Top 7 Researched Group Video Chat Software or Apps At No Cost or Reliable Cost

Are you looking for the best group video chat software or apps for hosting online video meetings, classes, and conferences with your co-workers, friends, and others at no cost or reliable cost from any device and anywhere? That too in an easy way.

Then this article is the right choice for you. In this article, we have done the research on best group video chat software and apps and narrowed down the very best group video chat apps for you. So, you don’t need to wander here and there for the best group video chat apps. And use your valuable time to improve and make your meetings most successful.

Now go through this article to view the features of the top 7 group video chat software to decide which one suits you.

What is the use of Video Group Chat Apps?

You can use video group chat apps to:

• Easily and instantly host or join online video meetings, classes, training, and more with your co-workers and others from anywhere and any device. And no need to assemble all in one place.
• Easily communicate with your team members or other staff members who are in different geographical locations.
• Easily share your ideas with your co-workers and take feedback instantly.
• Join the meetings on the go.
• Easily connect all your employees under one platform.
• Increase productivity.

Top 7 Researched Group Video Chat Software or Apps At No Cost or Reliable Cost

The following are the top 7 researched group video chat apps that aid you to easily and quickly host online video meetings, classes, and conferences with your co-workers, friends, and others at no cost or reliable cost from any device and anywhere.

Now, let’s view the features of each one in detail.

1. GoToMeeting

GoToMeeting is the world’s top audio and video conferencing software suitable for any type of business provided by LogMeIn. It is one and only videoconferencing software on the planet that offers you to Host Unlimited Meetings with 250 attendees and with no time limit in the free trial period. But this is a current promotional offer for the first time users that may change in the future. And it is specially designed to simplify the process of interaction of people with each other and the world in an easy and professional way. And provides new and more features like Custom Link, Commuter Mode, Call Me, Cloud Recording, etc., to simplify the interaction process. That’s why daily tens of millions of users use this tool.

With this tool, you can easily and instantly host and join online video meetings, video classes, webinars, and more from any device and anywhere. Further, you can schedule your meetings for recurring and one-time.

1.1 GoToMeeting Free Trial Features

GoToMeeting offers a 14days free trial for its new users to test its performance. Once you use it, you can stick to it. Because during the free trial period, you can access the top-notch features of it. Currently, it permits you to access all the features of its Business plan in the free trial period. But this is only a current promotional offer for the first time users that may change in the future.

• Host Unlimited Meetings With 250 Attendees:
  • You can host unlimited meetings with 250 attendees. It’s so awesome. There is no other video conferencing tool on the planet that offers this much attendees strength in the free trial period.
• No Meeting Time Limit:
  • There is no time limit for your meetings. You can continue your meetings for as many hours as you want. This is another great feature loved by millions of users all over the world.
• Personal Meeting Room:
  • You can create a custom meeting link that will never change and expire. So, you can easily schedule and attend meetings.
• Quick One-Click Meetings:
  • You can instantly join, host, or manage meetings with just one-click from any device Android, iOS, Windows, or Mac. And from any browser like Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.
• Meeting Lock:
  • This is an extra layer of security for your Meetings. This feature permits you to lock your meeting while the meeting is going on. So that new participants will not join your meeting and they have to wait until you let them in.
• Screen Sharing and Webcam Support:
  • You can share your device screen or specific application on your device with your attendees. And you can share your video too.
• Crystal clear VoIP audio:
  • For best sound quality, it includes computer audio (VoIP) in all its plans. And it charges no fee for this great audio.
• Cloud Recordings:
  • Records your Meetings with video and audio in the cloud. So that you can listen to and share the recorded meeting with your participants.
• Mute All or Unmute All:
  • During the ongoing meeting, you can mute all or unmute all your attendees.
• Chat Throughout the Meeting:
  • You can chat you with your attendees/specific attendee during the meeting.
• Commuter Mode:
  • The Commuter Mode is a new feature included in its Android and iOS apps to make mobile meetings easy.
  • Due to this, you can easily host or join meetings while on the go with a reliable and distraction-free experience.
  • In this mode, 90% of your mobile data is saved.
  • And you can maintain crystal clear conversations even on an unreliable mobile network.
• And a lot more.

1.2 GoToMeeting Forever Free Plan Features

After a 14-days trial period, you need to upgrade to any one of its premium plans. If you don’t upgrade, you will be treated as a free user. And you can still use GoToMeeting with reduced features. Those are:

• Host 40-Minute Meetings:
  • It permits you to conduct meetings with a 40-minutes time-limit.
• Host Meetings With up to 3 Participants:
  • You can conduct meetings with a maximum of 3 participants only.
• One-Click Meetings:
  • You can join or host meetings with just one click from browsers like Chrome and Microsoft Edge. And from its Android and iOS apps.
• Screen Sharing:
  • You can share your device screen with your attendees.
• Share Camera:
  • You can share your camera with your attendees during meetings.
• Lock Meeting:
  • You can lock your ongoing meeting so that new participants can’t join the ongoing meeting until you let them in.
• VoIP Audio:
  • It includes computer audio (VoIP) in its forever free plan. So that you can enjoy the best sound quality during meetings.
• And more.

1.3 GoToMeeting Premium Features

• Host Meetings With up to 250 Participants or Even More:
  • You can host meetings with up to 250 participants at once.
  • If you want, you can also host meetings with up to 3000 participants.
• 25 Active HD Webcams:
  • You can use your HD cameras up to 25 to host meetings.
• Personal Meeting Room:
  • You can create a custom meeting link that will never change and expire to easily schedule and attend meetings with ease.
• Screen Share and Draw:
  • You can share your device screen with your participants. And even highlight text in documents and slides using drawing tools like Pen, Eraser, and more in real-time during ongoing meetings.
• Call Me:
  • This is an optional feature that permits you to join a meeting simply by picking up the phone.
  • It aids the entire team to join the meeting within seconds.
• Unlimited Online Recordings Both Audio and Video:
  • This software records your entire online meeting in the cloud or locally.
• Video to Slides:
  • Its cutting edge and machine learning technology automatically capture the slides present in your meetings. And compiles them and converts them into pdf. So that you can share these pdf files with your participants.
• Meeting Transcription:
  • You can easily search and even share the automatic transcripts of your recorded meetings.
• Admin Center:
  • The Admin Center is robust and intuitive to manage all of the GoTo products across your organization.
• And a lot more.

1.4 GoToMeeting Pricing and Plans

GoToMeeting offers three premium plans along with its 14-Days Free Trial and Forever Free Plan. Those are:

	14-Days Free Trial Plan**	Forever Free Plan	Professional Plan	Business Plan	Enterprise Plan
Price (Billed Annually)	Free	Free	$12 per Month	$16 per month	Contact Sales
Price (Billed Monthly)	Free	Free	$14 per Month	$19 per month	Contact Sales
Maximum Participants Allowed	250	3	150	250	3000
Meeting Time Limits	No	40-Minutes	No	No	No
Unlimited Meetings	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
VoIP Audio	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Record Meetings	✔	X	✔	✔	✔
Personal Meeting Room	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔

** Currently GoToMeeting is offering all the features of the Business plan for its first-time users in its 14-Days Free Trial period. This is only a current promotional offer for first-time users which may change in the future.

• Related: What is GoToMeeting? How to use it

2. Zoom

Zoom is also a world’s top audio and video conferencing tool specially designed for conducting online meetings, classes, training, and more. It is the one and only video conferencing tool on the planet that offers you to Host unlimited meetings with up to 100 participants with a 40-minutes time limit in the forever free plan.

With this also, you can easily schedule, host, join, and edit meetings instantly from any device and anywhere. Further, in order to fix the security issues, it has added new security features and privacy controls in its latest version. And it recommends all of its users to use the updated Zoom client to more secure their meetings.

2.1 Zoom Meetings Forever Free Plan Features

Zoom offers forever free plan for its users to test its performance. Once you use it, you will stick to it. Because, it offers more than enough features for you to conduct online meetings, classes, and more. Those are:

• Host Unlimited Meetings with up to 100 Participants:
  • It permits you to host unlimited meetings with up to 100 participants.
• Host 40-minute Meetings:
  • There is a time limit of 40-minutes for your group meetings.
  • But no problem with this time limit. Because, after 40-minutes, you can restart the same meeting with the earlier participants.
  • That means, with Zoom, you can conduct unlimited 40-minutes meetings with 100 participants.
• Screen Share:
  • You can share your screen with your participants while the meeting is going on. And you can also permit your participants to share their screen
• Share Whiteboard:
  • You can use a whiteboard and share it with your participants.
• Drawing Tools:
  • It offers drawing tools like Pen, Eraser, highlight, and more which will be useful during screen share and whiteboard usage.
• Lock Meeting:
  • You can lock your ongoing meeting so that the new participants can’t join your meeting without your permission.
• Waiting Room:
  • You can enable or disable this option. If you disable it, participants can join your meeting directly without waiting for your permission.
  • If you enable it you need to admit each participant to join your meeting.
• VoIP Audio:
  • For best and clear audio, it included VoIP in all its plans.
• Mute and UnMute Participants:
  • During meetings, you can mute or unmute your participants.
• Chat Throughout Meeting:
  • You can chat with your participants or specific participants throughout your meetings.
• Custom Personal Meeting ID:
  • It provides you Personal Meeting ID that will never expire and change. So that you can easily schedule, edit, and join your meeting instantly.
• And a lot more.

2.2 Zoom Meetings Premium Features

Zoom premium feature includes all the basic features discussed in its forever free plan plus the following features.

• Host Unlimited Meetings With up to 300 Participants or Even More:
  • You can conduct online meetings, classes, and more with up to 300 participants at once.
  • If you want, you can also conduct meetings with up to 1000 participants at once.
• No Time Limit:
  • It restricts no time limit on your meetings.
• Excellent User Management:
  • It provides an excellent user management feature that permits account Owners and Admins to control their users, such as add, delete and assign roles and add-on features.
• Cloud Recording:
  • It records your meeting in the cloud or locally.
• Meeting Transcription:
  • You can easily search and even share the automatic transcripts of your recorded meetings.
• Call Me:
  • This is an optional feature that permits you to join a meeting simply by picking up the phone. And it aids the entire team to join the meeting within seconds.
• Excellent Reporting:
  • You can view the reports such as how many meetings are taking place in your organization, which days, number of meeting minutes, number of participants, and more.
• And a lot more.

2.3 Zoom Meetings Plans and Prices

Zoom offers three premium plans for its users along with its free plan. Those are:

	Basic	Pro	Business	Enterprise
Price	Free	$14.99 per month	$19.99 per month	Contact Sales
Maximum Participants Allowed	100	100 or more	300 or more	1000
Meeting Time Limits	40-Minutes	No	No	No
Unlimited Meetings	✔	✔	✔	✔
VoIP Audio	✔	✔	✔	✔
Cloud Recordings	X	✔	✔	✔

• Related: What is Zoom? How to use it

3. Cisco Webex Meetings

Cisco Webex Meetings is another best video conferencing and online meeting software. With this also, you can schedule, host, and join meetings from any device. It permits you to Host unlimited meetings with up to 100 participants and with no time limit in its free plan. And unlike Zoom, it won’t restrict any time limit in its free plan. This makes it more popular.

3.1 Cisco Webex Meetings Free Features

• Host Meetings With 100 participants:
  • You can host meetings with up to 100 participants at once.
• No Meeting Time Limits:
  • It restricts no time limits on meetings.
• Host Unlimited Meetings:
  • You can host an unlimited number of meetings. And it won’t restrict the number of meetings.
• Screen Sharing:
  • You can share your device screen with your participants during ongoing meetings.
• Webex Personal Room:
  • It provides you permanent Personal Meeting URL and video address that will never expire and change to easily host and start meetings.
• Meeting controls for the host:
  • You can mute or unmute participants. And you can also add or remove participants.
• Whiteboard:
  • It provides a whiteboard interface with drawing tools in real-time.
• Personal Room Locking and Unlocking:
  • You can lock or unlock your ongoing meetings.
• Chat Throughout Meeting:
  • You can chat with all participants or specific participants throughout the meeting.
• Record Locally:
  • It permits you to record your entire meeting locally on your computer.
• And a lot more.

3.2 Cisco Webex Meetings Premium Features

Cisco Webex Meetings premium features include all the free plan features plus the following:

• Host Meetings With 1000 participants:
  • You can host meetings with up to 1000 participants at once.
• Cloud Recordings:
  • It records your meetings in the cloud or locally.
• Better User Management:
  • It permits administrators to easily add, remove, edit, and manage individual users. And their individual user privileges.
• Customizable Webex site URL:
  • It permits you to create your own customizable Webex site URL for your company like companyname.my.webex.com.
• Call Me:
  • This is an optional add-on that permits your participants to easily join your meetings just by picking the phone.
• And a lot more.

3.3 Cisco Webex Meetings Plans and Pricing

Cisco offers three premium plans like starter, plus, and business along with the free plan.

4. Google Meet

Google Meet is another great platform for conducting video conferences and online meetings. Anyone with a Google account can host unlimited meetings with up to 100 participants with 24 hours time limit per meeting with its free plan. However, according to Google, free users can avail 24 hours time limit per meeting up to September 30, 2020. And from October 01, 2020, onwards, it will restrict a time limit of 60-minutes for each meeting for its free users. So free users can host meetings for 24 hours per meeting up to September 30, 2020. This is an awesome feature loved by billions of Google users all over the world.

Further, you can host or join meetings from any device and any modern web browsers.

4.1 Google Meet Free Features

• Free To Use:
  • Google Meet is free to use. Simply you need an internet connection to use this.
• Host Unlimited Meetings With 100 Participants:
  • You can host unlimited meetings with up to 100 participants at once.
• Host 60-minutes Meetings:
  • It restricts the time limit of 60-minutes for each of your meetings.
  • However, currently, Google Meet permits its free users to conduct meetings with a maximum duration of 24 hours per meeting. Free users can avail of this facility up to September 30, 2020.
• Screen Sharing:
  • You can share your device with your participants to present slides, documents, and more.
• Host and Join Meetings From Any Device:
  • You can host or join meetings from any device. And from any modern web browsers like Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Safari.
• Mute and Unmute Participants:
  • You can mute or unmute your participants.
• Chat Throughout Meeting:
  • You can chat with your participants during the ongoing meetings.
• Directly Invite Participants With their Gmail:
  • During your meetings, you can directly invite your friends, co-workers, and others with their Gmail addresses that are already stored in your Gmail. Or you can also manually enter their email address.
• New AI enhancements Keep Your Calls Clear:
  • Google Meet automatically adjusts to your network speed and ensures high-quality video calls.
  • New AI enhancements keep your calls clear though your surroundings are not.
• Live Captions:
  • When you enable the Caption option in your Google Meet. Google’s speech recognition technology converts your voice to text. And the converted text is displayed on your device screen.
  • This is a great feature offered by one and only Google Meet.
  • And this is a great aid for non-native speakers and others who are hearing impaired, who are in noisy areas, etc,.
• And a lot more.

4.2 Google Meet Premium Features:

Google Meet premium features include all its free plan features plus the following:

• Host Meetings With 250 Participants:
  • You can host meetings with up to 250 internal or external participants at once.
• No Meeting Time Limits:
  • It restricts no time limits for its premium users.
• Meeting recording saved to Google Drive:
  • You can save your meetings on your Google Drive.
• 1 TB Google Drive Storage:
  • Free users can get 15GB Google Drive Storage space.
  • But a GSuite Essentials user can get up to 1TB Google Drive Storage space.
• Administrative Controls:
  • It provides excellent administrative controls to manage all of your users.
• Live Stream Meetings in-domain to 1,00,000 viewers:
  • It permits businesses, schools, and other institutions to live stream meetings to 1,00,000 viewers within their domain.
• And a lot more.

4.3 Google Meet Pricing and Plans

• Google Meet offers two premium plans like G Suite Essentials and G Suite Enterprise Essentials along with its free plan.
• Now Google Meet offers G Suite Essentials also free up to September 30, 2020. And from October 1, 2020, onwards it charges $10 per active user per month.
• Individual users can use Google Meet free plan to host their meetings.
• But Teams are recommended to use G Suite Essentials to get advanced Meet features plus Drive, Slides Docs, and Sheets designed for business.

Read This: Top 5 Free Online Video Chat Sites To Video Chat With Strangers

5. Messenger Rooms

Messenger Rooms is the new feature introduced by Facebook for billions of its users in the last week of April 2020 to compete with the popular video chat apps like Zoom. Now, this feature is available both on Facebook and Messenger. So if you are a Facebook user, you can instantly host video conference calls or meetings or chats right from your Facebook or Messenger just by sending a link with up to 50 of your friends or others. Further, users who don’t have a Facebook account can also join your meeting as a guest.

Facebook users need to update their Messenger app to get and use the Messenger Rooms feature.

5.1 Messenger Rooms Features

• Host Video Conference Calls With 50 Participants:
  • You can host video conference calls with up to 50 of your friends or others.
• No Time Limit On Video Conference Calls:
  • It restricts no time limit on your video conference calls.
• Free to use:
  • The Messenger Rooms feature on Facebook and Messenger is free to use. Simply you require an internet facility to use this feature.
• Screen Sharing:
  • During ongoing conference calls, you can share your device screen with your participants.
• Mute and Unmute Participants:
  • You can mute or unmute your participants during ongoing conference calls.
• Add and Remove Participants:
  • You can add and remove participants during conference calls.
• Invite just by the link:
  • You can invite your friends, co-workers, or others to join a video conference call just by sending the link via Gmail, WhatsApp, and more.
• Instantly Host and Join from Any Device:
  • You can instantly host or join video conference calls from Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac. Because the Messenger app is available for all devices.
• Instantly Host and Join from Any Browser:
  • You can instantly host or join video conference calls from any browser like Chrome and Microsoft Edge on your device.
• Lock Room:
  • You can lock your room so that the new people won’t join your room until you disable this option.
• Chat Throughout Video Conference Call:
  • You can chat with all of your participants or specific participants during video conferencing calls.
• And a lot more.

Related: How to make Facebook messenger group video calls

6. Skype

Skype is another best free platform for instantly conducting video conferences, meetings, and group video calls. It permits you to instantly Host Unlimited Meetings with up to 50 participants, with no signups, no downloads, and no time limits. And you just need a browser on your computer to host or join meetings. Further, you can host meetings from any device Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac simply by sending a link with up to 50 of your friends or others.

6.1 Skype Group Video Chat Features

• Free To Use:
  • Sky Group Video Chat is free to use. Simply you require an internet connection to use this.
• Host Meetings With 50 Participants:
  • You can host meetings with up to 50 of your friends, co-workers, and others.
• No Signups, No Downloads, and No Time Limits:
  • It permits you to host unlimited meetings with up to 50 participants, with no signups, no download of apps, and no time limits. Simply you need a browser like Chrome to host meetings.
  • And the participants who don’t have a Skype account can also join Skype meetings as a guest.
• Host and Join Meetings From Any Device:
  • Download the apps, Skype for Desktop and Skype for Mobile from Skype official website. Then you can host and join Skype meetings from any device.
• Screen Sharing:
  • You can share your device screen with your participants.
• Blur Background Before Entering The Call:
  • It permits you to blur your background before you enter the Skype Group Video Call or during Skype Group Video Call.
• Record Video Conference:
  • You can record your entire Skype video conferences.
• Chat Throughout Call:
  • During Skype video conference call you can chat with your participants.
• Send Files:
  • Besides sharing your device screen, you can directly send your files, photos, and others up to 300MB to your participants simply by dragging and dropping them into your Chat Conversation Window.
• And a lot more.

Related: How to do Skype Group video call on desktop and mobile

7. WhatsApp Group Video Call

WhatsApp is a regular app used by almost every Android and iOS users. By using WhatsApp also you can host Group Video Chats or Calls with up to 8 members (including the host). Earlier, the number of participants is limited to 4 (including the host). But currently, WhatsApp is allowing 8 members (including the host) for group video chats or calls on it. And you need to update your WhatsApp to avail of this facility.

Further in WhatsApp, calls, messages, videos, images, voice messages, and documents are secured with end-to-end encryption. This means not even WhatsApp and third parties can read them. So, all your group video calls on WhatsApp are secured. And you can easily and safely make group video calls on your WhatsApp.

• Related: How to make WhatsApp groupo video call on Android, iOS, & Desktop

Final Thoughts: Which is the Best Group Video Chat Software?

Now you have seen the top 7 researched group video chat software. You can now decide which one suits you. Among 7, the most recommended video chat app is the GoToMeeting. Because with this, you can host unlimited meetings with up to 250 participants with no time limit during the 14-days free trial period. And it is best suitable for small and medium businesses. And also for individuals. Further, its pricing is reasonable.

You can give the second preference to Zoom. Because with this, you can host unlimited 40-minutes meetings with up to 100 participants with its forever free plan. It is suitable for any type of organization. And also for individuals.

Next, you can give the third preference to Cisco Webex Meetings which offers you to host unlimited meetings with 100 participants with no time limit with its free plan. It is also best suitable for businesses and individuals.

If you are individuals, you can use Messenger Rooms and Skype to host group video calls, video conferences, or online meetings with up to 50 participants.

And finally, if you are looking for a brand, you can use Google Meet which is from the top brand, Google for conducting online meetings and video conferences.

• Read Next: 5 best free video calling apps for android
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I confirm that this article Top 7 Researched Group Video Chat Software or Apps, is a straight forward article for those who want to know the best group video chat app for conducting online video meetings and video conferences at no cost or reliable cost. If you like this article, please share it and follow WhatVwant on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for more tips.

Top Group Video Chat Software: FAQs