Google has been offering G suite apps for free to millions of users who signed up for the same before 2012. However, the arrangement is bound to get change as Google will discontinue its legacy G Suite app service, a suite of services that millions of people enjoyed for free for a decade. It means that all business users will have to upgrade to a paid subscription to Google Workspace.
In simple words, if you are among the lucky ones who have been feasting on the free edition of Google G Suite for all your business communications, you won’t be able to make use of business emails, cloud storage along with a fleet of other services from June 27, 2022, for free.
End of G Suite Free Edition
Google’s support document explains that G Suite legacy free edition is going to end of life for businesses on June 27, 2022. And those who continue to use the services will automatically be upgraded to a paid Google Workspace subscription, which offers new features to assist businesses in transforming the way they work.
The freeloaders of the G Suite legacy free edition are not thrilled about the new change. Going further, they will also have to pay for Google Workspace or migrate to rival Microsoft. The New York Times reported that the nearing deadline had generated complaints by small businesses who have been using the G Suite legacy edition that Google used to offer for free until 2012. While Google stopped offering the legacy free edition to new users in 2012, it allowed existing users to enjoy the service for free until now.
One of the biggest concerns for those who banked upon the free G Suite service and offered the same to their client is to convince their clients to pay for the same service going further. However, there is a mixed response from those consulting firms. The founder and CEO of Cave Consulting in Dallas, Texas, Todd Cave, said that Google’s decision not to discontinue the G Suite legacy edition has not had an impact on his clients. He said that his company was always mindful while making suggestions to clients and never recommend clients to trust any complimentary subscription.
Google’s decision to discontinue unlimited cloud storage offering for Google Workspace for Education customers is a clear example that users who are serious about their business must not bank upon free services at all. Google discontinued free unlimited cloud storage offerings in July.
Google first revealed its plan to end its legacy G Suite free edition in January. At that time, it looked like everyone who signed up for G Suite in its early days would be impacted. As a result, Google faced a lot of criticism and decided to moderate its policy to only include users of G Suite who have been using the service for commercial purposes. Those who use G Suite legacy for noncommercial purposes (individuals and families) were given the option to opt-out from the forced Workspace transition.
Customers who are able to opt-out will be allowed to use Gmail with the custom domain that was created for Google Apps for Your Domain. They will also have access to Drive, Calendar and Meet at no additional cost.
For those who want to avoid the transition, opting out is essential. G Suite legacy edition accounts will be suspended starting August 1, 2022, if you fail to act.
The Workspace transition will not affect those who use the free version of Gmail with a Google Account or YouTube, Google Photos or the personal version of Google Drive with 15 GB of free storage.
The impact, however, is not going to affect millions of users as per the recent report published in The New York Times. The report claims that only a few thousand people still use G Suite legacy-free edition.
