Google Hangouts (Classic) vs. Webex Meetings

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Google Hangouts (Classic)
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
The classic version of Google Hangouts is a communication platform that includes messaging, voice, VoIP, and video call capabilities. It was part of Google’s G Suite offering and integrated with applications such as Gmail and Google+. Users of the classic version of Hangouts will be migrated to the new Hangouts Chat collaboration tool, and Google continues to support conferencing via the new Hangouts Meet.N/A
Webex Meetings
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Webex Meetings is a video conferencing solution powering hybrid work. It enables a seamless collaboration experience and better results with meetings that are designed to give everyone the ability to engage no matter their location, language, or communication style.
$11.95
per month
Pricing
Google Hangouts (Classic)Webex Meetings
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Webex Free
$0.00
user/month
Webex Meet
$14.50
user/month
Webex Suite: Meet + Call Plan
$25.00
user/month
Enterprise
Contact Sales
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google Hangouts (Classic)Webex Meetings
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional DetailsWebex Meetings are available at no cost to users. They are included in the Webex Suite, starting at $11.95 per user/per month for Enterprise Agreements.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Google Hangouts (Classic)Webex Meetings
Considered Both Products
Google Hangouts (Classic)
Chose Google Hangouts (Classic)
Best part of Google Hangouts is its simplicity, and performance. We never had connection problems, or quality interruptions, something that is more frequent with the other tools listed above.
Chose Google Hangouts (Classic)
Again, Google Hangouts would primarily be used if you're already in the Google system. Corporate chat systems are far superior in functionality and usability and are also more reliable for larger organizations. For any company that is working with clients, I'd recommend a more …
Chose Google Hangouts (Classic)
The cost-benefit ratio has no point of comparison between one and another. At the time of evaluation, Skype (free account) of course was very limited compared to almost any other service paid account, and Skype for Business was too expensive for the benefits and/or tools it …
Chose Google Hangouts (Classic)
The listings I could find in the database aren't exact competitors. I would think of Google Meet, GoTo Meeting, or Zoom Video Conferencing as closer competitors. Hangouts has instant messaging feature like Jabber but really they aren't competing in the same lane. I think …
Chose Google Hangouts (Classic)
The closest alternative to Hangouts is Skype. Hangouts is a lot more practical since it allows easier teleconference setup, and is so much easier to use since it's web based and needs no installation. At work, we use HipChat as well since it's well integrated with Jira, but I …
Webex Meetings
Chose Webex Meetings
Our current infrastructure uses Cisco Jabber for VOIP and its integration with WebEx was much stronger than Google Hangouts. But WebEx is primarily used by employees while students and faculty use Google Hangouts due to cost considerations. Also, since we have a significant …
Chose Webex Meetings
WebEx Meetings is a platform packed with features, some that Google Hangouts and other smaller/simpler platforms do not have. Hangouts for example is used more for casual day-to-day quick meetings or discussions within the team, likely with 4 people or less (usually 1:1). WebEx …
Chose Webex Meetings
Google meets is too simple & lacks functionalities for group calls. Zoom sometimes become too overwhelming. WebEx sits perfectly in between them & provides useful features & a great mix of functionalities.
WebEx is simplistic for team meets & have vast list of tools for group …
Chose Webex Meetings
Webex definitely stacks up against the competition with a little bit of a faster interface and a bit more of a nicer Meeting style and meeting window. Webex is also universally accepted especially with big banks So you have less to worry about when it comes to knowing if they …
Chose Webex Meetings
Webex is simple to use but that does not mean it is a simple platform, it has several options to make sure we get our message to where it needs to get, and how it needs to be listened to/watched, with a few clicks we can set an appointment for a meeting.
Chose Webex Meetings
Webex hardware is much more capable, gives more value and offers a better collaboration experience, keeping it simple.
Chose Webex Meetings
As previously mentioned, Webex had no unique offering amongst its peers. Because there are options for licensing that don't involve VOIP, it was always limping along for us because of the time-waste looking for dial in information. There is no condition where VOIP should ever …
Chose Webex Meetings
Simple and well known, would classify as industry leader but not always as cost effective
Chose Webex Meetings
Zoom is basically the same thing as Webex (non-intuitive VoIP conferencing/screen sharing capabilities). Google and Microsoft's similar options were lacking features such as sharing desktops or sharing applications. Hangouts and Skype were the most intuitive for users for …
Chose Webex Meetings
For being a product tested and known by the users of the company (resistance to change), however, for cost zoom is a very good option.
Chose Webex Meetings
Webex falls slightly behind Skype for Business. Connecting to meetings and user controls are a little more complicated in Webex.
Chose Webex Meetings
We chose Webex Meetings because of the reliability problems Cisco products are known to have.
Chose Webex Meetings
WebEx is great if access from multiple devices is required. Other platforms are great for specific, individual functions (like just face to face meetings, just audio, or just a presentation or slideshow). WebEx allows for functions like conference calls, screen sharing, sharing …
Chose Webex Meetings
It's much more organized than say, Google Hangouts for business and allows us to roll out the software to the rest of our line of business. Since everyone utilizes WebEx in house, it's much more effective and less downtime.

We also have WebEx meetings with our external …
Chose Webex Meetings
Google is a little easier to schedule on the fly. WebEx has to be set up (the way our company uses it) and we don't necessarily have our own codes that we can use in a hurry. But I do like WebEx.
Chose Webex Meetings
I use these regularly; there are also other tools out there I've used once or twice, but these two are the major ones I've stuck with.
Chose Webex Meetings
Webex has become the standard for Business. All others are following in Cisco's lead to compete. Cisco has improved Webex and is actually a great solution for Video, Voice, and Content. Webex is simply just Fast, Easy, and Secure to host your Meetings.
Top Pros
Top Cons
TrustRadius Insights
Google Hangouts (Classic)Webex Meetings
Highlights

TrustRadius
Research Team Insight
Published

Webex Meetings is Cisco’s web and video conferencing solution and is ideal for business use cases. Google Hangouts Classic provides users with online communication capabilities like video conferencing and VoIP calling. However, though the classic version of Google Hangouts still exists and is free to use, it has evolved into two newer products that are better suited for business use cases: Google Chat and Google Meet. Google Hangouts Classic is better suited for personal use and for making one-off business calls. 

Features 

Both Cisco Webex Meetings and Google Hangouts Classic allow users to make video calls, voice calls, and send chats to other users. However, Webex Meetings has more advanced features that make it better-suited for business users than Google Hangouts Classic. On the other hand, Google’s product is free with lightweight features, making it preferable for personal use. 

Cisco Webex Meetings includes features like screen sharing, meeting recording and transcription, both one-on-one and group chats, dial-in options for video meetings, and visibility into the list of meeting participants. In contrast, Google Hangouts Classic allows screen sharing and messages to other contacts but does not offer meeting recording or dial-in options for video meetings. 

Google Hangouts Classic also only allows up to 25 meeting participants, while Webex Meetings can support online meetings with up to 100,000 participants. Users can launch Webex Meetings from within the Webex Application, Salesforce, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Canvas, and Moodle—whereas Google Hangouts Classic users can start meetings from the Google Hangouts web or mobile applications, Gmail, Google Calendar, and Microsoft Outlook. 

Limitations 

The main limitations of Cisco Webex Meetings are the feature restrictions on lower-tier plans, such as a meeting participant cap of 100 and meeting duration limit of 50 minutes on the free plan. Meeting recordings and transcriptions are also not available on the Cisco Webex Meetings free plan. However, they are available for all other paid plans. 

If you’re planning on using Google Hangouts Classic for your business, there are a few key limitations to be aware of. For example, you won’t be able to record video meetings or meet with more than 25 participants at once. This may be fine for micro-businesses and small teams, however, this will be problematic for teams with more than 25 members. Google Meet is a better option than Hangouts Classic for midsize teams and larger businesses looking for a video conferencing platform. 

Pricing

Cisco Webex Meetings offers a free plan with limited features and then four additional paid plans. The free plan only allows one meeting host, while the paid plans offer between 1-9, 1-50, 5-100, or an unlimited number of meeting hosts. Paid plan users also have access to more advanced features like encrypted cloud meeting recordings, meeting transcriptions, toll-dial in and toll-free dial-in options, and at least 5GB of cloud recording storage space. 

Google Hangouts Classic is free for all users that have a Google account. However, Google is in the process of transitioning users away from Google Hangouts Classic to either Google Chat or Google Meetings, it’s two newer products ideal for business users. More information about the transition away from Google Hangouts Classic can be found here.

Features
Google Hangouts (Classic)Webex Meetings
Cloud PBX
Comparison of Cloud PBX features of Product A and Product B
Google Hangouts (Classic)
6.4
57 Ratings
25% below category average
Webex Meetings
-
Ratings
Hosted PBX6.915 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-level Interactive Voice Response (IVR)7.725 Ratings00 Ratings
User templates5.422 Ratings00 Ratings
Call reports9.034 Ratings00 Ratings
Directory of employee names3.245 Ratings00 Ratings
Call Management
Comparison of Call Management features of Product A and Product B
Google Hangouts (Classic)
7.9
66 Ratings
7% below category average
Webex Meetings
-
Ratings
Answering rules8.033 Ratings00 Ratings
Call recording7.537 Ratings00 Ratings
Call park7.018 Ratings00 Ratings
Call screening9.036 Ratings00 Ratings
Message alerts8.058 Ratings00 Ratings
VoIP system collaboration
Comparison of VoIP system collaboration features of Product A and Product B
Google Hangouts (Classic)
8.9
84 Ratings
7% above category average
Webex Meetings
-
Ratings
Video conferencing9.379 Ratings00 Ratings
Audio conferencing9.379 Ratings00 Ratings
Video screen sharing7.948 Ratings00 Ratings
Instant messaging9.352 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile apps
Comparison of Mobile apps features of Product A and Product B
Google Hangouts (Classic)
8.4
85 Ratings
1% above category average
Webex Meetings
-
Ratings
Mobile app for iOS8.673 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile app for Android8.171 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software
Comparison of Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software features of Product A and Product B
Google Hangouts (Classic)
-
Ratings
Webex Meetings
8.0
767 Ratings
1% above category average
High quality audio00 Ratings8.6762 Ratings
High quality video00 Ratings8.4755 Ratings
Low bandwidth requirements00 Ratings7.0728 Ratings
Mobile support00 Ratings7.9691 Ratings
Screen Sharing
Comparison of Screen Sharing features of Product A and Product B
Google Hangouts (Classic)
-
Ratings
Webex Meetings
8.2
758 Ratings
3% above category average
Desktop sharing00 Ratings8.6756 Ratings
Whiteboards00 Ratings7.8657 Ratings
Online Meetings / Events
Comparison of Online Meetings / Events features of Product A and Product B
Google Hangouts (Classic)
-
Ratings
Webex Meetings
8.2
767 Ratings
0% above category average
Calendar integration00 Ratings8.4726 Ratings
Meeting initiation00 Ratings8.2754 Ratings
Integrates with social media00 Ratings7.7309 Ratings
Record meetings / events00 Ratings8.5716 Ratings
Slideshows00 Ratings8.4652 Ratings
Online Events Collaboration
Comparison of Online Events Collaboration features of Product A and Product B
Google Hangouts (Classic)
-
Ratings
Webex Meetings
8.3
726 Ratings
1% below category average
Live chat00 Ratings8.6706 Ratings
Audience polling00 Ratings8.1625 Ratings
Q&A00 Ratings8.2632 Ratings
Online Events Security
Comparison of Online Events Security features of Product A and Product B
Google Hangouts (Classic)
-
Ratings
Webex Meetings
8.4
722 Ratings
1% above category average
User authentication00 Ratings8.3672 Ratings
Participant roles & permissions00 Ratings8.4703 Ratings
Confidential attendee list00 Ratings8.4416 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Google Hangouts (Classic)Webex Meetings
Small Businesses
CloudTalk
CloudTalk
Score 9.5 out of 10
ClickMeeting
ClickMeeting
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
CloudTalk
CloudTalk
Score 9.5 out of 10
ClickMeeting
ClickMeeting
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
Google Meet
Google Meet
Score 8.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Google Hangouts (Classic)Webex Meetings
Likelihood to Recommend
7.9
(91 ratings)
8.5
(778 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(1 ratings)
9.9
(46 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(7 ratings)
8.4
(103 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(450 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
8.7
(425 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(36 ratings)
7.8
(108 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(3 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
5.5
(3 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(14 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(7 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(10 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(5 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(421 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
8.9
(9 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.5
(7 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(8 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google Hangouts (Classic)Webex Meetings
Likelihood to Recommend
Google
Had I completed this review a couple years ago, I would have given a rating of 9 or 10 as Hangouts (Classic) is an excellent product. However, now that Google Chat has succeeded Hangouts, I would not recommend that any new users begin using it where other more modern options are available. Android users who want an internet based instant messaging that also supports calling and video calling could benefit from using Hangouts (Classic) as Google Chat requires the user to also have Google Meet installed to make video calls and there is no voice only calling option.
Read full review
Cisco
Good examples: - Conducting trainings and courses - Planning meetings and inviting colleagues to attend - Presenting topics to a large group of people - Speech reproduction is very good - assigning rights and copresentor Not so good: - Interaction with other applications - Mute microphones when using multiple clients - Video call quality - Tracking history, private settings
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Pros
Google
  • Google Hangouts (Classic) is embedded within Gmail's scheduler, so setting up the link is as quick as a click of the button. It's a one-step process.
  • Google Hangouts (Classic) is user-friendly and [has] features to share screens easily.
  • Google Hangouts (Classic) is much easier to use than its competitors.
  • Google Hangouts (Classic) have [a] good connection time and there are few glitches.
Read full review
Cisco
  • We have a global and diverse team with different devices and operating systems. Webex works smoothly on all of them and everyone can collaborate in real-time saving a lot of time and effort, making meetings much more productive.
  • We can easily capture discussion points and decisions for future reference, without the need for manual note-taking. It helps us in smaller group discussions and brainstorming sessions within the main meeting itself.
  • I can even tailor the layout to suit the meeting's purpose and agenda. Webex is intuitive and easy to navigate, even for non-technical users, joining and scheduling meetings is a smooth process.
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Cons
Google
  • I would like to see improved video support, so that saved videos can be sent back and forth via Hangouts more easily, without having to start a separate meet chat
  • More pronounced notifications of messages would be helpful; pop up notifications are good, but once there is one, additional messages do not pop up
  • Custom muting times would be great, so that if I am in a 90 minute Zoom meeting, I can set it for that time; right now, it is 1 hour or 2 hours. Easy to forget.
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Cisco
  • While sharing the content of browsers like Chrome or Firefox it becomes difficult to toggle from one tab to another due to menu dropdown from the top.
  • Sometimes while joining a meeting it asks you to download the app again even if it's downloaded.
  • Limited scheduling option through mobile WebEx app
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Likelihood to Renew
Google
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Cisco Webex Meetings is a platform that consistently performs well and outperforms some of the other solutions that we have used, such as Zoom. It is user friendly and helps our organization accomplish the goal of connecting with external contacts to conduct meetings and share information
Read full review
Usability
Google
The tool is almost self-implemented. It is likely to be available in every pc or mobile device a user or potential user might have, and all you need to do is adding the company's account and you are done. Once you are setted up, you have almost all actual communication methods available in one tool
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Cisco
Webex Meetings does not provide enough audio feedback for users with visual disabilities to properly navigate the tool. Students, faculty, and staff who are blind or have low vision may not be able to use Webex Meetings. Users with motor disabilities that navigate via keyboard, may not be able to navigate the web conferencing session enough to participate fully.
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Reliability and Availability
Google
No answers on this topic
Cisco
So personally I have never faced any kind of meeting unavailability issue while scandaling meeting with WebEx the bandwidth is really good and in terms of application performance the same is my opinion what I mentioned for availability it is good and the objective of communication is quite fruitfully achieved with a simple and effective product like WebEx which is often bundled with the purchase of course which is which we have at our company and great discount is being offered so it is easy on our pocket. I really don't have any specific errors which have faced I should mention over here the operation or application uses is quite smooth.
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Performance
Google
No answers on this topic
Cisco
We use browsers to join Webex Meetings and it is very good no issue also appears from Webex APP is very organized and does not consume more resources of PC so no issues appeared. We join audio and video in many ways, all of which are good. We integrated it with active Microsoft Exchange with easy deployment.
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Support Rating
Google
Google Hangouts works great and does not require a lot of work to troubleshoot. Everything is simple and easy to use. Google provides all of the tools that one requires to utilize Google Hangouts and any information can be found in the built-in help tools. There is also a forum for users to report issues and typically, Google responds well and will try to work out any issues.
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Cisco
I gave this rating for overall support on Webex meetings because if something goes wrong we have the best support here and rarely need to go to help.webex.com. Multiple people have been appropriately trained so finding the answers to any issues we occur is very simple here at work.
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In-Person Training
Google
No answers on this topic
Cisco
It was straight to the point and very informative. effective training often includes clear explanations, hands-on practice opportunities, time for questions and answers, real-world examples, and follow-up support. If you're trying to assess the quality of a specific training session, you might consider these factors. For organizations looking to assess the quality of their in-person training, it's best to solicit feedback directly from the participants. This can be done through anonymous surveys or feedback sessions, enabling the organization to gather firsthand information and improve future training sessions accordingly.
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Online Training
Google
No answers on this topic
Cisco
We mostly use training from Cisco's online training programs which is very informative and can be easily incorporated into our daily schedules without disrupting our normal working activities. There are many online training materials are available on cisco's website as well as other third-party training companies may also provide additional training.
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Implementation Rating
Google
No answers on this topic
Cisco
That we needed complex implementation that we didn't get tells me 2 things: 1) the product was not designed in a way that "just worked" like some of its peers (Zoom / BlueJeans) and 2) had our company defined actual user needs and validated / verified that they had bought something that matched those, we would have pursued features / designs more closely aligned with what the product actually does: screen share, sometimes video, definitely VOIP audio (always an option regardless of license), and easy recording and retrieval of meetings.
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Alternatives Considered
Google
Google is the white cotton socks of the conferencing world. It’s a great ad-hoc tool, but not too much more. If you are not looking to spend money or operate completely on WiFi (without data charges), it’s a great free option as well. The benefit of being free and open is also the liability. It doesn’t have a great integration story with other corporate tools, but [it doesn’t have to] if you aren’t looking for that. All in all, it’s as helpful and ubiquitous as a public payphone…without the pay…and with a video capability.
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Cisco
Meetings is the way to go! It blends in with our organization's workflow seamlessly. Teams is great but really suffers in the collaboration department from our personal experience. Webex Meetings is much more fleshed out. The features it has are much more convenient and easier to use. There was a bit of a learning curve, but once you are over that speedbump you are able to get much more use out of Webex Meetings.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Google
No answers on this topic
Cisco
We use the free version of Webex Meetings to allow us to connect with suppliers/vendors that demand Webex Meetings be used for collaboration.
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Scalability
Google
No answers on this topic
Cisco
I can speak to multiple departments at my organization using Webex Meetings. It has been, and continues to be, our longest online meeting software. It has been deployed across the organization and each department uses it. As I have mentioned, our monthly all-organization Town Halls are hosted on Webex. We have also used it to broadcast a panel-based speaker event.
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Professional Services
Google
No answers on this topic
Cisco
It is a user friendly application. We have had no adoption problems within the company.
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Return on Investment
Google
  • I believe it was part of the google suite that was purchased. It was worth the cost as it was cheaper. I believe it is now free, but also becoming deprecated. It is much better to use Teams, Discord, Telegram, etc. Google does not provide enough support or features to make using hangouts worth it these days.
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Cisco
  • The costly nature of individual accounts across multiple schools made it difficult to maintain the budget when our student population grew exponentially.
  • Often communicated to clients and stakeholders that we were a trustworthy and elevated provider.
  • Limited engagement and interactive features with students often contributed to complaints around student engagement and buy-in.
Read full review
ScreenShots