Google Hangouts vs Polycom RealPresence Desktop comparison

Google and Poly are both solutions in the Virtual Meetings category. Google is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.2, while Poly is ranked #17 with an average rating of 7.0. Google holds a 0.6% mindshare in VM, compared to Poly’s 1.7% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of Google users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Poly users who would recommend it.

Google Hangouts

Read 58 Google Hangouts reviews

362 Views
362 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Read 1 Polycom RealPresence Desktop review

292 Views
292 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Google Hangouts

Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Google Hangouts and Polycom RealPresence Desktop based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Zoom Video Communications, Cisco, Microsoft and others in Virtual Meetings.

To learn more, read our detailed Virtual Meetings Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Virtual Meetings

July 2025

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Helped 865,384 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Google Hangouts

Ranking in Virtual Meetings

7th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Ranking in Virtual Meetings

17th

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of Google Hangouts is 0.6%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Polycom RealPresence Desktop is 1.7%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Virtual Meetings

Featured Reviews

ANIS QURESHI

Senior Specialist- IT Systems Management at GAL

Quick and seamless meeting setup offers a smooth experience

I sometimes use Google Hangouts for my personal meetings only I find that Google Hangouts is very quick and easy to create a meeting, which is its biggest benefit. It doesn't have a 40-minute limitation unlike Zoom. It is easy to set up as well, taking just a couple of minutes. So far, I think…

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Norm Hubert

VTC Network manager at a government with 10,001+ employees

Regular use enables effective communication with room for improvement in interoperability

The most valuable part of the desktop is the ability to make voice and video calls. Without getting too technical or divulging too much due to the environment we are in, it allows us to further our reach, from a traditional video conferencing room. Scalability was easy. It was based on calls, not licenses.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"It is very easy to use and is available as soon as you open a Google account."

"I think that Google Meet allows for easy interaction and has additional features, such as background blurring, among others."

"The solution's stability is the most valuable feature."

"The most valuable features are that you don't have to create a separate account, it's easy to use, and you don't have to enter an ID or password to start video conferencing."

"The product is stable."

"I find it valuable that Google Hangouts is a lightweight tool that doesn't take up a lot of memory and doesn't require a lot of resources."

"Google Hangouts is an excellent tool."

"It's very easy to use."

More Google Hangouts pros

"It allows us to further our reach, from a traditional video conferencing room."

Cons

"I would like to have a whiteboard feature, where I can draw a sketch or diagram and show it to the people in the meeting."

"The solution can be improved by integrating other tools."

"In the next release, I would like to see call recording made available."

"Google Hangouts has breakout rooms now, but not as extensive as Zoom, so that's one area for improvement. I mentioned that I like the Google Hangouts captioning feature, but that could be improved. For example, importing Filipino-English captions here in the Philippines would be great."

"We purchased a videoconference system called Zoom. We want to see if Google Hangouts has the ability to integrate our Zoom device to use it with Hangouts and meet directly."

"Can be improved by including a larger library of video filters and adding custom filters."

"Google Hangouts restricts you to those with a Gmail account."

"We don’t have any complaints."

More Google Hangouts cons

"There is probably room for improvement in interoperability."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are using the free version of Google Hangouts."

"We are a small team and a small organization such as ours just uses the free version of Google, so there's no cost associated with Google Hangouts at the moment."

"I don't need to buy Google Hangouts separately because it comes free with Google Workspace, and it is also available for my personal Gmail ID."

"We access the solution through Google Workspace. It is inexpensive to use."

"There is no license cost."

"Google Hangouts has reasonable pricing, but I don't use the paid version because I only have a small budget, though you get more features from the paid version."

"There is a need to make certain payments towards the licensing costs attached to the product and some other tools that are included in the suite offered by Google. Google Hangouts alone as a product is available for free."

"I think there is a need for payment for licensing, but as students, we didn't have to pay for it when we were using it. Our professors were the ones paying for it since they needed to record the sessions."

More Google Hangouts pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Company Size

By reviewers

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Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Google Hangouts?

It's integration with Google is the valuable feature.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Hangouts?

I think the price is okay for us.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Google Hangouts?

One improvement could be integration with Google Calendar to help find available timeslots when scheduling meetings with many participants.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Polycom RealPresence Desktop?

The solution is built right into Clarity.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Polycom RealPresence Desktop?

There is probably room for improvement in interoperability.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Polycom RealPresence Desktop?

We use the desktop. It was used in the same case. We use it with our partners.

See all answers

Comparisons

Zoom Workplace Business vs Google Hangouts

Compared 100% of the time

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Zoom Workplace Business vs Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Compared 46% of the time

Cisco TelePresence vs Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Compared 19% of the time

TrueConf Server vs Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Compared 19% of the time

Huawei Video Conferencing Platform vs Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Compared 16% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Google Hangouts

August 2025

Download Google Hangouts product report

Buyer's Guide

Virtual Meetings

July 2025

Download Polycom RealPresence Desktop product report

Also Known As

No data available

RealPresence Desktop

Overview

Hangouts Chat makes it easy for teams to be able to get their work done in one place. From direct messages to group conversations, Chat helps teams collaborate easily and efficiently.

Google

Polycom RealPresence Desktop is a powerful, enterprise-grade video chat app for PC & Mac. The video conferencing software extends communications beyond the typical conference room setting to mobile professionals. RealPresence Desktop combines quality HD video, industry-leading interoperability, and security that is both cost effective and highly scalable.

When powered by Polycom's infrastructure, customers can extend desktop collaboration value with app management, interoperability, scalability, resiliency, and multi-point calling.

Poly

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

John Laing, China Daily, Lincoln Fire and Rescue, NATO Communications and Information Agency, NHS Home Dialysis, Silver Chain, South Carolina Department of Mental Health, nimed

Find out what your peers are saying about Zoom Video Communications, Cisco, Microsoft and others in Virtual Meetings. Updated: July 2025.

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