Google Hangouts vs Polycom RealPresence Desktop comparison

Google and Poly are both solutions in the Virtual Meetings category. Google is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.3, while Poly is ranked #16 with an average rating of 7.0. Google holds a 0.5% mindshare in VM, compared to Poly’s 2.1% 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 57 Google Hangouts reviews

1,035 Views
43 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Read 1 Polycom RealPresence Desktop review

289 Views
131 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: May 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Virtual Meetings

May 2025

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Helped 857,162 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

5th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Ranking in Virtual Meetings

16th

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of Google Hangouts is 0.5%, down from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Polycom RealPresence Desktop is 2.1%, up from 1.3% 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

"We use Google Hangouts to chat and exchange some quick information."

"I appreciated having the basic features like screen sharing and camera options."

"The technical support team for Google Hangouts has been pretty responsive and could solve whatever challenges arise, within a day or two."

"Google Hangouts is easy to use and has good performance."

"The solution is easy to use and navigate."

"Communication platform that's effective in project planning, project status communication, and virtual meetings. Setting it up is straightforward."

"The scalability is good; we have added a lot of users, and it's always working."

"The solution is stable."

More Google Hangouts pros

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

Cons

"Google Hangouts is not as feature-rich as Slack. Adding more features to this solution would make it better."

"As someone who is not very familiar with technology, I find it acceptable. I prefer to wait and see what they will come up with in the future. However, I notice that they keep introducing new features that are better than the previous ones."

"I would like to see support for showing virtual backgrounds."

"The UI has room for improvement."

"There is no delete option for messages which could be an added feature in a future release."

"Google will not have two identical chat platforms. Google Chat is always a winner because it is compatible with my device."

"Sending documents and other things is not an option."

"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."

More Google Hangouts cons

"There is probably room for improvement in interoperability."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I use the free version of the solution."

"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."

"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."

"I pay $6 per user per month for Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Hangouts."

"There is no license cost."

"The screen-sharing feature is the most valuable feature."

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

More Google Hangouts pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

94%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

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

No data available

Cisco TelePresence vs Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Compared 36% of the time

TrueConf Server vs Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Compared 36% of the time

Zoom vs Polycom RealPresence Desktop

Compared 28% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Google Hangouts

June 2025

Download Google Hangouts product report

Buyer's Guide

Virtual Meetings

May 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: May 2025.

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