As G Suite has integrated more communication and collaboration tools, it has been rebranded to Google Workspace. All Google Workspace plans provide a custom email for your business and include collaboration tools like Gmail, Calendar, Meet, Chat, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Sites, and more.
Some of the Google Workspace plans available are listed below:
Business Starter
This plan includes custom and secure business email, security and management controls, as well as standard support. Each user is provided with 30GB of cloud storage and video meetings can include up to 100 participants.
Business Standard
The Business Standard plan includes all the features of the Business Starter plan, with users provided with a larger cloud storage capacity (2TB). Video meetings can include up to 150 participants, with recording capability.
Business Plus
For enhanced security and management controls, as well as eDiscovery and retention, this plan provides greater control and peace of mind. Video meetings of up to 250 participants, including recording and attendance tracking capability. Each user is provided with 5TB of cloud storage.
Each plan will give you access to your own email account and all the Google Workspace productivity and collaboration tools. The main differences lie in storage allowance, security features, and the level of administrative control you have over the products.
| Google Workspace Business Starter | Google Workspace Business Standard | Google Workspace Business Plus | Google Workspace Enterprise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $6/user/month | $12/user/month | $18/user/month | Contact sales |
| Professional email (using your own domain) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Google Workspace Products (Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Calendar, Hangouts, Meet, Forms, Sites) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| File storage | 30 GB/user | 2 TB/user | 5 TB/user | Unlimited |
| 24/7 support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| App Maker | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Max. number of video participants | 100 | 150 | 250 | 250 |
| Ability to record and save video & voice conferences | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Live-streaming on Meet Video | No | No | No | Yes |
| Cloud Search (advanced enterprise-wide search through Gmail, Drive, Docs, etc.) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced enterprise controls (data loss prevention, security center, security key management, etc.) | No | No | No | Yes |
| Alerts for changes to Drive documents | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Google Vault security (archiving for mail and chat messages, export features, etc.) | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Ability to set rules for device management | No | No | No | Yes |
Which Google Workspace Plan Should You Choose?
Google Workspace Business Starter
This plan would be a good option if:
- You’re a freelancer, solopreneur or small business owner who manages a small team (i.e. less than 5 employees)
- You want an email address on your own domain
- You want to run your office tools out of Google (e.g. as opposed to Microsoft Office)
- You don’t work with large file formats and don’t need a huge amount of space to store files and emails
- You don’t need archiving for your emails and chat messages, or advanced admin and security controls
However, if you have a bigger team and/or don’t think the 30 GB of personal storage will cut it, then it’s worth considering one of the higher plans.
Google Workspace Business Standard
The $6/user/month price difference between Google Workspace Business Starter and Business Standard means that the Standard plan may not be a realistic option for some businesses. However, we’d recommend this plan if:
- You manage a medium-to-large sized team
- You want access to all the features of Google Workspace Business Starter, but also want email and message archiving (Google Vault)
- You don’t want to worry about running out of storage space for your files
- Easily syncing and sharing files across teams/the company is important to you
- You plan to use Google Hangouts for video conferencing and would have less than 150 participants on any call
- You don’t need advanced admin and security controls (e.g. data loss prevention, security key management)
Of course, if you need even greater control and more advanced security features, then Business Plus would be the way to go.
Google Workspace Business Plus
At $18/month/user, this plan is directed at larger businesses. We’d recommend it if:
- You are in need of more advanced security features
- 2 TB per user isn’t enough for you. The Business Plus plan allows for 5 TB per user
- You regularly host very large video conferences with up to 250 participants
Google Workspace Enterprise
This is ideal for businesses and enterprises that need the features offered by Google Workspace Business Plus, but also:
- Have larger teams, and therefore require greater admin and security controls over their Google Workspace apps
- Need advanced security features such as device management rules, security key management and data loss prevention
- Aside from having access to email archiving via Google Vault, need to be able to integrate with third-party archiving tools like Barracuda or Mailstore
The good thing is that you can purchase different plans for different users within your business. For example, if you only want Enterprise for some of your users, you don’t have to commit your entire team to it. This could help you reduce your monthly cost significantly.
There are also special plans available for schools (Google Workspace for Education and Google Workspace Enterprise for Education), and non-profits (Google Workspace for Non-profits, which is free of charge).
Plans can be billed monthly or annually. Discounts may also apply to annual plans, but generally only if you sign up through a Google representative.