Google Workspace Prices Rise, Adds Free AI to Gmail and Docs

Google stated in the early hours of Wednesday that all AI features in Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and Meet are now free of charge for Workspace customers, though the plan will cost an additional $2 per month per person. 

To use all of Google‘s AI features in Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Meet, and the rest of the Workspace suite, you had to pay an additional $20 per user per month for the Gemini Business plan. As on Tuesday, it is free. Google is adding all of its AI features to its Workspace app at no additional cost as it competes with Microsoft, OpenAI, and others to create the AI-powered office suite of the future.

This enhancement makes it easier to use Workplace AI capabilities such as email summaries, automated note-taking, and chatting with the Gemini bot. Previously, users who wanted to access all of the AI features had to pay an additional $20 per user per month for the Gemini for Workplace plan, in addition to the $12 for the Workspace Business Standard. Currently, the base plan costs $14 per user each month. 

However, there is a catch: as a result of this shift, Google’s Workspace plans would be priced higher. Jerry Dischler, Google’s VP of cloud applications, tells me that enterprises will pay about $2 more per month per user for the AI-enabled Workspace than they did previously. (The figures aren’t exact because firms’ contracts are convoluted and vary, but the base subscription price was $12 per month and will now be $14.)

Workspace AI features email summaries in Gmail, produced designs for spreadsheets and movies, an automated meeting note-taker, the sophisticated NotebookLM research assistant, and cross-platform writing tools. It also includes access to the Gemini bot, which is maybe Google’s single most powerful AI tool; the bot can perform conventional chatbot functions as well as assist you in finding information, searching across all of your devices, and more.

According to Dischler, Google is currently the most vertically integrated AI solution available, but this only matters if consumers use the entire system. Now, everyone can. “Most of the time, when we talk to companies who are using AI, their big impediment is cost reasons,” he clarifies. “That’s why they enter so cautiously. Like, ‘Wow, this is a lot of money, and let’s prove its worth.’ All well, now you have the AI. You have value.” He claims that the various app roadmaps are already altering, and that new features will begin to launch soon.

Google is hardly the only corporation reversing its AI upcharge: Microsoft stated in November that its Copilot Pro AI functions, which were previously available as a $20 monthly upgrade, will be included in the standard Microsoft 365 subscription. So far, this is only for Personal and Family subscriptions, and only in a few locations. However, all of these companies recognize that this is their opportunity to educate consumers new ways to utilize their goods while also gaining new customers. They believe that the cost of implementing 

The new rate takes effect immediately for new subscribers, but existing customers will see changes beginning March 17, 2025. Small business customers are now exempt from these price adjustments.

Customers who previously purchased the Gemini for Workspace add-on will retain access to the capabilities, but will no longer be charged for the subscription after January 31.

The latest version is part of a competitive push against Microsoft and other companies who are integrating AI capabilities into their conventional services. In November, Microsoft included its Copilot Pro AI features with the ordinary Microsoft 365 subscription.