In a move to make another web video conferencing solution available to more people, Google has announced that its previously paid-only Google Meet video meeting service will now be available for free for anyone that has a Google Account.
The announcement comes via an official blog post by G Suite's Vice President and General Manager Javier Soltero. Soltero says that this move was inspired by how video conferencing has brought people together via a time of unparalleled social distancing in the wake of COVID-19. This change, however, is not limited to the next few months.
Unlike 
Google Duo or 
Hangouts, 
Google Meet is designed for larger and/or more professional conferencing needs geared towards enterprise and education. That said, Meet's daily usage has grown by over 30 times its previous high since January of this year. Making it available for free is expected to increase this exponentially.
Unlike other video conferencing solutions that have been made available from Microsoft and several others, Google Meet will not allow for users without Google Accounts to join Google Meet rooms created by non-enterprise accounts. This is in order to ensure that Meet provides as secure a service as possible, and works alongside robust meeting controls for hosts.
Google Meet will be freely available for individual use starting today and rolling out over the next few weeks. In early May, Meet will be available for "anyone with an email address," with the primary limitation being 60 minutes per conference call. Google Meet can be accessed by going to meet.google.com.
Further coverage:
Google blog post
TechCrunch
The Verge
VentureBeat
ZDNet
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