What is Google Chat used for?

Google Chat is the messaging and spaces product in Google Workspace, with direct messages, group conversations and links to Meet and Docs. It is a good fit for team chat inside Google Workspace and project spaces tied to shared documents.

Yes. Google Chat has a free plan.

Is Google Chat open source?

No. Google Chat is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Google Chat include Rocket.Chat, Mattermost and Zulip.

What are some alternatives to Google Chat?

Google Chat competes with Slack, Microsoft Teams and Zoho Cliq. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Google Chat alternatives.

Google Chat: features, pricing and alternatives

About Google Chat

Google Chat is the team messaging product in Google Workspace. It supports direct messages and group conversations, organizes ongoing work into spaces, and connects with Google Meet for calls and with Docs and other Workspace files.

It is a hosted Google service and is not self-hosted. It is relevant to organizations that already use Google Workspace and want chat built into that suite, in the same way Microsoft Teams relates to Microsoft 365.

Key features

Direct and group messaging
Spaces for ongoing team work
Integration with Google Meet
Links to Docs and Workspace files

Good fit for

→Team chat inside Google Workspace
→Project spaces tied to shared documents

Tags: team-chat; messaging; google-workspace; spaces; collaboration; saas

Google Chat: questions and answers

What is Google Chat used for?: Google Chat is the messaging and spaces product in Google Workspace, with direct messages, group conversations and links to Meet and Docs. It is a good fit for team chat inside Google Workspace and project spaces tied to shared documents.
Is Google Chat free?: Yes. Google Chat has a free plan.
Is Google Chat open source?: No. Google Chat is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Google Chat include Rocket.Chat, Mattermost and Zulip.
What are some alternatives to Google Chat?: Google Chat competes with Slack, Microsoft Teams and Zoho Cliq. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Google Chat alternatives.