Google Meet will now be available to all users for free, the company said on April 29. The tech giant's video conferencing app will be available to all users starting early May, and anyone with an email address will be able to sign up and access Meet.
In a blog post today, Javier Soltero, Vice President and GM, G Suite, said, "Until now, Meet has only been available as part of G Suite, our collaboration and productivity solution for businesses, organizations and schools. 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. And if you use Google Calendar, you’ll be able to easily start or join from there, too."
Meetings on the free version of the app will be limited up to 60 minutes, although the company will do away with the cap after September 30.
The video-conferencing app, like many of its competitors, has seen a surge in users over the past few months as more and more people across the world are working remotely in light of the COVID-19-led lockdown.
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Professionals are increasingly resorting to video calling apps to conduct meetings and training sessions, while educational institutions are conducting classes and lectures online.
Even governments have started relying on video conferencing apps to hold meetings and take stock of day-to-day affairs.
During the company's Q1 2020 earnings call earlier today, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that their videoconferencing app Meet has started adding 3 million users a day, a big jump from its 2 million users in the month-ago period. Pichai added that Meet now sees 100 million participants daily.
