We review products independently, but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page. Terms of use. Thanks to cheap bandwidth and a wide selection of video conferencing services, trying to coordinate meetings with clients in various geographic locations and interacting with remote workers is no longer the logistical and technical workplace challenge it used to be. GoToMeeting (which begins at $14 per month, billed annually) is one of the better-known video conferencing services (along with Cisco WebEx Meetings and Editors' Choice service ClickMeeting). But GoToMeeting (which was acquired from Citrix by LogMeIn in January 2017) no longer dominates the space and might even be falling behind the competition in some areas. If you've ever been part of an online demo or viewed a web presentation, then chances are you have used GoToMeeting (or Cisco WebEx Meetings, for that matter). Therefore, you already know a little bit about how this kind of software works. While the service is capable of screen sharing, demos, and even remote troubleshooting, this review focuses on GoToMeeting's video conferencing capabilities. GoToMeeting Packages GoToMeeting offers three versions of its software: Starter, Pro, and Plus. GoToMeeting Starter (which, as stated earlier, begins at $14 per month, billed annually) supports up to 10 participants and GoToMeeting Pro (which begins at $29 per month, billed annually) supports up to 150 participants. GoToMeeting Plus (which begins at $39 per month, billed annually) can handle up to 250 participants on a call. There is also a free version of GoToMeeting, which offers limited features for up to 50 participants. GoToMeeting doesn't require a credit card to sign up for the free 14-day trial, a practice I wish was more prevalent among business services. It also offers a 60-day refund, which is also unusual. A big portion of the appeal for GoToMeeting is that it's part of a larger "GoTo" line of products, including GoToWebinar and GoToTraining. There is no price break for purchasing multiple products, however, nor is there a bundled option to buy. But, if you are already using GoToWebinar for online events for up to 2,000 attendees, then it makes sense to just stay in the product family when looking for a more focused product for smaller audiences. Getting Started The only thing you need to get started with a trial of GoToMeeting is your email address, your name, and a password for your account. The form also has a drop-down menu for the number of organizer seats, which means users who can set up meetings. It defaults to one, and I meant to change it to two, but it was possible to go back and change it later. It would have been better to force the user to enter a value upfront because it's really easy to overlook on the page. Oddly, I saw a warning which told me that my profile's time zone didn't match my computer's time zone. I don't know why it decided I was on Pacific Daylight Time. It's not based on my IP address since a quick check on IP geolocation services listed my location on the East Coast. Thankfully, it's an easy enough thing to fix. The "My Account" page is fairly spartan, and displays boxes for Plan Details, Login, and Personal Information. The trial defaults to the GoToMeeting Pro plan, which is limited to 150 participants. You see the plan type, expiration date, and a support link for Workspace Cloud under "Plan Details." Workspace Cloud includes app and desktop service, lifecycle management service, data and sharing service, mobility management service, and concierge service. Clicking "My Meetings" from the My Account screen takes you to the GoToMeeting user interface (UI). There are buttons that let you schedule a future meeting, enter a meeting, and create a meeting right now. The first time I signed in, I also saw links to take a tour or sign up for free training. The tour was really basic, and highlighted the buttons and the menu where all of the other settings are kept. After I had set up some meetings, my screen included an area that showed all of my upcoming and ongoing meetings and a history of all my past meetings. The switch from My Account to the actual GoToMeeting UI was jarring because they look completely different. The My Account page is on a predominantly white page, with gray boxes for plan details, login information, and personal information. The GoToMeeting UI is a shade of gray with bright orange boxes. The Account page feels dated, though the UI is clearly trying to be a bit more modern. Setting Up a Meeting When you click "Schedule a Meeting," you see a window that asks you to enter the name of the meeting, its frequency (occurs once, multiple times), date, time, and duration. Participants can connect over Voice-over-IP (VoIP) as long as they have a working microphone and speakers, dial a country-specific direct number, or use a separate conference call service. When you click the button to use your own service, you see a text window in which to paste your information. Once you are back in the main UI, you see the new meeting listed on the page. Clicking the meeting opens a modal window with all of the details, including phone numbers and links. You have to click the Copy button to copy the text to the clipboard so that you can paste it in your email or other tool to communicate the meeting details. As with Microsoft Skype for Business, GoToMeeting doesn't handle communicating with invited participants or tracking attendees. That's up to your calendar software. If you'd like this capability, then consider StartMeeting or ClickMeeting instead, both of which let you send meeting invites directly from the software. In testing, I found it strange that the Copy button uses Flash. I have Flash disabled by default on my browser so I couldn't copy the information at first. The rest of the window and the website doesn't use Flash, so just putting Flash on that button (when it's so easy to code copy-and-paste) seemed strange. GoToMeeting has both a Microsoft Outlook and a Google Calendar plug-in. Installing this lets you add GoToMeeting to your event in the calendar. With it, you can also invite email contacts to meetings. GoToMeeting offers what it calls a "Personal Meeting Room." You can create a custom URL that is easy to remember, such as gotomeet.me/superfunchattogo. Instead of trying to remember the access code and specific information, you can always just enter the meeting room. This is a great feature for recurring meetings. This is similar to the "Meet Now" option in Microsoft Skype for Business, except you get a unique URL for the meeting. You don't have to specify when you create the meeting whether it's a video call, just a voice call, or whether or not you will be screen sharing. All of that gets handled on the fly during the meeting. From the UI, you can also click "Meet Now" to start the meeting without scheduling it. Again, GoToMeeting won't send out the meeting details to participants. You have to copy and paste it yourself or rely on the plug-in to integrate with your email. The Meeting Experience The GoToMeeting UI has recently been updated to a more modern look and feel. GoToMeeting may be preferable to other services because it doesn't require users to navigate any menus. On the other hand, it doesn't have advanced meeting features, such as polling or raising a hand, so keep that in mind. GoToWebinar and GoToTraining do offer these more advanced features. A handful of competitors offer a "raise your hand" feature, including ClickMeeting and Adobe Connect. ClickMeeting also offers polling. For attendees, joining a meeting in GotoMeeting is quite simple. Click the link in the meeting invitation and GoToMeeting opens up a brand-new window. Or you can go directly to the GoToMeeting website and enter in the meeting code. In the past, GoToMeeting required Java to be installed. That is, thankfully, no longer the case but some client-side cooperation is still necessary. If this is your first time using GoToMeeting, then the website will automatically attempt to download the viewer software and then ask you to launch it. If you are using Chrome, then you may see a prompt asking if it is okay to launch the app. If you know you won't need the video or screen-sharing capabilities, then you can just dial into the conference bridge line. You choose your sound option (call in or use the computer) and then wait for the software to launch. If you restrict your browser settings to not allow pop-ups or downloads (as I do), then you have to grant the computer permission to perform each of these steps. That can be tedious but it's not difficult. If your attendees are on locked-down computers with restricted permissions to launch apps, then they may be prompted to enter a password before the viewer can run. The meeting doesn't start until the meeting organizer actually logs in and joins the meeting. Video Conferencing Capabilities GoToMeeting is a stable, well-established platform, and video conferencing is an extension of its capabilities. The problem is, video conferencing feels like an afterthought in it. GoToMeeting offers video conferencing via its HDFaces feature, which is included on all plans. Each participant clicks the Share Webcam button to turn on the camera. However, GoToMeeting limits you at six shared video sessions. It doesn't matter if you are on the 25-seat or 100-seat plan. At a given moment, you can have only six webcams going at a time. You can have people in the meeting just participating via audio and have six people on the video. It feels really restrictive, considering Microsoft Skype for Business and join.me both allow up to 10 video participants at a time, RingCentral Office allows up to 25 video participants, and Adobe Connect has no limit. You cannot use any of the tools, such as Drawing mode, while in video. You can, however, share your screen while still keeping your webcam going, which is good for a presentation. And you can use Drawing mode with the screen share. Video conferencing calls cannot be recorded, which is a pity, especially since Microsoft Skype for Business has the option out of the box. GoToMeeting is not picky about browser compatibility. I tested it in four separate browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari. Regardless of whether the attendee was on wireless or Ethernet, the experience was fluid and clear. If your business is serious about video conferencing, then you should also consider GoToConference, which is GoToMeeting's all-in-one video conferencing service that combines hardware with GoToMeeting video conferencing in a single package. Features You can also protect your meeting with a password but you have to email the participants separately. GoToMeeting won't send that information on your behalf, which makes sense. When the organizer starts the meeting and enters the password, GoToMeeting then prompts each participant to enter the password to allow them access. GoToMeeting claims to not save the meeting password. The program offers a drawing mode, in which the person who has control over the screen can draw. The tools let you highlight text, draw arrows, spotlight specific elements, or freely draw. I thought the tools seemed hidden away under the GoToMeeting logo but they weren't too difficult to find. You can't use the drawing tools in a video conference. If you need advanced meeting options, such as polling or raising your hand, then you will need to look at GoToWebinar or other platforms. GoToMeeting supports Chinese, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. When you switch language modes, all of the text and menu options change right away. As I mentioned earlier, I have access to Workspace Cloud, which lets businesses design and deliver workspace services to let users access apps, data, and IT tools in the cloud. This is different from desktop sharing during a meeting. With Workspace Cloud, you install, set up, and manage the app in the cloud, and deliver secure virtual apps and desktops to any device. Nothing runs on the local device but users get the full user experience (UX) regardless of device and network. GoToMeeting has apps for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone devices. You can also download the Viewer from the Windows Store for Windows 8.1 devices. I tested the video conferencing from Android and Windows Phone and found the quality high and the apps easy to navigate. GoToMeeting recently added a "Call Me" feature, which lets GoToMeeting call you during a previously scheduled meeting. This lets you join calls without having to enter the long dial-in information you normally have to enter. "One Click Meeting" is another new feature that lets users launch a meeting from integrated third-party apps, such as Microsoft Office and email. Getting Help GoToMeeting has a three-step product tour to walk users through the platform and get familiar with all of its features. There is also a separate training session, which is offered at specific times during the week. You sign up for a time slot and get one-on-one training on scheduling meetings and managing in-session features. It offers phone support for technical issues and online sales chat for help when evaluating the product. The Knowledge Base and Help text are comprehensive and the forums are active. It's easy to find previously asked questions. Plus, it offers 24/7 support if you need to contact a technical support representative. Simplicity Trumps Features GoToMeeting has upped its game over the past few years, increasing the number of people it supports on a given meeting and adding support for mobile devices. The cap for six webcams is disappointing, though. That's more inline with consumer video services, such as Skype and Google Hangouts. You expect a higher cap for a business-grade service. GoToMeeting is perhaps the most basic video conferencing solution available and, while it may not be the easiest, it is still one that many businesses pick because they know it so well. Consider trying an alternative such as ClickMeeting, our Editors' Choice, which offers more features, or Adobe Connect, which offers unlimited webcams. Bottom Line: GoToMeeting remains one of the easiest conferencing services to use, and the video conferencing feature keeps the app relevant, especially as new users and products flood the market all the time.

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