G Suite Legacy Free Edition Will Not Longer Be Free from July 2022, Migrating to Google Workspace from $8.40/User/Month

scotty on 22/01/2022 - 09:56

Recently discovered this. From Google Workspace website:

If you have the G Suite legacy free edition, you need to upgrade to a paid Google Workspace subscription to keep your services. The G Suite legacy free edition will no longer be available starting May 1, 2022. Starting May 1, Google will seamlessly transition you to Google Workspace, which you can use at no cost until July 1, 2022.

I have 2 G Suite Legacy Free Edition domains — one for family and one for work — from 12-15 years ago, back when it was called Google Apps for Your Domain. Have paid $0 for the products and services for the past decade but I guess as the legacy edition is getting grandfathered, I'll need to choose between paying or migrating. All existing Google Apps domains will be migrated to Google Workspace, which "Business Starter" costs A$8.40/month for each user — that's $403.20 a year for a family of 4.

Migration would be relatively costly as well in both time & money, consider how many other products and services are bounded to these Google accounts. There are a lot of things to be moved for accounts you've had for 15 years. Also while there is Google Takeout, but no Google Import to help migrating from a Google Apps/G Suite/Google Workspace account to a regular Google account.

Anyone else affected by this?

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Comments

        • scotty on 18/05/2022 - 13:21
          +1

          Tried the same option to confirm going back to GSuite Legacy, and it works today. Thanks!

    • Hampton Wick on 17/05/2022 - 10:37

      Can confirm that you get to keep using your domain. More info here https://9to5google.com/2022/05/16/no-cost-legacy-g-suite/

    • Dacs on 17/05/2022 - 11:08

      Fabulous! Thank you for the post.
      Google could have saved everyone a lot of trouble and time making this decision upfront.

    • lachhelix on 17/05/2022 - 12:37
      +1

      Thanks a lot!!

    • bamzero on 18/05/2022 - 11:25

      Good news.. Just came back here to see if anyone had heard anything as hadn't gotten any info sent by Google yet.

      Looks like I get to keep my 100 user limit too…

    • tomsco on 18/05/2022 - 14:25

      Sorry to be a nuffie, but if I'm reading this correctly, we will maintain our existing G Suite legacy free account as it, ie. no loss of functionality?

      That's great news.

      • [Deactivated] on 18/05/2022 - 18:14
        +1

        Yes

  • Zippy7 on 17/05/2022 - 20:14
    +1

    I saw it on Reddit this morning. Hooray for it staying free.
    I almost made the move to another email hosting site.

  • Kaz0551 on 18/05/2022 - 09:19

    I think I will just move to M365 Family for $99/year with proper app licensing, 1TB onedrive etc. Need to keep reading how we migrate our custom domain account to a boring old google accounting so I can use it for family sharing etc etc

  • EightImmortals on 04/06/2022 - 11:11

    Ok so I think I was able to revert back to the free gmail setup but the confirmation email is a little ambiguous.

    Your Case ######### for Google Workspace has been updated.

    Case Subject: I used G Suite legacy free for personal use

    Case Comment :
    After reviewing the information you provided, we believe that you may be affected by an issue we've become aware of: If you transitioned to Google Workspace after January 19, 2022 and used G Suite legacy free edition for personal use, identify as a non-business user. Here are some details about the issue:

    Affected Product(s):
    Admin Console

    Status:
    New

    Description:
    If you transitioned to Google Workspace after January 19, 2022 and used G Suite legacy free edition for personal use, identify as a non-business user.

    Workaround:
    There's no workaround available at this time, but we'll let you know if we learn of one.

    Current update:
    At 2022-05-16 15:00 UTC (18 days ago):
    You are receiving this email because you have used the Support Assistant to opt-in to an alternative Workspace experience at no cost. This option is only available to customers who were previously on G Suite legacy free edition and are using Workspace for personal use.

    This email serves as confirmation that you have opted-in and there is no further action needed at this time.

    For next steps:

    You can continue to enjoy your Google Workspace edition for no cost. You will not be billed for your Google Workspace account for the foreseeable future

    Thank you!
    Google Workspace Support "

    I only put the request in this morning but the email mentions the date 16/5? Did they put me back on the free account automatically on that date but didn't notify me?
    From reading the above, especially the last sentence is it safe to assume I wont be charged anything in the future?

    • scotty on 04/06/2022 - 11:56

      I am getting that as well, although I put in the support request on 18 May. For me I am still on "Workspace Business Starter" with scheduled payments from July. Moreover with Google phasing out role-based support, I can't even see the support ticket anymore.

      • EightImmortals on 04/06/2022 - 12:12

        Maybe that's how they handle it for those who already changed to their workspace account even though we don't use it for business purposes rather than staying on the legacy gmail to see how things were going to pan out? I'm counting on "You can continue to enjoy your Google Workspace edition for no cost. "

        I also tried contacting support about the issue but got a message along the lines of that support option only being available for paid accounts so hopefully she's sorted?

        • scotty on 04/06/2022 - 12:19

          We'll see on 1st of July. Also saw this on Reddit — someone contacted Google support last month, and got this reply:

          As per the last update about the no-cost option, once you have contacted back and confirmed that you will not use the service for business use, you are eligible to join the no-cost option experience. For now, there is no specific time frame as to when the charges will stop. You will be billed continually for now until the no-cost option becomes readily available on your account. Once this has started, you may contact us back so we can check if there is something that we can do in regards with the charges you incurred for the past few months.

          Sounds like "Nothing we can do. We might still charge you, but you can contact us regarding the charges."

  • scotty on 25/07/2022 - 15:20
    +2

    Received an email from Google Workspace Support today that my already-migrated Workspace Starter account has now been reverted to no-cost.

    You are receiving this email because you previously contacted Support to identify as a personal user and revert to a no-cost subscription. This message is to notify you that your subscription has successfully been migrated to the alternative Workspace experience at no-cost.

    Now in my Workspace Admin console, under Billing -> Subscriptions, Payment plan has been updated to "Free plan".

  • Misplaced on 14/08/2022 - 09:08

    Google is being sued for dropping their "free forever" workspace plans …

    https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/08/google_workspace_laws…

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