Don’t get distracted too much today “AI for Google Workspace” ad, because this is also the day of the Google Workspace price increase. Last month , Google announced Prices for the most popular “business” versions of Google Workspace will increase by 20 percent, and the company will launch an “annually” billing option on March 14. Today is the big day, and with this new billing plan, higher prices are hitting the Google Workspace sign-up page for new users. Existing users will see a 20 percent price increase sometime in the future, too, with the first rollout happening in April. If you don’t want to pay more for workspace, the new annual plan will let you commit to a year of workspace at the old price.
Google’s new Workspace brand is kind of confusing. Google used to only have a brand name for the paid business version of Google Apps, which came with the option of a custom domain for your Gmail account. Previously the name was “G Suite”, and before that it was “Google Apps for your domain”. However, the new “Workspace” branding applies to both paid business accounts and free consumer accounts. To be clear, free consumer Google Accounts for Gmail, Docs, and more are still free, but the three most popular business editions — Business “Starter,” “Standard,” and “Plus” — are all on the rise in price. Companies pay for these accounts per user per month, so prices can add up quickly.
Annual plans were once available to companies via the old-school route of contacting a company sales representative, but now any business admin will be able to sign up for an annual plan online. Unlike “flexible” monthly plans, Google terms As for the deal, let’s say you’re limited to the number of users you choose at the start of the year, and while you can add new users and pay more, you can’t drop them off. While you’re limited to a year of service, it’s still billed month after month, and added users will increase your bill from now on, so it’s prorated. You are not allowed to cancel the deal early.
New users pay more today, and existing users pay more starting next month
Google price goes up.
A lot of SaaS companies offer you this deal if you sign up for an entire year. Instead of a discount, Google actually raises the price of Workspace per month, so locking yourself into an annual plan can save you money. It’s hard to imagine leaving an email anytime soon, right?
Prices are up 20 percent across all three major “business” issues. The Business Starter edition, which offers 30GB of storage per user, will go from $6 per user per month to $7.20. Business Standard flies up to 2TB per user and adds more Google Meet features like noise cancellation and meeting recordings. This used to cost $12 per user per month, but now it will be $14.40. The Business Plus plan, 5TB, was $18 a month, but it’s now $21.60.
Obviously, Google would love it if everyone stuck to an annual plan instead of a one-month one. These new prices are already on Google Workspace pricing page, though by default it shows one month’s cost for the annual commitment price instead of the Flexible Plan price you’d actually pay if you paid monthly. If you hover over the little “i” icon, you’ll see that the month-to-month flexible rate is now 20 percent higher.
Pricing for the new workspace is straightforward.
Ron Amadeo
It is difficult to pinpoint an exact time for the price hike for existing users. Google says that “the new pricing will be rolled out starting in April of this year through 2024, depending on factors including the number of user licenses, the terms of the current contract, and the payment plan. For example, the pricing of existing Google Workspace subscriptions with 10 user licenses or less It won’t change until January 2024. “So… sometimes Over the next nine months, maybe even longer than that, I think. Google says, “Customers will be notified via the Google Workspace Admin console at least 30 days before their price changes become effective and provide them with more specific information to help them navigate these changes.”
It’s not hard to imagine why Google would raise prices. Google Cloud, the Workspace division of which it is a part, is still unprofitable, and the high prices of its most popular product will help in this. Google Cloud employees – and only Google Cloud employees – were asked recently To share offices To consolidate real estate, so there’s some real austerity going on there. Assuming Google Workspace is newly announced Generative artificial intelligence The features that are thrown out to the masses, the operation of these features also represents Significant increase in server cost for Google, and someone has to pay for that, too.
