You can use a room or a group message in Google Chat to chat with two or more people. To help you decide which to use, the table below describes the differences between group messages and rooms.
| Group messages | Rooms | |
| Who can chat | After starting the chat, can't add or remove anyone | Can add and remove anyone at any time |
| Conversations | Single, unthreaded conversation | Multiple, threaded conversations |
| Message history | History can be turned off (messages removed in 24 hours) or turned on (messages follow your organisation's retention policy), subject to the admin's settings. | Message history is on and messages are retained according to your organisation's policy |
| Name | List of other members' names, e.g. 'Brenden, Ann, Rosa' | Room creator chooses name, e.g. 'Marketing chat' |
| Notifications | Members are notified for every message | Users are notified for conversations that they're in or when @mentioned |
| Leaving | Members can't leave but can hide the chat in the sidebar | Members can leave and rejoin |
| Multiple with same users | Can't have two group messages with the same set of people | Can have two or more rooms with the same set of people |
| External users | Can't include people outside of your organisation | Can include people outside of your organisation (if your organisation allows this) |