Google Meet’s limiting free group calls to an hour — what are your options?

The coronavirus pandemic is not over but the companies are now tiring of giving freebies. So, get ready to fork some cash for calls, as Google Meet is limiting its free calls to 60 minutes.

The firm started offering free unlimited calls for all users last April, and after a few extensions, it had set the deadline for this ‘generous’ offering for June 30, 2021.

Now, as noted by 9to5Google, the company is showing a new message on its support page noting that you’ll get a notification of the time limit at the 55-minute mark:

Tip:At 55 minutes, everyone gets a notification that the call is about to end. To extend the call, the host can upgrade their Google account. Otherwise, the call will end at 60 minutes.

This new cap is just for three or more participants per call. If you’re hosting one-on-one calls, the limit is 24 hours. To be fair, this isn’t a deal-breaker since an hour is a plenty for most calls. And if it’s a casual hangout, you can always ask someone to start a new call and post the link in the chat.

If you’re a free user, there aren’t many alternatives for you as Zoom and Microsoft Teams both offer free calls under 60 minutes. However, you can try open-source alternatives like Jitsi for longer group calls.