Google Workspace Pricing: Costs and Plans Explained

A productivity suite such as Google Workspace is one of the most important IT purchases most organizations will ever make. These solutions help shape how users store and share critical information across the organization, what artificial intelligence (AI) features workers can access, and even how employees connect with one another and complete their work.

However, the multiple plans and pricing tiers can make it difficult for business and IT leaders to know which version will best fit their needs. This guide breaks down Google Workspace’s four major plans, with detailed information on pricing, features, security and support.

Google Workspace is a subscription-based suite of cloud productivity tools and services, including email, calendar, storage, word processing, file sharing and video collaboration.

Some business and IT leaders may be familiar with Google Workspace applications but know them by former names, such as Google Apps and G Suite. Today, Google Workspace provides collaboration tools including Gmail, Calendar, Meet, Chat, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms and Sites. Unlike Google’s free consumer apps, Google Workspace offers business-grade services such as custom business email addresses, additional security and administrative controls, additional cloud storage, and longer group video meetings with interactive features.

Further, different levels of Google Workspace offer access to AI features, appointment booking pages, data migration tools, advanced security features and dedicated technical support.

While each new tier offers more storage — and more advanced features — even the most basic Google Workspace plans offer Google’s core apps, 24/7 support and a 99.9% uptime guarantee.

Google Workspace offers four main plans for businesses: Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus and Enterprise. The Enterprise level is designed for larger businesses, while the other three tiers are each capped at 300 users. Organizations that opt for annual commitments pay less than those with flexible month-to-month plans, but in all cases, pricing is based on user count.

This table provides a quick reference guide to pricing for each Google Workspace tier, as well as storage, user limit and support level:

With four plans to choose from, Google Workspace has options that match virtually every budget and business need. Each plan builds on the tier below it, adding more storage and advanced features.

At this level, one of the most attractive features may be the custom business email address (e.g., you@your-company.com). Especially for solo shops and small firms, this alone can bring a new level of professionalism to a business. The Starter level also offers video meetings for up to 100 participants, as well as Gemini AI assistant in Gmail and the ability to chat with AI inside the Gemini app. However, this tier offers only 30 GB of pooled storage per user — enough to store just a few hours of high-definition video.

Who it’s for: This best suits solo professionals, freelancers and small businesses that need professional email and Google’s core apps at a low cost.

The storage jump at the Standard level is substantial, with users receiving 2 terabytes of pooled storage — 65 times as much as the Starter level. The Standard level also expands access to AI features, with Gemini AI assistant available in apps such as Gmail, Docs and Meet. Users also have access to NotebookLM, an AI research assistant. This tier offers video meetings for up to 150 participants, with recording and noise cancellation features, as well as custom email layouts and mail merge. Other features at the Standard level include appointment booking pages, eSignature with Docs and PDFs, and the Google Workspace Migrate tool for data migration.

Who it’s for: This best suits growing small and midsized organizations that need more storage, larger video meetings and AI features across their suite of Google apps.

At the Plus tier, organizations and users get access to a number of important business tools. Google Vault, for example, allows organizations to retain, hold, search and export data across Workspace apps and also set retention rules to comply with regulatory or business requirements. This tier also offers advanced endpoint management, 5TB of pooled storage per user and Secure Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), which provides a simple and secure way to connect applications and services to Google Workspace. At the Plus level, video meetings can accommodate up to 500 participants, with attendance tracking.

Who it’s for: This is best suited for midsized businesses and regulated organizations that require stronger compliance, security and device management.

The Enterprise tier is the only Google Workspace level that can accommodate more than 300 users. Storage remains the same as the Business Plus tier (5TB of pooled storage per user), but organizations can upgrade for more. This level offers video meetings for up to 1,000 participants, with in-domain live streaming. Many of the unique features at this level touch on security and management, including data loss prevention (DLP), context-aware access (CAA), enterprise endpoint management and AI classification for Google Drive.

Who it’s for: This is best suited for large organizations and smaller businesses with strict security and compliance requirements.

Choosing a Google Workspace plan comes down to an organization’s specific business needs. Often, a single factor will trigger the need to upgrade. For example, even if a business can get by with the features of the Starter plan, the organization will need to move up to higher tiers if users require more than 30 gigabytes of storage. Also, any business with more than 300 users will need to opt for an Enterprise plan, since all other tiers are capped at 300 users.

Business and IT leaders weighing different options should consider these factors:

Cost: While the cost of the Business Plus tier ($22 monthly per user if paid annually) is more than three times higher than that of the Business Starter tier ($7 per user), this difference is negligible compared with costs such as salary, benefits and other overhead. Cost will likely be the deciding factor only for very small organizations with limited storage needs.

Storage: Most midsized and large organizations will likely need more than the 30GB of pooled storage per user offered at the Business Starter Level. The 2TB offered at the Business Standard tier may be sufficient for many organizations, while others will need the 5TB offered at the Business Plus and Enterprise levels.

AI capabilities: Organizations looking to incorporate AI across their workflows will likely need to opt for the Business Standard tier or higher. At this and higher tiers, users can access Gemini AI assistant in Gmail, Docs, Meet and other Google apps, as well as the NotebookLM AI research assistant.

Video meetings: Each new tier offers expanded video meetings with new features. At the Business Starter tier, meetings accommodate up to 100 participants. At the Business Standard level, this increases to 150 participants, and meetings feature noise canceling and recording capabilities. The Business Plus tier increases the limit to 500 participants and adds attendance tracking. And the Enterprise level offers in-domain livestreaming for meetings with up to 1,000 participants.

Security: All Google Workspace tiers offer security and management controls, but these features become more advanced at the Business Plus and Enterprise levels. The Business Plus tier offers Secure LDAP, Google Vault and advanced endpoint management. The Enterprise tier adds DLP, CAA and enterprise endpoint management.

User count: Enterprise is the only Google Workspace level that allows organizations to add more than 300 users.

In addition to comparing costs and features, business and IT leaders should carefully consider billing options, renewal processes and how storage offerings are structured. Understanding these finer points will help them better decide whether Google Workspace is the right fit for their organizations and also help them optimize their use of the collaboration and productivity suite.

Billing: Google offers its Workspace suite with either a monthly or yearly billing cycle. For flexible plans, which require no long-term commitment, monthly billing is the only option. Flexible plans allow organizations to add new users at any time for an additional monthly cost, remove users at any time to reduce monthly costs or even cancel at any time without penalty. However, flexible plans charge more per user than annual or fixed-term plans. The monthly cost of a flexible Business Standard plan, for example, is $16.80 per user, compared to $14 per user for organizations with annual or fixed-term commitments.

Organizations with annual or fixed-term plans can pay either monthly or annually, for the same total per-user cost. For example, organizations with an annual or fixed-term Business Standard plan will pay $14 per month per user, or $168 per year per user (which works out to the same total amount). An annual or fixed-term plan allows organizations to add users for an additional monthly cost, but user count cannot be lowered until the end of the service contract.

Storage and usage limits: There are some important nuances in how Google Workspace distributes storage capacity. First off, all storage is pooled, meaning that an organization can access all of the storage it is paying for, even if some users never approach their caps. So, for example, an organization paying for 100 Business Standard licenses will have 200TB of total storage (2TB per user), but some of those users can exceed 2TB, as long as the overall organization stays under its cap. Also, each plan offers the ability to purchase additional pooled storage. It is important to note that users receive only a part of their total storage at the time of purchase, with the rest unlocked as the organization makes its subscription payments. However, organizations can unlock their total storage more quickly by prepaying.

Annual commitments and renewals: As with most subscriptions, Google Workspace contracts will renew automatically unless customers take action to cancel them. For those on an annual or fixed-term plan, subscriptions will automatically renew for a one-year term. Google sends customers a notification 30 days before the renewal date, and then another three days before the renewal date. Organizations on annual or fixed-term plans can pay either monthly or annually, but there is no discount for paying annually.

Google Workspace provides a range of plans to fit businesses at different stages and sizes. For small teams or startups, the Business Starter plan offers an affordable entry point with access to Google’s suite of apps and company-specific email addresses. As businesses expand in size or complexity, the Business Standard and Business Plus plans offer additional storage, expanded virtual meeting capacity and more advanced security features. The Enterprise plan is the only option for organizations with more than 300 users, and it may also be a fit for smaller businesses with strict compliance and security requirements. 

Ultimately, the decision comes down to matching features with business and IT requirements. By weighing storage, security and other features, organizations can identify the Google Workspace plan that will best support their current operations and future plans. Speaking with a Google Workspace expert can help business and IT leaders identify the right fit for their specific needs.

With CDW’s extensive Google expertise, your organization can seamlessly integrate Google Workspace and devices — unlocking smarter workflows, stronger collaboration and a secure foundation for growth.

How CDW Helps You Succeed with Google Workspace

• Responsible AI: CDW helps you unlock Google’s latest AI-powered tools, including Gemini and Agentspace, so your teams can work smarter and focus on strategic initiatives.
• Security focused: Pairing Google’s built-in security with CDW’s consultative expertise gives you confidence that your data, devices and users remain protected.
• Deployment and migration services: From initial rollout to modernization, CDW’s experts ensure a smooth migration to Google Workspace. We use data-driven strategies to optimize costs, accelerate transformation and reduce risk through controlled, expert-led adoption.
• Managed services: CDW’s dedicated support team helps you manage your Google Workspace environment with cost-efficient, secure and innovative solutions tailored to your business needs.