Google Meet
Ranked 3 of 9 video conferencing apps by recommenders
Recommended for video calls that just work in a browser, on mobile and Firefox, with no software to install. Common caveat: clunky screen sharing and pop-ups.
Recommended for video calls that just work in a browser, on mobile and Firefox, with no software to install. Common caveat: clunky screen sharing and pop-ups.
87 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 39
- criticize it
- 48
- approval share
- 45%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 39 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 0.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 10 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Reliable, simple video calls
“Google Meets has always worked completely fine for me, good performance, works well on mobile, Firefox, etc.”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “Lessons from 14 Years at Google” “Meet has been rock solid for me whilst Teams has been an absolute nightmare.”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “Lessons from 14 Years at Google” “Google Meet just quietly and simply works whenever I want to call my mom”
Comment from 28 Oct 2026 in “Gemini 4 Carbon” - Comment from 20 Nov 2025 in “Precise geolocation via Wi-Fi Positioning System”
No client or software needed
“Hell, even Google Meet is just clicking a link.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Siri is so bad at everything” “Google Meet doesn't require a client”
Comment from 26 Jul 2026 in “Google Discloses $94.1B in SpaceX Stock, Marking 6% Stake” “Zero software to install.”
Comment from 12 Sep 2026 in “Linux Zoom client proactively reading everything written to X11 clipboard” Works in Firefox and mobile
“Google Meets has always worked completely fine for me, good performance, works well on mobile, Firefox, etc.”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “Lessons from 14 Years at Google” “switched to Google Meet (which does work in Firefox.)”
Comment from 1 Jan 2026 in “iOS allows alternative browser engines in Japan” Better than Teams for calls
“Meet has been rock solid for me whilst Teams has been an absolute nightmare.”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “Lessons from 14 Years at Google” “work as well or better than Teams for it's primary purpose: video calls”
Comment from 15 Nov 2025 in “Unofficial Microsoft Teams client for Linux” “I can't think of a single thing Meet does worse than Teams.”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “Lessons from 14 Years at Google”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Clunky screen sharing and pop-ups
“when you screen share from discord or zoom or Google meets there's now a pop-up”
Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux” “Google meet screen sharing is a horrendous UX, reactions are clunkier than zoom”
Comment from 29 Oct 2026 in “Gemini 4 Carbon” Breaks on some Linux setups
“I don't think you could install any Linux flavor and screen share over meet reliably”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 on Hacker News “video backgrounds in Google Meet on Chrome are broken with nVidia GPUs and Wayland”
Comment from 1 Jan 2026 in “Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it” Sluggish on Firefox, sound issues
“Google meet feeling sluggish on Firefox is also something I remember until very recently”
Comment from 17 Sep 2026 in “One year of sponsored Servo development” “Google meet remains unusable for a long time, sound is horrible during meetings”
Comment from 10 Jun 2026 in “Google Chrome is killing all uBlock Origin bypasses, Edge, Opera to follow” Chat messaging unreliable or bloated
“The only way we have been able to get some semblance of chat is Google Meets, but even then messaging doesn't always work”
Comment from 20 Jan 2026 in “UK consulting on bringing in social media ban for under 16s” “meet and chat (where each has their own bloat) are now integrated into the mail app as well”
Comment from 6 Jan 2026 in “Why is the Gmail app 700 MB?”
Other video conferencing apps people recommend
The four most recommended other video conferencing apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoom | 99 | 155 | 39% | 12 | 5 yrs5 owners | — |
| Jitsi Meet | 42 | 15 | 74% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Google MeetThis page | 39 | 48 | 45% | 10 | — | — |
| Proton Meet | 17 | 23 | 43% | 5 | — | — |
| BigBlueButton | 7 | 2 | 78% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 92 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Google meet screen sharing is a horrendous UX, reactions are clunkier than zoom”
“the least bad video conference option”
“Google Meet just quietly and simply works whenever I want to call my mom”
“Hell, even Google Meet is just clicking a link.”
“Gmail, Meet and Presentations do all of those”
“coming back for the goddamn Google Meet PIP feature”
“Google meet feeling sluggish on Firefox is also something I remember until very recently”
“Zero software to install.”
“Unified Plan has been in a good working shape (and used by Google Meet) for many years.”
“Google Meet doesn't require a client”
“It ranks among the reasons I groan every time someone asks if we can meet in Google Meeting”
“Meet is cheap if you're already on Gsuite”
“Google meet remains unusable for a long time, sound is horrible during meetings”
“Their transcribing and summarisation of Google Meetings is pretty good.”
“my browser would open the right Google Meet or Zoom and come to the front.”
“Companion mode in Google Meet or Spotify Jam are two attempts but both still force you through the one user, one device path.”
“once upon a time I couldn't tweak my Google Meet background”
“it renders a nice separate window with mute/unmute controls”
“Depending on your opinion of Meet, this is either no big deal or a total deal breaker.”
“Google Meet and Zoom screen sharing has always worked well in Wayland”
“I don't think you could install any Linux flavor and screen share over meet reliably”
“except their consumer productivity tools — Gmail, Calendar, and Meet”
“Meets isn't actually horrible now that Google seems to have stopped”
“when you screen share from discord or zoom or Google meets there's now a pop-up”
“They can support up to 20 participants with ease, based on my experience.”
“The only way we have been able to get some semblance of chat is Google Meets, but even then messaging doesn't always work”
“you can participate in a Google Meet call with just the Gmail app”
“meet and chat (where each has their own bloat) are now integrated into the mail app as well”
“I thought Meet went to The Graveyard along with Allo and Duo and Wave.”
“it shouldn't be representative of the experience on Meet that I've seen”
“Meet has been rock solid for me whilst Teams has been an absolute nightmare.”
“Google Meets has always worked completely fine for me, good performance, works well on mobile, Firefox, etc.”
“I can't think of a single thing Meet does worse than Teams.”
“video backgrounds in Google Meet on Chrome are broken with nVidia GPUs and Wayland”
“switched to Google Meet (which does work in Firefox.)”
“The captions on google meet have been useful for me as well”
“Google meet handles it pretty well”
“work as well or better than Teams for it's primary purpose: video calls”
“Google Meets is a close second”
“The company simply values internal political advantage over coherent product development or user experience.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.