi Meet
- You teach a course in Moodle or Canvas: BigBlueButton
- You want a paid plan that you can budget per user: Zoom
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Jitsi Meet, BigBlueButton, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Google Meet. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked 2026-10-22: Google Meet, Jitsi Meet, BigBlueButton, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.