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GoToMeeting vs HCL Sametime comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

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

GoToMeeting
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
HCL Sametime
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
19th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of GoToMeeting is 3.6%, down from 4.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HCL Sametime is 0.4%, down from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

Jacky Hood - PeerSpot reviewer
A straightforward setup with good stability and decent pricing
The new version crashes my ISP. I don't like the new version. I hope they continue to support the Classic version. I didn't like the fact that LogMeIn tried to make their new version look like Zoom. The feature in the Classic version includes a little panel for GoToMeeting to be off to the side, and it doesn't interfere with your browser. It is much better. All these companies, including the new version of GoToMeeting, have a useless bunch of controls at the top that blocks the tabs of your browser. This makes it so that you can't jump around from tab to tab when you're showing your screen. Those controls are so tiny. Yesterday I was on a session on one of the products (not GTM), and it had shrunk it down to one inch by one inch. It was so small that I couldn't find the tab to make it bigger. That's a big issue. In this attempt to look like Zoom, GTM has gone to the extent where the controls are a little skinny line above your browser. That's not good. The controls need to be highly visible, and contrast so they are easy to read and find. It would be nice if they would have a whiteboard where everybody in the meeting can draw or write on it. We use Google Docs for that purpose, but Google Docs doesn't really allow you to draw. When I was running a different college system, the college system had a whiteboard. All the students and the teachers could all write on the whiteboard with their fingers, as I recall. It'd be nice if they would have something similar available in the future.
Bogdan Chechlowski - PeerSpot reviewer
Stable product, communicate very fast and allows to see who's online in the office or work environment
It was used for communication through text messages, primarily Being able to see who was online and communicate very fast was a good feature.  The security was quite good. However, when we tried to implement it for email at a high level, we had to use another solution, FortiMail Gateway. I view…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Reduced the need for physically commuting between offices."
"I think all the features are very useful, especially the rooms features and we present with screen sharing. Instead of organizing conferences, we are able to do that online. This has been saving us from spending on travel. From the beginning of this year, because of GoToMeeting, I have canceled I think three or four business trips."
"The most important feature for me was the iPhone app."
"We can record meetings and share the screen with participants."
"The most valuable feature is the dial-in capability."
"We like that this solution allows us to assign separate numbers to people without having to have a physical telephone system in place."
"It was just chosen because somebody at the company said, "We need a meeting thing. Hey, go find a meeting thing." It wasn't me, but somebody else in the organization was like, "Alright, let's use GoToMeeting. It's free.""
"It's cost-effective."
"I can view the status and availability of colleagues or team members, which makes it easy to approach them when they are available."
"The security was quite good."
 

Cons

"The solution must include archive options to save the recorded meetings for future reference. The recording functionality can benefit our team by improving how meetings are recorded and shared. Previously, only admins could record meetings, sometimes leading to issues if recordings were missed or not shared properly. The recent update now allows hosting GoToMeeting sessions with the ability to delegate recording rights to other team members."
"The product itself doesn't stand out against other options on the market."
"We would like some improvement in the speed of initiating this solution, as it is currently fairly slow."
"Manageability needs to be improved."
"Lacks ease of connectivity, calendar integrations, and third-party app integrations."
"The newer user interface takes a bit longer to get used to."
"The sound quality is good but the video quality needs improvement."
"The enrolment for a non-IT user should be easier. It should be simplified for non-IT users."
"It lacks some features compared to modern solutions. For example, it doesn't allow sending screenshots or other files."
"The webinar should be integrated into Sametime for a larger number of participants."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"GoToMeeting is a little bit expensive compared to other products."
"Negotiate for discounts."
"It is a little expensive although now, with the competition from Zoom and other products, they have lowered their prices and it is better."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
17%
Real Estate/Law Firm
14%
Educational Organization
14%
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 GoToMeeting?
Reduced the need for physically commuting between offices.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for GoToMeeting?
This is not an expensive solution, we pay around $5,000AUD maximum per year. There are other fees for data carriage, PABX fees, and the like but they would apply to any similar product.
What needs improvement with GoToMeeting?
The solution must include archive options to save the recorded meetings for future reference. The recording functionality can benefit our team by improving how meetings are recorded and shared. Pre...
What needs improvement with HCL Sametime?
I view it as part of HCL Notes and Domino, and my opinion is similar to those products. It lacks some features compared to modern solutions. For example, it doesn't allow sending screenshots or oth...
What is your primary use case for HCL Sametime?
It was used for communication through text messages, primarily.
What advice do you have for others considering HCL Sametime?
Overall, it was quite good. I would rate it an eight out of ten. It's a better product than some others from HCL, but overall, I wouldn't recommend it, given the availability of superior alternatives.
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Also Known As

No data available
Lotus Sametime, IBM Lotus Sametime
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

AAPT, ACD Groupe, Addison Fire, Avigilon Corporation, Basic Industries Ltd., Bitdefender, Branson School Online, Budd Van Lines, Business Fitness, Business Wire
Connect2Cloud, Superior Group, Daifuku Co. Ltd., Seaward, The City of Fort Worth, Christian Brothers Services, Berlitz, Deutsche Notes User Group, Danske Fysioterapeuter, Slumberland, La Vacanza, Rheinmetall AG
Find out what your peers are saying about GoToMeeting vs. HCL Sametime and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.