Before Google kills free G Suite accounts, why not offer a family email plan?

Some longtime Google end users are going through a tough changeover. In the early days of Google’s business enterprise-focused productivity service—first termed “Google Applications for Your Domain” then “G Suite” and now “Google Workspace”—Google made available domain-branded Google “business” accounts for free. From 2006 to 2012, buyers could make a absolutely free Google Applications/G Suite account with a tailor made area, so their e mail ended with a domain they owned, as an alternative of “@gmail.com.” In January, Google introduced a substantial policy change and told these users they essential to start off spending the typical enterprise fee for their Google accounts or facial area an account shutdown. It is an unfair rug pull for people who set up a free of charge account many years ago with no warning that Google may well eventually cost for it. These folks are in deep, with all knowledge, e-mails, and purchases stored on these accounts, and it feels like information extortion to instantly inform them to pay up or drop everything.

Google later relented considerably and provided a imprecise escape hatch option, promising that sometime these “Legacy G Suite” end users could port their information and purchases to a free of charge buyer Gmail account—with the caveat that Google is not going to host their custom made-domain electronic mail any more. Quite a few of the significant distinct particulars of this transition strategy are not general public yet, but what is certain is the deadline for payment and account shutdowns, and customers are just left to flap in the breeze whilst their stress and anxiety builds.

A important difficulty is that Google actually stopped pitching custom-area email to individuals, and now these Legacy G Suite end users have no apparent enhance route. In the past, there was absolutely nothing incorrect with applying Google Apps/G Suite for non-company functions, and Google even encouraged it. Just search at the original Google Applications for Your Domain site put up, which says Google released the provider just after “listening to opinions from thousands of tiny businesses, K-12 educational facilities, nonprofits, universities, even people with their have web sites.” Google encouraged people to use this, and now it really is telling these households they are corporations.

My query is, why does this have to be so challenging? This is an idea: Offer you a Google Workspace (or Google One) “loved ones approach” that supports a customized domain at a fair customer price. This just isn’t a crazy plan because all of Google’s opponents by now present this. In my discussions with a variety of folks influenced by the policy alter, absolutely free G Suite end users aren’t always miffed about having to pay for a customized electronic mail domain. Continue to, they typically usually are not enterprises and really don’t want to pay out business fees for G Suite.

Let’s assess what Google is providing to the level of competition. Google Workspace’s closest competitor is Business 365, and in addition to the business offerings, Microsoft presents a “Microsoft 365 Family members” system. This is $100 for each year for a 6-man or woman relatives. It has 1TB of cloud storage per user, a 50GB inbox, obtain to all the Microsoft Business applications, and, critically, custom domain e mail accounts. Even making use of the most economical “Organization Starter” program, Google Workspace is $6 per month per consumer. If we match Microsoft’s six user, one particular-year presenting, which is $432 for every year, and that’s only with 30GB of cloud storage for each person. With 2TB of cloud storage per person, the following tier up is $12 for every user, for every thirty day period, or $864 per yr.

Apple’s comparable products is the iCloud+ subscription, which also offers custom area email assistance, starting off at $1 for every consumer for each thirty day period. That is six periods much less than what Google fees, and Apple is presenting 20GB a lot more for every user—50GB overall. For 6 people today, that would be $72 for each yr, even though Google would cost $432 for every yr for a lower storage tier.