Google is moving users of the free G Suite legacy subscription to shared storage starting May 1. This change affects organizations that are still using the free G Suite accounts, replacing the individual 15GB of storage per user with a shared pool.
Google also wants to include legacy services in the changes within G Suite. A Google spokesperson told The Verge that this approach has been successful with Google Workspace customers for years and is now being rolled out to users with legacy subscriptions.
Impact on existing users
The transition is automatic, and users cannot choose to keep their individual storage space. Google stresses that the total storage available for the G Suite account will not be reduced. Administrators can manually set storage limits for individual users to prevent one user from taking up all available space.
Organizations that need more storage can purchase it at a discount in 100GB increments. The standard price for this is usually $15, but Google has not yet announced how high the discount will be for legacy users.
Pressure on legacy
Many have already made the move from G Suite to Workspace. However, Google has been working for years to persuade users to move away from the legacy service. Take the fact that legacy users of G Suite domains had to pay from 2022, while they could create these domains for free between 2006 and 2012. After enough complaining by users, Google is willing to partially back down, but the end of old G Suite features is one step closer with each transition.