How to Choose a Google Workspace Plan (In-depth Guide)

If you are presently a G-suite member or want to invest in a platform that will help you switch all your office activities online, then Google Workspace can be the best option for you. 

It will improve your business efficiency by offering functionalities that are solely made, keeping in mind a unique business structure. 

Besides, it comes with four pricing plans that you can choose based on your requirements. 

The following article will help you understand more about its pricing plans and mention some of the factors you should consider before choosing your Google workspace plan.

How to Choose a Google Workspace Plan?

Google Workspace is the rebranded version of G-suite, which was launched in 2016. G-suite is used by 6 million people worldwide, and many of them are now planning to switch to Google workspace in need to try all its exceptional services and I covered a lot more in this Google Workspace Review. 

Google has fully leveraged the situation as most of the people are now working online. In simpler terms, Google Workspace collaborates with all Google’s productivity tools to help owners efficiently run their businesses online. 

The platform allows deeper integration of applications, which will save members a lot of time. Like Gmail can now collaborate with Docs, Sheets, and slides. So, you do not have to open two tools separately while working on both of them. Hence, you can easily create, edit, or share documents and files through Gmail simultaneously.

Paid plans offered by Google workspace

Business Starter

Google Workspace Business Starter is one of the basic plans of Google workspace, which can accommodate up to 300 users. It includes all Google productivity tools like Gmail, Drive, Meet, Calendar, Chat, Docs, Sheets, Slides, keep, sites, forms, and currents. The plan offers a customizable email address that can be changed according to your business name.

Through Meet, the admin can conference video call up to 100 participants at a stretch of 24 hrs. The members can also write on the screen to explain their points. The platform provides every user with 30GB of cloud storage in their Drive to support more than 100 types of files. 

Google workspace offers deep integration by enabling its chat tool to collaborate with Gmail and Docs. It enables Admins to track team activities and also share calendars with members to pre-plan meetings, 

Docs, Sheets, and Slides are among the extensively used google tools. These allow us to create, edit, and share documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, respectively. It helps the users by providing multiple additional functionalities like smart fill, grammar suggestions, autocorrect, and many more. 

Google workspace prefers the utmost user’s security by offering 2-factor verification and enabling Advanced Protection Programme to keep away all suspicious activities.  

Business Standard

Business Standard is the most popular plan of Google workspace. It is suitable for small to medium-sized businesses with less than 300 team members. The plan includes all the features provided by the Business Starter and offers some exceptional additional functionalities.

The admin can now include over 150 participants in video calls with a maximum stretch of 24 hours. You can also record your meetings and save them in your Drive. Many more features that will soon be updated in the Business Standard plans are moderation controls, hand raising during live meetings, and attendance tracking.

It also provides each user with 2TB cloud storage on their Drive, shared between members. The chat tool allows you to auto-accept invitations and also enables users to chat outside their domain. 

The plan allows you to conduct a first-party data search in your cloud storage to help you find important information. The security measures of the Business Standard are the same as the Starter plan.

Here is the comparison of Google WorkSpace Starter Vs Standard plan explained with clear information.

Business Plus

Business Plus is one of the premium plans of Google workspace. The plan has all the features of Business Standard and is best for medium to large-sized businesses. It can accommodate up to 250 participants while video calling with the ability to dial international calls.

The plan offers maximum storage of 5TB to each of its users, which can be shared among all team members. All the functionalities offered in chat, calendar, collaboration tools, currents, and cloud search are the same as the Business Standard plan.

Google workspace has included two additional security features in this plan:

• Vault: The tool will help you archive and retain your business’s important information by limiting its access. You can set retain rules for specific applications or your entire organization’s domain. The user can easily search the archived data and information whenever they want.
• Secure LAPD: Google workspace believes in the utmost security of the users. So, all business accounts with this plan are inbuilt with Lightweight Directory Access Protocol or LAPD. It will save the passwords and usernames of all your team members and protect against all kinds of suspicious activity.

Enterprise Plan

The Enterprise plan is for businesses that have over 300 members. It includes some exceptional features that are missing in all the other plans.

The following plan offers unlimited Drive storage that can be used to store giant files. Like the Business Plus plan, the video calling limit is 250 participants, which can be conducted at a stretch of 24 hours. The admin can also perform both first and third-party cloud searches to find important information.

The enterprise plan includes some premium-quality security services, which are mentioned below:

• Data Loss Prevention (DLP): The admin can enable a DLP to avoid sharing confidential information like tax ids, balance sheets, bank accounts, etc. It will scan all your user’s emails and inform you in case of any suspicious activity.
• Context-Aware Access: The functionality allows you to control the application access of your members. You can only allow them to use tools that are actually in their domain.
• S/MIME Encryption: Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) allow you to encrypt confidential information. It will send mail to the admin every time a team member uses this feature.
• Access transparency: Google is always upfront about keeping a parent relationship with its clients. The admin will have full access to see the action taken by Google’s staff and changes done in their online workspace.

Factors determining the choice of your Google Workspace plan

1. User limits:

All the Google Workspace business plans can only accommodate up to 300 users and above that will come under the enterprise plan. 

So, if your business has more than 300 users, it will be liable to register itself under Enterprise. There is no restriction on the number of users in the Enterprise plan. 

2. Google Meet:

It is vital to differentiate between all the four Google Workspace plans. So, make sure you choose a plan from which you can make the most out of the Google Meet. 

The Meet is excessively used by businesses to connect with all the team members working remotely. The platform provides a smooth group video calling experience to connect all the team members efficiently. Here is the list of the maximum participants each plan can accommodate:

• Business Starter: 100 people
• Business Standard: 150 people
• Business Plus: 250 people
• Enterprise: 250 people

Your business has to adjust between these limitations, but the plans are always upgradable according to the requirement. 

3. Storage limits:

Google Workspace offers a defined maximum cloud storage to each member according to their plan, which is mentioned below:

• Business Starter: 30GB per user
• Business Standard: 2TB per user
• Business Plus: 5 TB per user
• Enterprise Plan: Unlimited

It would help if you chose a sufficient plan for your business to store all its data without needing regular plan upgrades smoothly.

Note – The above storage does not include files that are already in Google forms like Google Docs, sheets, insights, forms, or slides. The Google Workspace will use your provided storage space if all these files have different formats, including images and videos.

4. The pricing structure of the plans: If you have been a past G-suite user, you must have seen the pricing structure of G-suite was straightforward. It started only with $12 per user every month, but Google workspace has branched out with four 4 unique pricing plans. 

These paid ones are billed monthly at:

• Business Starter: $6 per user every month
• Business Standard: $12 per user per month
• Business Plus: $18 per user per month
• Enterprise: $20-$30 per user every month

The website asks you to contact the sales team to get a custom price for your enterprise. But the plan is majorly distinguished into two broad categories:

• Google Workspace Enterprise Standard: $20 per user per month
• Google Workspace Enterprise Plus: $30 per user per month

The pricing structure can vary from business to business, so contacting the Google team will be the best option that will help you in choosing the most appropriate plan.

Conclusion

Google Workspace is one most trusted and efficient platforms, helping businesses to connect with their members smoothly. The business owners should go for a plan that procures all their business requirements apart from being affordable. Your Google Workspace plan should look like an investment rather than an expense.