6 Google Meet alternatives
Free plans, self-hosted calls and the limits that matter.
Choose by meeting length, guest access, recording and who operates the service. The shortlist includes free plans, open-source applications and our paid workspace.
Editorial update: 19 October 2026
What should your next tool do better?
A Google Meet alternative should solve a specific problem: a free plan for short calls, meetings on your own servers, an online classroom or calls beside project work. Check the host’s plan and guest experience before switching.
Google’s current documentation allows meetings with three or more participants for up to 60 minutes on a computer without a Meet subscription. An alternative’s free tier may be more restrictive. This guide compares six applications; Polybase is our product and is a paid option.
A different tool for a different need
Start with your requirements, then compare the trade-offs.
Compare at a glance
| Explore the options | Best for | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Zoom | Teams preferring a managed meeting service and able to choose the required host licences. | Most meetings hosted by Basic users have a 40-minute limit, including one-to-one meetings. Check the host licence, recording entitlement and any event products separately. |
| Whereby | Small guest-facing meetings where a reusable browser link suits the workflow. | The Free plan is limited. Check participant and duration needs, guest settings and recording on the chosen plan; it is not a self-hosted deployment. |
| Jitsi Meet | Teams wanting a standalone meeting application and able to select or operate its deployment. | A public instance is not your private server. Check its rules and availability; operating your own instance includes media connectivity, authentication and updates. |
| Nextcloud Talk | Teams already using Nextcloud, or willing to operate Nextcloud for calls and collaboration. | Installing the app alone is not the whole group-call deployment. Plan network connectivity, backend components and recording separately; supported enterprise packages can require a subscription. |
| BigBlueButton | Schools and training teams needing classroom interactions rather than only a basic call. | The documented production deployment uses a dedicated server. Budget for media, recording storage and maintenance; classroom features may be unnecessary for a simple team check-in. |
| PolybaseOur product | Teams that want calls connected to ongoing project work, with a choice of deployment. | Core costs €10 per user/month; self-hosted pricing is custom. Budget for recording storage and configured speech services. Automatic AI call summaries and action items are not available today. |
Six meeting applications.
- Product website
Zoom
Hosted meetings with a broad meeting toolkit
Zoom provides hosted meetings and screen sharing. Computer recording is available to Basic and paid users on supported desktop apps when enabled; cloud recording requires a paid account. Event options depend on the product and plan.
- Best for
- Teams preferring a managed meeting service and able to choose the required host licences.
- Hosting model
- Zoom’s hosted service.
- What to check
- Most meetings hosted by Basic users have a 40-minute limit, including one-to-one meetings. Check the host licence, recording entitlement and any event products separately.
- Product website
Whereby
Browser meetings with a persistent room link
Whereby Meetings provides a room URL in the browser and screen sharing. Its Free plan has one room, up to four participants and 30-minute meetings. Paid plans change the limits and include additional features such as recording.
- Best for
- Small guest-facing meetings where a reusable browser link suits the workflow.
- Hosting model
- Whereby’s hosted Meetings service.
- What to check
- The Free plan is limited. Check participant and duration needs, guest settings and recording on the chosen plan; it is not a self-hosted deployment.
- Product website
Jitsi Meet
An open-source browser meeting application
Jitsi Meet provides a meeting interface with screen sharing and chat. You can operate your own deployment or evaluate a hosted service. The public meet.jit.si service requires an account to create rooms; self-hosted authentication and guest access depend on your configuration.
- Best for
- Teams wanting a standalone meeting application and able to select or operate its deployment.
- Hosting model
- Self-hosted open-source software; public and commercial hosted deployments also exist.
- What to check
- A public instance is not your private server. Check its rules and availability; operating your own instance includes media connectivity, authentication and updates.
- Product website
Nextcloud Talk
Calls and chat within Nextcloud
Nextcloud Talk brings audio, video, chat and screen sharing into the Nextcloud environment. It can fit teams already managing their files and accounts there. The media setup can include a high-performance backend and TURN; recording needs a recording backend.
- Best for
- Teams already using Nextcloud, or willing to operate Nextcloud for calls and collaboration.
- Hosting model
- Self-hosted open-source app on Nextcloud; managed hosting is another option.
- What to check
- Installing the app alone is not the whole group-call deployment. Plan network connectivity, backend components and recording separately; supported enterprise packages can require a subscription.
- Product website
Polybase
Our productThe sovereign team workspace
Polybase starts Calls from channels and direct messages, alongside Chat, Tasks and Docs. It supports screen sharing, noise suppression and background blur; live captions require a configured speech provider. Call chat messages can become tasks, and recording is available when the deployment and permissions allow it.
Polybase is our product. We describe its current features and limitations alongside the other options.
- Best for
- Teams that want calls connected to ongoing project work, with a choice of deployment.
- Hosting model
- EU-region cloud, private VPC or self-hosted. Offline calls require a LiveKit server inside the same network.
- What to check
- Core costs €10 per user/month; self-hosted pricing is custom. Budget for recording storage and configured speech services. Automatic AI call summaries and action items are not available today.
Four checks before replacing Meet.
- 01
Does the host plan fit the meeting?
Check duration, participants and recording on the actual host’s plan. Free guests do not necessarily define the meeting’s limits.
- 02
Can external guests join the way you need?
Test sign-in, room admission, browser support and your firewall with real participants.
- 03
Who operates the media and stores recordings?
Check deployment, relay services, storage and maintenance. Open-source code does not remove operating costs.
- 04
Where does follow-up work go?
Try how decisions become notes and tasks after the call. Keep a separate meeting service if it better fits an essential workflow.
Start with your requirements, then compare the trade-offs.
Which Google Meet alternatives are free?
Zoom Basic and Whereby Free are hosted plans with limits. Zoom generally limits Basic-hosted meetings to 40 minutes; Whereby Free allows up to four participants for 30 minutes. Compare the actual host licence and participant count, rather than choosing on the word “free”.
Jitsi Meet, Nextcloud Talk and BigBlueButton publish open-source applications. The code does not pay for servers, bandwidth, storage or administration. Public meet.jit.si is a separate hosted service with authentication and service terms; it is not a promise of unlimited capacity or a private deployment. Polybase is paid software.
Self-hosted applications need a media deployment
This shortlist contains meeting applications. A media server or SDK such as LiveKit supplies building blocks; you still need an application for rooms, users and permissions. Polybase’s Calls use a self-hosted LiveKit media server, with PostgreSQL and Dragonfly alongside the application. An air-gapped setup needs LiveKit inside the same network.
Nextcloud Talk’s high-performance backend is optional, but helps group calls; most installations also need STUN/TURN connectivity. Nextcloud AIO includes the backend and TURN. Recording requires additional components. BigBlueButton documents dedicated server requirements. For every setup, assign owners for updates, backups and capacity testing.
Pilot guest access, recording and the follow-up workflow
Test with an external guest, your normal browsers and a participant behind your organisation’s firewall. Check camera and microphone permissions, room admission and screen sharing. If recording is required, test the chosen plan or configured recording backend, retention and who can access the result.
Polybase supports recording when it is enabled with LiveKit Egress and S3-compatible storage, for users with the required permissions. Live captions and recording subtitles require configured speech services. Pilot one real team call, including guest access and the written follow-up, before changing invitations.
Where Polybase fits
Apply the same meeting requirements and pilot to our product.
When it fits
Calls beside project work
Start a call from a channel or direct message and keep written decisions beside the team’s tasks and documents.
A choice of deployment
Choose EU-region cloud, private VPC or self-hosting. An offline deployment includes a self-hosted LiveKit server for calls.
A defined workspace price
Calls are included in Core at €10 per user/month alongside Chat, Tasks, Drive and Flows. Other add-ons and self-hosted deployments are priced separately.
What to check
Configured recording and speech services
Recording needs an enabled deployment, LiveKit Egress, S3-compatible storage and permission. Captions and recording subtitles need configured speech services. Automatic AI summaries and action items are not available today.
Enterprise sign-on and certification
Tenant administrators can configure OIDC SSO providers and SCIM 2.0 provisioning. Test provider setup, verified-domain account mapping and sign-in policies in your deployment. Native SAML support is not included. Polybase is not SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certified yet; both are on the roadmap. We answer security questionnaires and architecture questions today.
Free hosting and proven capacity for your workload
Polybase is paid software. Test guest access and your typical meeting size on the intended deployment before choosing a plan.
Choosing a Google Meet alternative.
Which Google Meet alternatives have free options?
Zoom Basic and Whereby Free offer limited hosted plans. Public meet.jit.si is a separate free service with authentication and terms. Jitsi Meet, Nextcloud Talk and BigBlueButton offer open-source code for self-hosting, but operation still costs money. Polybase is paid.
Which alternatives can we self-host?
Jitsi Meet, Nextcloud Talk, BigBlueButton and Polybase have self-hosting paths. Compare the application, media services, guest controls and maintenance together. Polybase is commercial; the other three have open-source applications.
Is a video SDK an alternative to a meeting app?
An SDK is a building block for a product you develop. A meeting application already provides rooms and a user interface, while still needing deployment and configuration. This shortlist compares applications rather than treating a media SDK as a turnkey replacement.
Can Polybase record our meetings?
Yes, when recording is enabled with LiveKit Egress and S3-compatible storage and the user has the required access and permissions. Guests cannot start recording. Test your deployment, storage and recording access before relying on it.
Do we have to leave Gmail or Google Calendar?
No. Pilot calls independently of your mail service. Polybase Calendar sends standard ICS invitations with RSVP; test invitations and guest access before changing a wider workflow.
Documentation and primary sources
Plan limits, features and deployment details checked on 14 October 2026. Verify the current host plan and server configuration before switching.
- Google Meet meeting limits
- Jitsi Meet hosting overview
- Authentication on public meet.jit.si
- Nextcloud Talk media setup
- Nextcloud Talk product and source
- BigBlueButton classroom features
- BigBlueButton server requirements
- Zoom meeting time limits
- Whereby Free plan
- Zoom computer recording
- LiveKit media server and SDKs
- Polybase Calls
- Polybase pricing
Product names identify the tools being compared. No endorsement is implied.
Test a real team call in Polybase.
Book a demo for screen sharing, channel context and your intended deployment. Or review the Polybase and Google Meet comparison.
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