Google launches Workspace Individual tier as one-hour limit returns to Google Meet

Google Workspace (Image credit: Nick Sutrich / Android Central)

What you need to know

Google is bringing back the one-hour time limit for Google Meet group calls on free accounts.
The company is rolling out Workspaces Individual, targeting users with personal businesses.
Google is offering a discount for new Workspace Individual accounts until January 2022.

Google Meet users on free accounts may not be too excited to learn that the one-hour limit for group video calls has returned. However, Google is offering a new way to get longer video calls with the new Workspace Individual tier.

Google announced Workspace Individual in June as it made its suite of Workspace apps available to all users, regardless of account type. There wasn't much in the way of details for the new account tier, but it's now available for users to sign up.

Google says Workspace Individual aims "to help individual business owners get more done, show up more professionally, and better serve their customers." As gleaned by the name, Workspace Individual is designed for a single person, particularly anyone with their own one-person business. Features include group meetings longer than 60 minutes, noise cancellation, breakout rooms, shareable booking with Google Calendar, and more.

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Workspace Individual may be an enticing offer for anyone that relies on long Google Meet meetings. Since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, Google has taken steps to make Google Meet more accessible to users by eliminating the one-hour limit for free accounts and introducing many new features on the web and the best Android phones. For that, we have a list of the top 10 Google Meet tips and tricks you need to know.

With the pandemic winding down in many countries and more employees returning to the office, Google has brought back the time limit for group calls. This means users will be warned at the 55-minute mark that their meeting will end soon. To continue a meeting, the host would have to upgrade their account.

Of course, users can always switch to Google Duo, although the popular video chat app isn't as feature-rich as Google Meet, especially for business purposes.

The new Google Workspace Individual tier is available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Japan. The tier costs $9.99 per month, but Google is offering a 20% discount until January 2022, so you'll pay just $7.99 per month until then.

Derrek is the managing editor of Android Central, helping to guide the site's editorial content and direction to reach and resonate with readers, old and new, who are just as passionate about tech as we are. He's been obsessed with mobile technology since he was 12, when he discovered the Nokia N90, and his love of flip phones and new form factors continues to this day. As a fitness enthusiast, he has always been curious about the intersection of tech and fitness. When he's not working, he's probably working out.