Google Workspace

Google Workspace Business Starter tier switching to pooled storage

Abner Li | May 12 2023 - 11:23 am PT

Back in March, Google made pricing changes to Workspace tiers and is now switching to a pooled storage model for the entry Business Starter plan.

Business Starter is Google Workspace’s cheapest plan at $6 per user/month when you commit to a year of service. Previously, each user would get 30 GB of storage per user.

That’s now changing, with Google Workspace for this entry tier moving from “per-user storage to pooled storage.”

Pooled storage provides a more simple and flexible way to manage storage, as all storage is shared across the organization, removing the need to manage it on a per-user basis

As such, the amount of storage your organization has is “30 GB times the number of End Users.” Admins are able to set per-user storage limits. If they don’t, any account could use all the available storage.

In making this change, Google will soon add shared drives to Business Starter:

“Easy discoverability: Less time spent requesting access to files and searching for relevant documents with all of your team’s files in one place.”
“Files are forever: All content stays put — even when collaborators or team members leave, your content won’t.”
“Easy collaboration: Every member of a shared drive can explore and collaborate in the same files. You can also add users outside your team or organization.”
“Accessible anywhere: Regardless of location or device, you can always access the files you need most.”

The pooled storage change is coming first to new sign-ups (starting next week) of Business Starter. Existing accounts “will transition to pooled storage over the coming months.”