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Google Meet extends 60-minutes free calls to March, 2021

By Amina Wako September 30th, 2020 1 min read

Google has extended free, unlimited access to Google Meet calls to March 31, 2021. At the start of March, Google said premium Hangouts Meet features – 250-person meetings, internal live-streaming, and call recording to drive – would be free for all G Suite customers.

Google originally planned to offer an unlimited meeting duration facility only until September 30, after which the maximum length of a meeting will be reduced to 60 minutes.

However, on Wednesday the company announced that it won’t limit meetings to a 60-minute duration until March next year for users on the free tier.

“As we look ahead to a holiday season with less travel and important milestones like family reunions, PTA meetings and weddings hosted over video, we want to continue helping those who rely on Meet to stay in touch over the coming months,” Samir Pradhan, Group Product Manager of Google Meet, wrote on a blog post.

“As a sign of our commitment, today we’re continuing unlimited Meet calls (up to 24 hours) in the free version through March 31, 2021 for Gmail accounts,” Samir further wrote.

The extension should come as a relief for those who have relied on the service during the coronavirus pandemic. The company has steadily updated Google Meet this year to keep it competitive with other video conferencing services like Zoom.