G Suite vs. Google Workspace – What You Need to Know

G Suite vs. Google Workspace – What You Need to Know

You may have heard of the recently rebranded Google Workspace and wondered whether it has anything to do with G Suite – and if so, what do they share in common? As of October 2020, Google has officially rebranded G Suite into Google Workspace – fortunately, you will be able to continue using all of your favorite tools, plus many new features.

Context into the shift to Google Workspace

Google's Apps for Work became G Suite four years ago. Since then, the platform has risen in popularity, with more than six million businesses relying on its online productivity and collaboration tools as of 2020. The G Suite transition to Google Workplace in 2020 marks more than just a marketing rebranding: one main difference that jumps out from the start is that Google Workspace seems to blur the lines between Google's individual applications. Instead of clearly-defined Gmail, Google Sheets, Calendar, and Drive, the platform presents a new, more unified interface.

Providing a more seamless user experience (UX) can boost productivity, and by combining multiple apps into a seamless user interface (UI), Google Workspace could potentially save your business a substantial amount of time and money. Not only is the design more unified, but the platform focuses on remote teamwork and collaboration, which are the cornerstones of the new hybrid / remote work models.

On a practical level — if you have a G Suite subscription, you should have received an email from Google detailing the impact this change will have on your business, which primarily deals with migrating over to Workspace as quickly and seamlessly as possible. If you're on an annual or fixed-term plan, however, your G Suite subscription will continue until your renewal date. G Suite Enterprise customers will also automatically migrate to the new Google Workspace Enterprise Plus plan.

Credit: Cave Consulting

What are some of Google Workspace's new features? 

For starters, Google Workspace will see Meet, Chat, and Rooms more integrated with its other apps. This is particularly beneficial to anyone constantly switching between email, instant messaging and voice, and video calls. Other features include the ability to create documents directly within Chat, which users can further collaborate on inside the Chat room. Workspace users can also preview linked files in Docs, Sheets, and Slides, making it easier to collaborate on a document without opening it in a new tab.

You can also view contact details inside Workspace documents for more seamless communication. Whenever you @ someone in a document (including contacts outside of your organization), Workspace will launch a smart chip. This popup will display the user's contact information and valuable suggestions, such as starting a video call or sending an email. What's more, you can now display a selected Google Meet participant's video in a Picture-in-Picture (PiP) window in Gmail, Chat, Docs, Sheets, and Slides, which enables you to see and hear the people you're collaborating with.

How much does Google Workspace cost?

Regarding pricing, Google Workspace continues on G Suite's same route. The cheapest plan, Business Starter, is $6 per month. Customers who require more storage and support for larger meetings can opt for the Business Standard plan, which is $12 per user per month.

This places Google Workspace at a similar price point with other remote working solutions such as Microsoft 365. Microsoft offers a Business Basic tier priced at $5 per user per month and a Business Standard plan for $12.50 per user per month. 

However, Google Workspace has introduced a new payment tier: the Workspace Business Plus plan is priced at $18 per user per month, and it includes various upgrades over the Standard plan, including enhanced security, more storage, and an increase in the maximum number of participants per meeting. Comparatively, Microsoft offers a Business Premium tier, priced at $20 per user per month. 

Worth noting that the new pricing model only applies to business customers since the pricing for Google's education and nonprofit offerings has stayed the same.