Google Workspace Pricing: How Much is it and What’s Included?

EmailTooltester is supported by readers like yourself. We may earn a commission when you purchase through our links. Of course, this won't increase the cost for you.

We’re all familiar with Google, but if you’re a business user, you’ve probably also come across Google Workspace at some stage, though you probably knew it by its former name: G Suite.

What is Google Workspace, exactly?

Google Workspace is Google’s range of cloud-based office productivity tools. It initially only included Gmail, Docs, and Sheets, but in recent years, Google has also added tools like Google Drive, Chat, Meet Video (among many others).

Typically, Google Workspace was seen as the cheaper option for business productivity tools, especially in relation to its biggest rival, Microsoft Office 365 (read our detailed review of the Office 365 suite here).

This has made it popular with millions of small-to-medium businesses worldwide. Higher-level plans offering advanced archiving, security and administrative features have also made it an attractive choice for larger enterprises.

However, the recent inclusion of AI-powered tools – not to mention a rather hefty price hike – has left many users wondering: Is Google Workspace still a viable option?

Find out as we take you through everything you need to know about the new Google Workspace pricing, to help you make a decision.

Google Workspace Pricing: How much does it cost?

For single users, there is also the Workspace Individual plan, which costs $9.99/month (or $8.33/month with the annual discount). However, this plan is limited to 1 TB of storage, just a handful of apps, and doesn't come with a custom email address.

With the increased Google Workspace pricing introduced in January 2025, users will be paying between 17-22% more than they would have previously.

This might be manageable if you’re a smaller business with just a handful of users.

But it could sting a little if you’re a mid-large-sized business, running your entire team’s email, storage and productivity tools out of Google Workspace.

The good news is, however, that it’s possible to cut costs by opting for one of Google Workspace’s annual plans, which gives you a discount. So let’s take a look at what tools and features you get access to on each Google Workspace plan, and whether its annual discounts can help to make it more affordable for your business.

What’s Included in Each Google Workspace Plan

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, AI tools, security features, and the level of administrative control you have over the products.

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
• You’re not interested in using Google’s AI tools, beyond being able to write and summarize Gmail emails with AI

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 (2 TB should be enough for most small businesses)
• Easily syncing and sharing files across teams/the company is important to you
• You plan to use Google Meet 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)
• Being able to use Gemini’s AI tools across the whole suite of Workspace products is important to you (e.g. using AI to draft or polish documents, generate images, take meeting notes, translate chats, or find files)

I’ve personally only tested Gemini in a few instances, but didn’t find it overly helpful. I thought I could use it to help me more easily find files in Google Drive, and emails in Gmail (which would be super useful, as I have tens of thousands of emails in my inbox!). However, it really didn’t deliver the results I had hoped for – and certainly not enough to justify the extra cost.

I had similar issues when using it to compose messages in Gmail – it seemed to struggle to get the tone right. That said, we all know that AI moves quickly – so if anything changes, I'll be sure to update it here!

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 500 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).

Plans can be billed monthly or annually.

What's Not Included in Google Workspace's Pricing Plans?

Google offers a few optional features that can be added to your Google Workspace plan for an extra cost. These include:

• Google Voice – Google's telephony service that allows you to make phone calls and send text messages. Plans range from between $10-30 per user, per month. Note that this service is only available in the US, UK, and Europe. A SIP Link subscription can be connected to Google Voice in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico.
• Google AppSheet – Google's no-code software development platform can also be added to your Google Workspace account. Pricing starts from $10/user/month.

Google Workspace Pricing: Final thoughts

After taking this all in, you might be wondering, is Google Workspace worth it?

Well, there are a few things to consider here. Firstly, Google Workspace Business Starter and Business Standard are still more affordable than comparable plans for Microsoft Office 365.

Additionally, you have access to a fairly complete suite of office productivity applications and email, plus some generous storage allowances (especially with the Google Workspace Business Standard plan). It used to be possible to use personal Google Drive subscriptions alongside your Workspace account, but this is no longer an option, unfortunately. However, the storage is now pooled and can be shared among all your users.

As you’ve seen, there is a range of plans catering to different budgets and requirements, meaning that you have a good chance of finding one that’s right for you.

Sure, we wouldn’t recommend it if you were only looking for an email hosting solution for your business (there are other providers that are much cheaper, e.g. Namecheap). From what we’ve seen, Gemini’s AI tools also still leave a lot to be desired (especially compared to more advanced generative tools like ChatGPT), so these definitely should not be the main draw.

But in our view, you get a decent amount for what you’re paying – enough to be able to comfortably run many of your business’s key functions through Google Workspace.

> Try Google Workspace free for 14 days

Still have questions about Google Workspace? Or want to share your experience with it? Leave us a comment below.

Email Marketing Ebook: Beginner's Guide

Sign up to receive your free copy and avoid common mistakes!

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.

Your subscription has been successful.

Enter your name

Enter your email address to subscribe

Do you run an online store?

Yes

No

Approximately, how big is your list?

No list yet Up to 2k Up to 20k Up to 50k More than 50k

I agree to receive news and updates via email. Find our privacy policy here.

Get It Now!

The authors

Learn more about us

Inka Wibowo

Senior Content Manager

Hi, I'm Inka! I spent the earlier part of my career in agency land, helping businesses of all sizes get their email marketing campaigns up and running. Now, at EmailTooltester, I'm using my experience to help businesses like yours find the best email marketing services for your needs. Although I've used dozens of different tools, I'm most familiar with Mailchimp and Kit (I use the latter for my personal newsletter!).

Roberta Phillips

Marketing Manager

Hey, I'm Roberta! Having worked as a digital marketer for a host of online businesses, I've tried, tested, fallen in love with and despaired with so many marketing tools. I'm excited to help you find the email marketing and CRM tools you need to thrive. I know the ins and outs of tools like Brevo, MailerLite, and Hubspot, so let me know if you need help picking the right one!

Learn more about us