Changing Your Google Workspace Plan Type

Google applications are everywhere, and chances are, you’ve used at least one of them, whether for personal or professional use. There’s Gmail, the very popular email client widely used around the world; Google Docs, a popular alternative to Microsoft Word; and Google Forms, a very powerful and intuitive only survey solution, just to name a few.

All of these applications are parts of Google Workspace, which is previously known as G Suite and Google Apps.

The majority of Google Workspace applications are available 100% free, and this version is widely used by both individuals and businesses. However, there are also premium plans (called Google Workspace Business) available, which will provide users with additional features unique to the Business editions, enhanced customer support, and better security measures.

In this post, we will discuss how you can easily change your Google Workspace plan.

What Google Workspace Plans are Available?

Google offers a wide variety of Google Workspace editions based on three different factors:

1. Type of customers (individual, business, or enterprise)
2. Features (i.e. participant numbers for Meet/Team Chat, advanced configurations, storage space, etc.)
3. Number of users/accounts

Based on these three factors, Google offers custom-tailored editions for healthcare businesses and retail businesses, among others, and nonprofit (and government) organizations may qualify to use unique Workspace editions.

However, below are the most common editions available for the majority of use cases:

Google Workspace Individual

If you are a self-employed professional or an individual who wants to use Google Workspace’s premium features on your own, then the Workspace Individual edition is available for $9.99 per month.

With Google Workspace Individual, you’ll gain access to the following features:

• Premium Google Meet features: longer group calls, call recording, etc.
• Advanced Calendar features: create your own professional appointment page so your clients can book themselves, automatically integrated with your Google Calendar.
• Branded email: branded email downs providing additional branding for your small business.

Google Workspace Business

Google Workspace Business editions are available for organizations with up to 300 accounts. If you have more than 300 employees, then you should give Google or a resale partner a call and inquire about the Enterprise editions (more on this later).

There are three different Business editions available at the moment:

Business Starter edition. $6/user/month with the following perks:

• Custom business email with security features
• 100 video conference participants in Meet
• 30 GB Google Drive cloud storage
• Security and management control features
• Standard support only

Business Standard edition. $12/user/month, and you’ll get additional premium features such as:

• Custom business email with security features
• 150 video conference participants in Meet
• 2 TB Google Drive Cloud Storage
• More security and management control features
• Standard support initially, paid upgrade to Enhanced customer support available

Business Plus edition. $18/user/month with the following features:

• Custom business email with security features, eDiscovery, and retention with Google Vault
• 500 video conference participants in Meet, attendance tracking
• 5 TB Google Drive Cloud Storage
• Enhanced security and management control features, including Google Vault and advanced endpoint management
• Standard support initially, with the option to pay and upgrade to Enhanced customer support available.

Google Workspace Enterprise

Google Workspace Enterprise edition is intended for businesses that need more than 300 Workspace accounts (i.e., more than 300 employees.) You’ll need to contact Google or a reseller to get a custom pricing based on your company’s size and unique needs for the Enterprise edition, and you’ll get the following unique features:

• Custom business email with security features, eDiscovery, and retention with Google Vault, S/MIME encryption
• 500 video conference participants in Meet, noise cancellation, in-domain live streaming
• Up to unlimited Google Drive Cloud Storage
• Enhanced security and management control features, including Google Vault, advanced enterprise endpoint management, DLP, and data regions
• Enhanced support initially, paid upgrade to Premium customer support available.

Google Workspace Essentials

Google Workspace Essentials editions are intended for businesses that already own or manage their domain or have used a third-party email client and/or calendar solutions (i.e. Microsoft Outlook.)

The Essential editions allow users to use Google Workspace’s core features while facilitating integrations with the existing email clients/calendar solutions.

There are three different Essential editions available:

Essentials Starter: available for free for teams up to 25 users with premium features for the following services:

• Google Drive storage
• Google Docs editor
• Google Meet video conferencing
• Google Chat, including chat spaces
• Jamboard (digital whiteboard) (additional hardware required)
• Google Calendar
• Google Tasks
• Directory management
• Google Sites
• Google Keep

Essentials: (no longer available for new customers, only for existing subscribers), offering all features offered in the Essential Starters plus Groups for Business, additional security features, policy controls, and pooled storage features.

Enterprise Essentials: upgrading from Essential Starters to Enterprise Essentials will provide these additional features:

• 24/7 customer support
• Pooled storage for over 100 different file types
• Shared team drives
• Up to 150 participants in Google Meet with chat recordings, noise cancellation, and other premium features
• Advanced security features: advanced endpoint management, security alerts, data retention, eDiscovery (search and export your data with Google Vault)

How To Change Your Google Workspace Plan

Changing your Google Workspace edition to another plan is fairly easy:

• Open Google Domains here
• Get a new domain or select the name of your domain
• Click Domain Overview
• Go to Billing, then click Manage Google Workspace
• Click Manage Google Workspace subscription, then click Change
• Click Switch
• Purchase your intended plan

Maximize your Google Workspace Experience with Pythian

When you get support from a Google Workspace partner like Pythian, you get the same pricing you’d get from Google, but on top of that, you’ll get extra features from Pythian, including but not limited to personalized training and education; custom cloud product development; fast and reliable customer support; plus so much more.

Leverage the capabilities of Google Workspace with Pythian to make the most of your investment and ensure long-term success.

Also Read: Getting It Right With Google AdWords