VLT-Website-Heading

G Suite Basic vs Business plan for Businesses

Mar 1, 2020 3:26:00 PM / by Vu Long Tran

Google has two primary plans for their G Suite online software. G Suite Basic vs Business plans, so which one should I use?
 

Should I use Google's G Suite Basic and Business plan?

Short answer - Depends, on which stage your business is at.
Long answer - If you have just started your business and are a startup, I'd suggest the most basic plan, as you can always upgrade when you need it in the future.

If you are a large entity, perhaps thinking about moving from Microsoft Office and Outlook or another service, then the Business or even the Enterprise plan may make more sense.

I have seen multinationals using just the G Suite Basic plans even, although from the end-user perspective it can be painful sharing documents with my wider team. The G Suite Business plan is my preferred plan, given the amount of storage that you have.

Google's release of the Team Drive, makes definitely life so much easier, as I was a Team Lead in one of my previous companies and was storing a lot of solid documents and files for the team to share, learn and leverage from. Although it is only available on G Suite Business plans and above.

G Suite Business vs G Suite Basic plan

What's the key differences at a high level between G Suite Basic and Business plan?

Looking at Google's website, G Suite Basic plan offers:

  • Professional email for you and your team, plus the complete G Suite.
  • Get 30GB of space in Google Drive and Gmail so you can store, access and share files from any device and keep your emails indefinitely.
  • Collaborate more quickly and efficiently using integrated online calendars, online documents with real-time editing, and video conferencing.

Whereas, G Suite Business plan offers:

  • Professional email for you and your team, plus the complete G Suite.
  • Get unlimited† space in Google Drive and Gmail so you can store, access and share files from any device and keep your emails indefinitely.
  • Collaborate more quickly and efficiently using integrated online calendars, online documents with real-time editing, and video conferencing.
  • Set alerts to know when people share, edit or delete files in Drive, including when they share files inside or outside your domain.
  • Enhanced security features with Google Vault:
    • Manage and retain your team's emails and on-the-record chats, setting policies for your entire domain, organizational units, date ranges or specific terms.
    • Search and retrieve valuable information that you or your legal team may need.

I have bolded the key differences above, but let's break down a bit.

What's the key differences between G Suite Basic and Business plan?

Short answer - Control features is the key difference. That is, more oversight and control of important business data.
 
Long answer -
  • Storage - You'll get 30 GB storage in the G Suite Basic plan, whereas the Business plan is unlimited and indefinite. Although, do note that indefinite is true however it is as long as you use Google's G Suite service.
  • Alerts - G Suite Business will give you alerts on Google Drive actions internally and externally for your business, useful if you need that visibility
  • Security audit features - Searchable and retrievable audit information that you and your business may need.
  • Team Drive - Shared drive that you can to share and collaborate use amongst your teams. Helps to ensure no one person has all the information on their drive alone.

Google is offering a free 14-day trial of G Suite. This applies to their Basic and Business plans, so if you're keen to try it, visit their G Suite website to sign up.
Here's some G Suite promotional codes for Singaporean businesses, please use this link if you want 20% off*:

Valid for G Suite Basic plan in Singapore (updated Jan 2019)

    • 34N6PDXDE9QAN6K
    • 34PQKNMTC3ERQ73
    • 34RVGPM3WFQELVF
    • 34RW3RARHLUQ4NH
    • 34TU3XJP7GEYW9A
    • 34V4XX4VFK437UX
    • 34VCCUTN7VMVU34
    • 34VLYXTFQJTDADY
    • 34W3Q7HP693EW7V
    • 34XJP4YDRDFGPVR

 Valid for G Suite Business plan in Singapore (Updated Jan 2019)

  • YAPV3WPC6TQWRVD
  • 37EFXPUXHTLMN4J
  • 37EWQFADLWYATJ6
  • 37GAUCCVMMUKKKF
  • 37GCA67JC9X64PN
  • 37GNEPHG3Y6GL9H
  • 37HDW7EVNL6MKKC
  • 37JMUDMYFQ77HUJ
  • 37JWDXWM93FPW9H
  • 37LVPVJ7WR4WPFN
  • 37P7HLM4J4W766N
Here's some  G Suite promotional codes for Australian businesses, please use  this linkif you want 20% off*:
Valid for G Suite Basic plan in Australia (Updated Jan 2019)
  • 933N9GVHVG7C6EJ
  • 937R7JAREPQWUTM
  • 939HWVE6KPGKHKF
  • 93C74CHCJCFKT7Y
  • 93D6XUUTUJQ9M6W
  • 93DDE3YDQEFGCH9
  • 93EEHA9KX3UPYPL
  • 93EPXH4YVPHWKW9
  • 93EY9KWWAMPWMEF
  • 93FCHYCU7EPEWMX

Please reach out to me via mailforvu(at)gmail.com if you're interested and these codes promotional have been used up already.

*Disclaimer - I'm a big fan of Google, so I have written this analysis based on my own experiences using Google's G Suite as a personal and business user. The G Suite shared, that is, is a referral link, meaning I do earn a referral if you optionally use the link to sign up and use Google's G Suite services. You will not lose anything in any way if you choose to use my referral link, instead you'll gain a 20% discount plus just reward me for taking the time to write this article on Google's G Suite offering.

 

Happy Googling!

Topics: tech, google, cloud

Vu Long Tran

Written by Vu Long Tran

Solutions Engineer APAC. ex-@Forrester consultant. Writing on #cloud #howto guides and #tech tinkering!