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Blackboard Collaborate vs Google Hangouts [EOL] comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 27, 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

Blackboard Collaborate
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Meetings (20th)
Google Hangouts [EOL]
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

YN
Teaching and Learning Systems Manager at a university with 5,001-10,000 employees
Useful in webinars, meetings and online classrooms
One of the features that people enjoy is the whiteboard, providing opportunities for academics to present content and for students to contribute. The platform also allows for the creating of different rooms, enabling large classes to break into smaller groups for discussions. Students can then return to the main classroom to share their opinions. It integrates with LMS.
Mariana-Piñeres - PeerSpot reviewer
Customer Success Manager Latam at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
Recording and transcription enhance global client meetings
Google Hangouts sometimes consumes significant resources. When comparing it to WhatsApp on desktop for calls, there are instances when Google Hangouts freezes or stops working, but switching to WhatsApp runs smoothly. This might be related to the resources Google Hangouts requires. The service occasionally experiences lag issues where the image gets frozen or the voice transmission becomes interrupted. When these issues occur, possibly due to internet connectivity or other factors, WhatsApp continues to function properly while Google Hangouts does not perform well.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Document loading and annotation."
"The solution allows me to connect and collaborate with my classes."
"One of the features that people enjoy is the whiteboard, providing opportunities for academics to present content and for students to contribute. The platform also allows for the creating of different rooms, enabling large classes to break into smaller groups for discussions. Students can then return to the main classroom to share their opinions. It integrates with LMS."
"I appreciated having the basic features like screen sharing and camera options."
"The ability to share a screen during a meeting is one of the most valuable features. You can also be directly connected on the computer and on the phone with the same account. It is flexible."
"Google Hangouts is easy to use and has good performance."
"The scalability is good; we have added a lot of users, and it's always working."
"It's integration with Google is the valuable feature."
"The group chat is a very good feature, where you can see all of the participants on cameras."
"It's very easy to use."
"The most valuable feature has been the ability to present presentations during meetings."
 

Cons

"The system can overload when too many try logging in."
"We faced outages when the user limit went over a certain number."
"If there were maybe more tutorials outside of what I'm aware the university is suggesting, I would take more tutorials on effective ways to deliver content. I come from the industry and content was always needed when people that were observing were smart and involved and decision-makers instead of so passively just trying to pass the course. In my imagination, the tutorials would be a tool where the learners themselves can have much more hands-on learning during a Collaborate session."
"You only get 60 minutes of video conferencing."
"I would like to have a whiteboard feature, where I can draw a sketch or diagram and show it to the people in the meeting."
"There should be more space for multiple users at a time so that multiple people can connect, can share, and even transfer control to another colleague, employer, student, etc."
"Google Hangouts is not as feature-rich as Slack. Adding more features to this solution would make it better."
"Sometimes, due to system restrictions, I can't use blur effects or other filters."
"They should increase the platform's session time beyond an hour."
"The solution could integrate more automation into the product."
"The user interface is an area with shortcomings and needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"This solution is available for free with the opening of a Google account."
"I use the free version of the solution."
"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."
"We pay an annual license to use the solution."
"I believe my company has a yearly license for Google Hangouts, but I'm not sure because this is a corporate account, so I don't have the details."
"There is an annual subscription to use this solution."
"For individual use, there's no license requirement as such. For storage or some other purposes, if I go beyond 15 GB, then I need to buy something."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Marketing Services Firm
18%
Manufacturing Company
14%
University
10%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise18
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What do you like most about Google Hangouts?
It's integration with Google is the valuable feature.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Hangouts?
Google Hangouts comes as a package, so it's difficult to say or comment on the price of this particular product.
What needs improvement with Google Hangouts?
Sometimes when we have a call and need to share audio or play a video, we find it challenging to switch from sharing the complete desktop to only a particular Chrome tab, as it doesn't support audi...
 

Also Known As

Blackboard Mobile
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

University of Derby Online, Universty of Warwick, University of Liverpool, City College Norwich, Northumberland College, Mid-Kent College, Watson Pharmaceutials, Capella University, Shore Tel Sky, Lincoln PD, City of Somerville MA, Somerset County Council
Information Not Available
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