Google launches a free “Workspace Essentials Starter” plan

After deciding to end support for free legacy G Suite accounts last month, Google has now launched a new plan in Google Workspace called Essentials Starter edition. It’s a free plan that lets businesses use all Google productivity apps except Gmail.

The Workspace Essentials Starter plan (via 9to5Google) is primarily aimed at businesses that already have their email systems in place, but don’t have access to modern communication and collaboration tools. The plan gives access to Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Chat, and Meet. Storage is capped at 15GB while each Google Meet call has a limit of 60 minutes.

The new Google Workspace Essentials Starter Edition is a no-cost solution for business users looking to enhance teamwork and unlock innovation with secure-by-design collaboration, wrote Kelly Waldher, VP of Marketing at Google Workspace in a blog post.

To sign for a Workspace Essential Starter account, you must already have a work email. Google says no credit card is required for signing up and there’s “no limited trial period.”

There’s no need for a new email address, file conversions, new plug-ins, or desktop software. All of the tools in Essentials Starter will work quickly and easily within your existing environment.

With the launch of the Workspace Essentials Starter plan, Google is closing new signs up for the old Essentials plan that was introduced in May 202o. It offered 100GB per account storage, bigger video meetings, and more for $8 per user a month. Existing users can continue to use it but you can’t sign up for it now.

Workspace Essentials Starter allows a team of up to 25 users so it’s best suited for smaller organizations only. However, Google’s support page notes that an unlimited number of teams in an organization can sign up for the plan.

Google says the new plan is “rolling out over a multiple-week period and might not be available in some regions until mid-February, 2022.”

The post Google launches a free “Workspace Essentials Starter” plan appeared first on xda-developers.

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