See the charts below for guidance in selecting the right service to fit your chat and audio/video conferencing needs. Scroll further down the page for detailed comparisons for teaching and learning tasks and goals. The first chart gives a high-level comparison of key features, the second chart relates to general use, and the third chart is designed as an in-depth reference for faculty and instructors. 

Quick Comparison

This table is intended to help quickly select the best service for your needs. See below for detailed comparisons for teaching and learning tasks and goals.

Notes:

  • “Yes*” (with an asterisk) indicates that a feature is available but the service may not be the best option to accomplish the goal or task.
  • Non-NYU (personal) Zoom and Google Meet accounts do not offer as many features as NYU Zoom and NYU Meet (Google). If used, NYU instructors are advised not to use their NYU Email address with their personal account, as this causes service conflicts.
  NYU
Zoom 		Non-NYU
Zoom 		NYU
Meet 		Non-NYU
Meet 		NYU
Chat

   

NYU Zoom

Non-NYU (Personal) Zoom

NYU Meet (Google)

Non-NYU Google Meet

NYU Chat (Google)

Support provided by NYU 

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

Cybersecurity risk level (e.g., meeting intruders)

Very low, if recom-
mended settings are used.

Moderate, if the personal account is set to match NYU Zoom settings as closely as possible.

Very low, if recom-
mended settings are used.

Unknown

N/A

Option to record and/ or save

Yes

No, unless using a paid Zoom Pro account.

No

No

No
Real-time/live captioning Yes,
unless there is a student with a captioning accom-modation. Email the NYU Digital Accessibility. 		No
Does not meet NYU’s digital accessibility standards. 		Yes,
unless there is a student with a captioning accom-modation. Email the NYU Digital Accessibility. 		No
Does not meet NYU’s digital accessibility standards. 		N/A

Virtual breakout rooms /
small group discussions

Yes

Yes

No

No, unless using certain paid versions.

Yes   

What Do You Want to Do? (General Features)

Notes:

  • “Yes*” (with an asterisk) indicates that a feature is available but the service may not be the best option to accomplish the goal or task.
  NYU Zoom NYU Meet NYU Chat
 

NYU Zoom

NYU Meet (Google)

NYU Chat (Google)

Video/web meeting (10 or less people)

Yes   

Yes   

No   

Video/web meeting (10+ people)

                               

Yes

Up to 300 participants   

Yes*

250 for a limited time due to COVID-19 (100 under normal circumstances)

No

Webinar/Large Meeting   

Yes

500 participants for Large Meetings and 1000+ for Webinars, by request

No

No   

Audio-only meeting

Yes

Yes

No

Text chat during meetings (individual and group)   

Yes

Yes

Yes   

Standalone/ongoing chat outside of meetings (individual and group)

Yes

Via Zoom desktop client

No

Yes

8,000 participants per chat room

Limit for group chat is  currently unknown

Screen sharing

Yes

Yes

No

File sharing

Yes

Only via certain third-party apps such as Box, Dropbox, and OneDrive

Yes

Only via links in NYU Calendar invites

Yes   

Permits attendees from outside of NYU (i.e., external participants)

Yes

Yes

Someone from NYU must grant external participants access to the meeting.

No   

Option to record and/or save   

Yes   

No   

No

In-meeting polling / feedback feature

Yes

No

No

Virtual breakout rooms / small group discussions   

Yes   

 No

Yes

Waiting Room to control admittance

Yes

No

N/A

Robust host controls (mute attendees, remove participants, control screen sharing, etc.)

Yes

Yes

N/A

Real-time/live Captioning

 Yes,
unless there is a student with a captioning accommodation. Read the NYU Digital Accessibility site. 		Yes,
unless there is a student with a captioning accommodation. Read the NYU Digital Accessibility site.    

N/A

Dial in from a phone

Yes

Yes

N/A

Dial out to a phone number

No

Yes

N/A

iOS mobile and tablet support

Yes   

Yes   

Yes   

View presentations on mobile

Yes

Yes

N/A

Add a co-host

Yes

No

N/A   

Whiteboarding

Yes

Yes*

Via NYU Drive and screen sharing

N/A

Annotation on shared screen

Yes

No

No

NYU Google Services integration (NYU Calendar, NYU Email, NYU Drive)

Yes

With NYU Calendar and NYU Drive, as well as NYU Email via a Gmail add-on

Yes

Yes*

With NYU Drive

For Faculty: Teaching & Learning Goals/Tasks

This table is intended to help instructors select the best service for their needs. Faculty may also find it helpful to schedule a consultation with the instructional technologists at the NYU Digital Studio to discuss conferencing for classes.

Note: “Yes*” (with an asterisk) indicates that a feature is available but the service may not be the best option to accomplish the goal or task. Note that NYU Hangouts Classic (Google) will be retired on August 1, 2022.

  NYU Zoom NYU Meet NYU Chat
 

NYU Zoom

NYU Meet (Google)

NYU Chat (Google)

Hosting real-time class meetings

 Yes

Yes*

N/A

Recording live or asynchronous classes

 Yes

No                               

N/A                               

Invite a non-NYU guest speaker   

 Yes

Yes

Someone from NYU must grant external participants access to the meeting. 

N/A

Add TAs as co-hosts

 Yes

No

N/A   

Polls for student engagement

 Yes

Yes*

Via Google Forms

N/A

Virtual breakout rooms / small group discussions   

  

No

Yes

Group presentation (student facilitation)

 Yes

Yes

No

Whiteboarding

 Yes

Yes*

Via NYU Drive and screen sharing   

N/A

   

Annotation on shared screen

 Yes

No       

No   

Holding office hours

 Yes

Yes* 

Via NYU Calendar

No   
NYU LMS (Brightspace) integration See the NYU LMS (Brightspace) Zoom Guide for Instructors No No