Guide to Google Workspace Pricing

Google Workspace was formerly G Suite. Different types of customers will find different Google Workspace plans suitable for their needs. The advantage of Google Workspace is that you can scale up or down depending on your business’s requirements, so you’re not constrained by a limited product as your company grows. 

Collaboration for remote and distributed teams is an important concern for modern business. You want apps that can help you share documents securely, meet online, coordinate scheduling, work with data, and more. Google Workspace is the answer for teams who are looking for a more affordable solution than Microsoft 365, albeit with a slightly more limited feature set. 

Google Workspace is a top choice for businesses since many of your team members will be familiar with its interface from personal use, and many of its apps are integrated so you benefit from a holistic experience. Google offers a great user experience with some affordable plans for small businesses that enhances professionalism without costing the earth. 

Learn more about Google Workspace, how much it costs, and the difference between various plans. 

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Does Google Workspace cost money?

Google Workspace does cost money. Google charges businesses a set amount per user which varies according to the different plans. It offers businesses a suite of productivity and collaboration tools that helps teams work together and coordinate more effectively with external clients and partners. 

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You can even go one step further and upgrade to an Enterprise plan, which requires contacting sales for pricing. Businesses who have more than 300 users will typically adopt the Enterprise plan, which also offers enhanced security features to give you peace of mind when using Google Workspace. 

Although Google Workspace does cost money, plans start from $6 per user per month, making it within reach for many smaller teams. 

Can I use Google Workspace for free?

It’s important to note that Google Workspace is available for free for personal users. The free version of Google Workspace includes all your favorite apps such as Docs, Drive, Calendar and Sheets, but is missing some of the communication and collaboration features that you’ll enjoy with Google Workspace’s paid plans. For example, video conferences with hundreds of participants, longer calls, and noise canceling become possible with Google Workspace’s paid plans. 

As soon as you start working with a team or are working as a solopreneur, you might want to think about upgrading to one of Google Workspace’s paid plans. Businesses that require email addresses with custom domains makes Google Workspace a viable alternative to traditional hosting services. 

If you’re not sure, you can use Google Workspace for a free 14-day trial to familiarize yourself with what Google has to offer through its paid plans. Google incentivizes its users to upgrade to paid plans by limiting functionality and storage space. 

Teams who are using Google Workspace intensively will definitely want to consider investing in a paid plan, which gives you more control over the users in your organization. 

Is Google Workspace free forever?

Google made Google Workspace free for everyone in 2021, which meant that its more than 3 billion user base was upgraded at no cost to begin using Workspace’s suite of features. Customers who had previously been using Google apps like Gmail and Docs now had access to a more integrated experience such as smart suggestions in email, and the ability to insert a document into Meet with one click. 

Google has no plans to remove access to Google Workspace for its many free users, meaning you can continue to use it even if you prefer not to upgrade to a paid plan. Businesses with several team members, with the need to manage users centrally, however, will definitely want to consider one of Google’s paid options. 

If you don’t want to upgrade, you can consider using Google Workspace’s basic features for free. 

How much does Google Workspace cost?

Google currently offers four plans for Google Workspace users, each with slightly more advanced features as you move up the pricing tier. 

1. Business Starter
2. Business Standard
3. Business Plus
4. Enterprise

Business Starter costs $6 per user per month, making it the most affordable Google Workspace plan. 

Business Standard costs $12 per user per month, making it double the cost of Business Starter. 

Business Plus costs $18 per user per month, making it the most expensive plan that Google lists pricing for on its website. 

Enterprise users must contact sales to obtain pricing, suggesting that pricing is flexible depending on your needs. 

The evolution of Google Workspace

Some users may be confused about how Google Workspace evolved to become what it is now. Most people have heard of Gmail and Google Docs, but how do these very popular apps relate to Google Workspace? 

The answer is that Google Workspace is the evolution of all the apps that were included under the umbrella of G Suite. Now, every user who is accessing a tool like Gmail is also using Google Workspace. As we mentioned previously, Google rolled out Google Workspace to all of its users in 2021. 

• 2006: “Google Apps for your Domain” was released, including apps such as Gmail for personal use. 
• 2016: The platform is rebranded to G Suite and includes more productivity apps such as Meet, Drive and Hangouts which empowers remote teams to collaborate more efficiently. 
• 2020: G Suite evolves into Google Workspace, providing a more personalized experience with enhanced security and customer support. 
• 2021: Google Workspace rolled out to all users. 

Undoubtedly Google Workspace will continue to evolve, bringing more value and ROI to its large user base. 

Google Workspace Features

Every Google Workspace plan comes with a number of features, including a suite of Google’s productivity and collaboration apps that enables businesses to operate much more easily. 

Here’s a list of the apps included in Google Workspace: 

• Gmail – email software with ad-free interface and spam blocker that prevents 99.9% of attacks
• Sheets – spreadsheets supporting more than 400 functions to help you manipulate data and calculate numbers
• Drive – cloud storage with the ability to upgrade to more storage to support an expanding team
• Docs – word processor making document collaboration a reality with detailed review process
• Keep – note-taking that enables you to save word files and images in an easily accessible interface
• Forms – online surveys that allow you to collect feedback from internal or external parties
• Chat – online messaging restricting access to team members only for secure chat
• Currents – virtual bulletin boards which users can collaborate on
• Calendar – online calendar to help you keep track of scheduling and share meetings
• Sites – website builder to help you build internal or external sites without coding
• Meet – video conferencing with the ability to detect fraudulent attendees at meetings keeping your meetings secure
• Slides – presentations that can  be shared and collaborated on

The great thing about these apps is they all integrate with one another, such as being able to tag users from Gmail within Google Docs to submit documents for review. Every single plan includes access to this comprehensive suite of apps, although the cheaper plans may be restricted to more limited features. 

Others features of Google Workspace include: 

• Advanced security features such as two-step verification, group-based policy controls and advanced protection program
• 24/7 customer support through phone and email with the ability to upgrade to enhanced and premium support
• No need to download anything as Google’s entire platform is delivered through the cloud, although mobile app versions are available for many of Google’s tools

Individual users can access the basic versions of Google Workspace but their team plans for businesses take functionality to the next level. If you’re doing anything remotely team-based, you’ll want to think about Google Workspace’s business plans. 

Google Workspace is so comprehensive that you can bring many of your activities under one roof, operating securely and efficiently. 

What’s included in each Google Workspace plan?

Business Starter includes features that will appeal to small businesses and is Google Workspace’s most affordable plan. It offers a good introduction to Google Workspace for teams who are comfortable working with limited storage and operating with smaller teams.

Top features included in this plan are:  

• 30 GB of storage per user in Google Drive
• 100 participants in Google Meet
• Email with custom domain
• Security and management controls
• Standard security and customer support

When you consider that the standard Google Drive comes with 15 GB of free storage, Business Starter looks like a good deal for teams. Bear in mind that approaching this limit becomes a real possibility if your members often upload or receive large files such as image or video. And if you want to access premium support, you’ll want to think about upgrading to a higher tier. 

Business Standard includes everything that comes with Business Starter and a little bit more. It’s slightly more expensive but offers significantly more storage for more file-intensive small to medium-sized teams, as well as improved usability for Google Meet. 

Top features included in this plan are: 

• 2 TB of storage per user in Google Drive
• 150 participants in Google Meet plus recording
• Email with custom domain
• Security and management controls
• Standard security and customer support with the option to upgrade to Enhanced Support

Having the option to pay to upgrade for enhanced support is important for teams who want to ensure they don’t lose any productive time as a result of product bugs. 

Business Plus plans are slightly more feature-rich than Business Standard since it offers more than double the storage and much more advanced security features. Larger teams will want to consider Business Plus. 

Top features included in this plan are: 

• 5 TB of storage per user in Google Drive
• 500 participants in Google Meet plus recording and attendance tracking
• Email with custom domain with ediscovery and retention
• Enhanced security and management controls, including Vault and advanced endpoint management
• Standard security and customer support with the option to upgrade to Enhanced Support

Enterprise is for businesses who need a large-scale plan to support their workforce which potentially runs into the hundreds or thousands. Every plan apart from the Enterprise plan is limited to 300 users so businesses can speak to a sales rep if they have bespoke needs from Google Workspace. 

Top features included in this plan are: 

• Unlimited storage in Google Drive
• 500 participants in Google Meet plus recording and attendance tracking, noise cancellation, and in-domain live streaming
• Email with custom domain with ediscovery and retention, and S/MIME encryption
• Advanced security, management and compliance controls, including Vault, DLP, data regions and enterprise endpoint management
• Enhanced support, with the option to upgrade to Premium Support

Choosing the Enterprise Google Workspace plan means you will have access to important security features that are often non-negotiable for enterprise businesses. Storage is no object as every enterprise user has access to as much storage space as they need. 

How to choose a new Google Workspace plan

The primary way to figure out how to choose a new Google Workspace plan is to consider how big your team is and what their needs are. Business Starter is naturally better for smaller teams with more limited budgets, who nevertheless require a professional workspace for their workforce. 

As your team starts to grow and engages in more activity you’ll want to consider one of the higher tiers of Workspace plans. As you move further up the chain, you’ll have access to more robust security features which is better for companies who have more demanding security and compliance needs. 

Consider how many participants you’ll want to include in your virtual meetings and whether you’ll want to store your recordings for a later date. 

Luckily, all Google Workspace plans come with security and management controls so you can control who in your team has access to Workspace. This is especially important as new users come and go, so you’ll need to be able to scale your plan up and down as your needs change. Google Workspace makes all this possible. 

There is a Google Workspace plan out there for everyone, whether you have a team of five or 5,000. 

Wrapping up

When compared with rival solutions like Microsoft 365, Google Workspace stacks up well. Its feature-set is comparable while also offering more cost-effective plans that are particularly appealing to smaller businesses who are trying to control their budgets. One of the best things about Google Workspace is that most team members are familiar with the interface, having used at least one of Google’s well-known apps in a personal capacity. 

You’ll want to carefully evaluate Google Workspace for business to ensure your team has the tools they need to do their jobs. 

If you’re in the market for Google Workspace, consider the plan that will be right for you and remember you can always scale up if needed. Many smaller businesses opt for Google Workspace which will help them on their journey towards growth and customer success, allowing them to manage multiple custom email addresses and control the activities of their team.