Google Workspace Essentials is a free cloud solution for businesses looking to improve collaboration. With Essentials Starter, people can bring to the office the apps they are already familiar with from personal use such as Google Drive and Docs.
More than 3 billion people use Google Workspace apps such as Gmail, Drive, and Docs to stay in touch and collaborate. Google provides a number of Workspace plans for businesses and schools, almost all of which require a paid subscription. However, you may not need a full Google Workspace plan; instead, you may require only a small set of apps and features for a specific team or project within your organization.
What’s included
Google Workspace Essentials Starter is available for up to 25 employees and includes:
- 15 GB of Google Drive cloud storage for each user.
- Unlimited one-to-one video meetings.
- Team meetings (3-100 people) up to 60 minutes in duration each.
- Easy agenda management with Google Calendar.
- Real-time messaging and collaboration with Google Chat and Spaces.
- Team management dashboard.
- Built-in security infrastructure.
What’s missing from the Essentials Starter plan? The most notable omission is, of course, Gmail. This is because the plan focuses on bringing modern collaboration tools to businesses that already have a legacy email system in place. If your business needs more cloud storage, or you want to upgrade your email system to Gmail, get in touch with us and we’ll help you choose the right Google Workspace plan.
How to sign up for Google Workspace Essentials Starter?
The free Essentials Starter account requires you to sign up with your work email address; for example, name@mybusiness.com. You cannot sign up with a personal email address such as gmail.com, outlook.com, etc. There’s no limited trial period so you don’t need to add your credit card.
Simply sign up with your business email and invite teammates to collaborate using Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, Chat, Drive, and Meet. You can add up to 24 other users with email addresses from the same domain after signing up with your own.
What if I need more storage or functionality?
If you want more functionality, you do have a couple of options. You can either upgrade to the paid version of Essentials or, if your team requires even more, to Enterprise Essentials. You can find more details about each plan and the pricing here.
If you are looking to start a small business, or want to try out Google Workspace apps, then the Essentials Starter plan is perfect for you. The best part is that it’s easy to upgrade anytime you’re ready to scale up.
Still not sure if Google Workspace Essentials Starter is right for you? Get in touch with us and we’ll help you choose the right plan for your business.