Google Hangouts: Costs - do you have to pay for the messenger?

Many users ask themselves whether there are any costs involved in using the Google messenger Hangouts. Especially considering Google's goal of establishing Hangouts primarily as a business messenger, the question is quite legitimate.

All info about the costs of Google Hangouts

When deciding whether to change the messenger service, not only the features but also the costs are of great importance. Google Hangouts does not incur any costs and can also be downloaded for free or used in the browser. Only when you do not have an Internet connection or use telephony, some features may incur charges. Chatting is therefore free, similar to the competitor and market leader WhatsApp.

Prices for telephony & Co.

If you use Google Hangouts to chat or to make phone calls and video chat via your Internet connection, there are no costs for this. On the road, the functions consume data volume if you are not connected to a WLAN network. Here, the costs for Hangouts are therefore dependent on your mobile provider.If you call with Hangouts in the fixed or mobile network, however, costs are incurred:

• Calls to the German fixed network cost 1 US cents per minute.
• Calls to the German mobile network, you pay 3 US cents per minute.
• Most calls to the US and Canada are free. Some networks, however, charge 1 US cent per minute.
• Hangouts calling is not available in all countries. To find out prices for specific countries, it's best to use Google's rate guide.