Google announced this week that its Google Apps for Business services will no longer be offered for free according to a press release. Services include Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, and file storage for businesses.
“When we launched the premium business version we kept our free, basic version as well,” said Clay Bavor, the director of product management for Google Apps in a statement. “Both businesses and individuals signed up for this version, but time has shown that in practice, the experience isn’t quite right for either group. Businesses quickly outgrow the basic version and want things like 24/7 customer support and larger inboxes.”
Before the announcement, businesses could sign up for all of these services for free and you won’t be required to pay a fee if you made your account before Dec. 6. If you didn’t however, there are now two options however for Google Apps, Apps for Business with and without Vault.
Without Vault gives users email archiving and control over more than one e-mail accounts for up to $50 per user per year according to Google. With Vault will cost users $10 per month for each specific account.
Google’s Apps for Education will remain free for all schools. When Google Apps started in 2006, the company said the idea was formed to help businesses and schools “work better together without the hassles of managing software.”
“Google Apps started with the simple idea that Gmail could help businesses and schools work better together without the hassles of managing software and servers,” said Bavor. “As we grew from a handful of customers to a few hundred, we expanded to offer a premium business version of Google Apps. Fast forward to today and Google Apps is used by millions of businesses.”
Laura DiDio, an analyst with Information Technology Intelligence Consulting said that the change “was inevitable” adding that $50 a year isn’t too much to ask for from companies that use Google Apps for most of their services.
Google says that “millions of businesses” are using the service, which has prompted it to cash in on all those users. Getting rid of free accounts could also mean that Google is working on more services and functionality for its cloud-based office suite, which competes with Microsoft’s desktop-based software Office.
If you signed up for a free account before December 6, 2012, your account will stay free. There are now two options for Google Apps: Apps for Business with or without Vault. Without Vault, a service that gives you e-mail archiving and control over multiple e-mail accounts, you’ll pay $5 per user per month, up to $50 per user per year. If you want Vault, it costs $10 per user per month. Schools can still sign up for a free Google Apps for Education account.
Businesses with 10 or fewer employees can either pay up for Google Apps, or individually sign up for a regular Google account (which is what you get with a Gmail account). That could be a boon for Google+, since you automatically get an account for the still-growing social network when you create a new Google account. Sadly, that Google+ account doesn’t come with a custom e-mail address.
