Alternatives to Google Duo

Individuals and small groups who wanted a simple, no-frills way to make one-to-one or group video calls on their phone, without needing both parties to have a Google account.

Google Duo offered one-to-one and group video calling (up to 32 participants in later versions) with a focus on call quality and simplicity. Its signature feature, Knock Knock, showed a live video preview of the caller before the recipient answered. It could be used with just a phone number, and worked across Android, iOS, and the web. In 2022, Google began merging Duo's features into Google Meet, and by 2023 the Duo app itself was rebranded as Meet, discontinuing Duo as a separate product.

Users signed in with a phone number (or Google account) and could call any contact who had the app, or invite non-users via a shareable link. Calls connected directly through the app with no separate scheduling or meeting-link step required, distinguishing it from the more meeting-oriented Google Meet at the time.