What Is the Participant Limit in Google Meet?

Google Meet is a fantastic app that businesses and organizations use for audio and video conference calls. It comes as a part of all three G Suite Editions. But not every edition has the same Google Meet features. One of which is the maximum number of participants available per meeting.

In this article, you’re going to read more about recent changes and what the app typically supports in each G Suite edition.

Recent Google Meet Enhancements

In March 2020, Google opened up the premium Google Meet features for all G Suite editions. This means that every edition now supports up to 250 participants, recording, and a live streaming feature. But there’s a catch. These benefits will only apply up to September 30, 2020.

After that, it’s going to be business as usual with the G Suite editions. But any of the Meet recordings that you might have made in the meantime will be stored in Google Drive.

This upgrade is an excellent opportunity for your organization to take advantage of all Google Meet features.

Google Meet Participants in Standard G Suite Editions

As mentioned, Google Meet, or Hangout Meet as it’s better known, is a part of the G Suite account. An increasing number of businesses and organizations have started using it, and with good reason. It’s lightweight and very efficient when it comes to video conferencing. It also supports a lot of participants. Here are the numbers for each G Suite:

Basic – 100 participants

Business – 150 participants

Enterprise – 250 participants

Compared to some competitors, even the Basic edition supports more video call participants. It’s very important to point out that these numbers include external participants as well. This means that even people who aren’t a part of your organization can join the meeting.

All three of the G Suite editions support the External participants feature. If they have a Google account, they can join the meeting with an invitation via the link. But even if an external participant doesn’t have a Google account, it doesn’t mean they can’t participate in the meeting. But it does mean that the person who organized the meeting has to give them access to join.

It also works by sending an invitation via the link. But when the person who gets the invitation clicks on it, they’ll have to ask to join, instead of automatically joining. Once they’re authorized, they’re good to go.

Important Note: If you don’t have a Google account, you can only use the web browser for Google Meet. You can’t sign in using Android or iOS apps.

Google Meet Live Streams

If your organization uses the G Suite Enterprise Edition, you can turn on the live stream feature whenever you want. But only if you’re the G Suite administrator. Up to 100,000, people can watch a Google Meet video meeting.

The G Suite users all get a stream URL which they can then send to other participants. In turn, those participants are only able to view the stream but can’t control it in any way.

Google Meet participants who are full users of the G Suite within the organization can control some parts of the meeting. For instance, they can start and stop the stream and record the event if they want to.

If you’re the G Suite Enterprise Administrator, this is what you need to do to start the live stream:

1. Sign in and go to the Admin console Home page. Then follow this route Apps>G Suite>Hangouts and Google Hangouts.
2. Then select “Meet settings”.
3. Select “Stream” and then check the “Let people stream their meetings”.
4. Then select “Save”.

These changes aren’t always instantaneous. It usually takes a few minutes, but can sometimes take up to 24 hours. All of which is important to keep in mind when you’re scheduling a live stream.

How Many Participants Is Too Many?

At the time of writing, Google Meet supports up to 250 participants for every edition. And the live stream is also part of the deal. After September 30, things go back to the way they were.

But who knows, perhaps Google will see the benefit of the current model and allow the premium feature for all editions. In the meantime, even the 100 participants in the Basic edition is a lot. And external participants are welcome, whether they have a Gmail account or not.

Have you ever participated in a large Google Meet conference call? Let us know in the comments section below.