Google announced earlier this month that free Google Workspace accounts that were running the G Suite legacy free edition will be terminated. Following customer reaction, Google has revised its help website and says it plans to offer more alternatives to existing users, as reported.

Legacy G Suite users will be able to migrate to free accounts

The current version of Google Workspace is a far cry from its predecessor. Google’s productivity subscription service is now geared exclusively toward enterprises. Business Starter, Business Standard, and Business Plus are among the software-as-a-service programs offered by the company. They range from $6 to $18 per month for each user.

Google introduced the opportunity to add a custom domain name to your Google account in 2006, following the launch of Gmail and Google Calendar. You might, for example, purchase a domain name for your surname and use it for email addresses (sarah@myfamilyname.com). Originally known as Google Apps for Your Domain, the product was first offered for free and wasn’t aimed primarily at corporate clients. The free tier was discontinued by Google in 2012.

Google is not obligated to provide a free service indefinitely. However, the business probably didn’t anticipate such a strong response from tech-savvy Google users who had been using G Suite legacy accounts for almost a decade. A Hacker News thread, for example, received over a thousand comments.

Instead of forcing customers to pay or completely closing down their G Suite legacy accounts, Google will offer a third alternative. The corporation added a paragraph to the support website, which serves as an announcement page of some sort:

In the coming months, we’ll provide an option for you to move your non-Google Workspace paid content and most of your data to a no-cost option. This new option won’t include premium features like custom email or multi-account management. You’ll be able to evaluate this option before July 1, 2022, and prior to account suspension. We’ll update this article with details in the coming months.

The fact that G Suite legacy-free accounts serve as Google accounts for the whole Google ecosystem is a huge issue. Some customers with G Suite legacy-free accounts have been utilizing their accounts for YouTube, Google Maps, Google Play purchases, Google Drive, and other services in addition to emails, calendar events, and contacts.

To put it another way, advising customers that they could either terminate their accounts or start paying wasn’t fair, because Google accounts are often more than just email inboxes. Google appeared to be blackmailing administrators.

Of course, transferring your G Suite legacy free account to a Google consumer account means you’ll lose your unique domain-based email address. You’d have to change your email address or find a new email provider.

Finally, for G Suite legacy-free admins with ten or fewer users, Google has set up a short survey. They can respond to it to express interest in different possibilities and receive Google updates.