Google Workspace review: plans, pricing and email features for agencies
Google Workspace gives your agency Gmail on its own domain, plus Calendar, Drive, Docs and Meet in one subscription. You run every mailbox and shared address from one Admin console.
It fits agencies of one to 300 people that work in the browser. Business Standard at $14 a person a month suits most offices, and Business Plus adds legal hold.
- Best for
- Agencies of 1 to 300 people that work in Gmail and the browser
- Price
- From $7 a person a month billed yearly, or $8.40 month to month
- Free trial
- 14 days
- Mailbox size
- 30 GB, 2 TB or 5 TB a person by plan. Storage is pooled
- Shared inboxes
- A Google Group works as a shared inbox with no extra license
- Legal hold
- Business Plus only, through Google Vault, Google's records search tool
- AMS connections
- EZLynx Gmail add-on, HawkSoft and AgencyZoom
- Contract
- Month to month on the Flexible Plan, or a yearly plan
Our take
Google Workspace suits an agency that lives in Gmail and wants a shared service@ inbox without paying for another mailbox. It also connects to EZLynx, HawkSoft and AgencyZoom.
Business Standard adds a sandbox that opens attachments safely before they reach the inbox. Choose Business Plus at $22 a person a month if you need to search old mail or freeze it for a claim.
Agencies on Applied Epic or AMS360 should check with their vendor first, since both file email through Outlook add-ins.
Pros
- Shared inboxes and up to 30 aliases a person at no extra cost
- Month-to-month Flexible Plan for adding and removing people
- Connects to EZLynx, HawkSoft and AgencyZoom
- Attachment sandbox on Business Standard and up
- Admins can require security keys or passkeys to sign in
Cons
- Legal hold and eDiscovery only on Business Plus
- No true encrypted email below Enterprise
- No backup from Google, so you buy a separate service
- Yearly plans can drop users only at renewal
Plans and pricing
| Plan | Billed yearly | Billed monthly | Mailbox | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business StarterSolo agents and small offices | $7 | $8.40 | 30 GB | Gmail on your domain, Calendar, Meet and shared inboxes |
| Business StandardAdds the attachment sandbox | $14 | $16.80 | 2 TB | Attachment sandbox, mail merge, booking pages and eSignature |
| Business PlusAgencies that need legal hold | $22 | $26.40 | 5 TB | Google Vault for retention, eDiscovery and holds |
| EnterpriseLarger firms with encryption needs | Quote only | Quote only | Custom | S/MIME, data loss prevention and access rules |
Prices are per person each month in US dollars, before tax, as of October 2026, from Google's plan pages. Storage is pooled across the agency. Business plans take up to 300 people.
What it would cost you
Cost per month
First-year cost
Email cost per client a month
Uses the per-person prices in the table. Shared inboxes and aliases don't need their own license.
Good to know before you buy
- On the yearly plan you can add people any time but can only remove them at renewal.
- The Flexible Plan costs about 20% more and lets you add or remove people any month.
- Keeping a former employee's mail needs an Archived User license.
Which plan has it
| Feature | Starter | Standard | Plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storage per person | 30 GB | 2 TB | 5 TB |
| Shared inbox (Collaborative Inbox) | |||
| Gemini AI in Gmail | |||
| Retention rules for email | |||
| Attachment sandbox scanning | |||
| Mail merge | |||
| Built-in mail migration from Exchange | |||
| eDiscovery search and export | |||
| Legal hold | |||
| S/MIME encrypted email | |||
| Month-to-month billing |
AMS and CRM connections
| Connects to | Type | How | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| EZLynx | Agency system | Gmail add-on | Files emails and attachments to the EZLynx record and shows client details in Gmail |
| HawkSoft | Agency system | Built in | Emails sent from HawkSoft go through Gmail, get a log note and can attach to the client or policy |
| AgencyZoom | CRM | Built in | Each person links their mailbox after the admin approves the app, then sends one-off, bulk and automated emails |
| Microsoft Outlook | Mail app | Built in | Outlook can read Gmail, and Google Calendar syncs with Exchange |
On Applied Epic or AMS360? Both file email through Outlook add-ins. Ask your AMS vendor whether that works with a Gmail mailbox in Outlook before you switch.
Phishing and sign-in protection
- Two-step sign-in
- Yes, on every plan
- Can the admin require it
- Yes
- Phishing-resistant keys
- Security keys and passkeys
- Spam and malware
- Filtered on every plan, with an alert center for the admin
- Impersonation and lookalikes
- Warns on mail that spoofs your domain or your people's names
- Link and attachment scanning
- Links scanned on every plan. Attachments run in a sandbox on Standard and Plus
Single sign-on works with Google or another identity provider. Admins can switch off older IMAP and POP access.
Encryption for client documents
Encrypted email to clients
Business plans have confidential mode, not full encryption. You can set an expiry date, pull access back and require a passcode sent by text or email. S/MIME needs an Enterprise edition.
In transit and at rest
- Connections are encrypted
- Attachments up to 25 MB sent and 50 MB received
- A recipient can still screenshot a confidential message
Retention, archive and legal hold
- Retention rules
- Email and chat retention policies on every plan
- eDiscovery search
- Google Vault on Business Plus. An export stays available for 15 days
- Legal hold
- Vault holds on Business Plus only
- Former employees
- An Archived User license keeps their mail and files
- After you cancel
- Workspace data is deleted and can't be restored
Backup and recovery
- Deleted mail
- Stays in Gmail Trash for 30 days
- Deleted files
- Admins can restore Drive files up to 25 days after the trash is emptied
- Deleted user
- The person and their data can be restored for 20 days
- Independent copy
- Not sold by Google. The agency buys a third-party backup and tests restores itself
Vault and retention rules keep mail from being deleted. They are not a backup you can restore from after a mistake or an attack.
Domain setup and sending limits
- SPF
- Google gives you the record to add
- DKIM
- Generated in the Admin console. 2048-bit keys unless your DNS host can't take them
- DMARC
- Google suggests starting in monitor-only mode (p=none)
- Who edits DNS
- Whoever hosts your domain, such as your registrar or web host
- Sending limit
- 2,000 messages and 10,000 recipients a person each day. Mail merge is capped at 1,500 a day
SPF, DKIM and DMARC are DNS records that prove mail from your domain is really yours. Send newsletters from an email marketing tool, not Gmail.
When a producer leaves
Stop sign-in
Suspend the account, or archive it with an Archived User license so the mail is kept.
Keep client mail arriving
Add the producer's address as an alias on a current employee's account.
Hand over files
Transfer the producer's Drive files to a new owner in the Admin console.
Hold it if a claim is open
On Business Plus, a Vault hold keeps the mail while the account is archived.
Export if you need a copy
Use the Data Export tool or Google Takeout before you delete the account.
Getting started
Start the 14-day trial
Canceling before it ends costs nothing. Trials can email 500 outside people a day.
Verify your domain
Add the record Google gives you at your domain host.
Add people and shared addresses
Create each mailbox, then groups and aliases such as service@ and claims@.
Move old mail
The data import tool copies mail from Exchange Online, other Gmail accounts and IMAP hosts. It matches people for you up to 20 users.
Switch your mail over
Point your MX record (the setting that says where mail goes) to Google, then add SPF, DKIM and DMARC.
Standard and Plus also include Google Workspace Migrate and Exchange migration for larger moves. Setup guides cover offices of one person and up.
Admin and support
- Admin console
- Google Admin console
- Admin roles
- Prebuilt and custom roles
- Activity log
- Admin, Gmail and Drive events
- Data location
- One storage region for the whole agency on Standard and Plus
- Uptime promise
- 99.9% on every Business plan
- Support
- Standard Support, the help center and the admin community
- Where you buy it
- Online from Google, from Google Sales or from a Google Cloud partner
Contract and your data
- Billing
- Monthly on the Flexible Plan, or yearly paid monthly or up front
- Renewal
- The yearly plan renews the way you set it in the Admin console
- Canceling
- Flexible Plan any time. Ending a yearly plan early means paying the rest of the term
- Refunds
- None for leaving a yearly plan early
- Getting your mail out
- Data Export tool to a storage bucket that is kept 60 days, or Google Takeout per person
- After you cancel
- Workspace data is deleted and can't be restored
From Google's terms of service and Workspace help pages, checked October 2026.
Google Workspace alternatives
- Microsoft 365Email only from $4, full suite from $7, a user a month billed yearlyOutlook and Exchange, with Applied Epic's Outlook add-in
- Zoho Mail and WorkplaceFree for 5 people. Paid from $1 a user a monthLower prices, with legal hold on Mail Premium
- FastmailFrom $3 a user a month billed yearlyEmail and calendars only, with free shared addresses
- Proton Mail for BusinessFrom $6.99 a user a month billed yearlyPassword-protected email to any client on every plan
See every option in business email providers.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Google Workspace cost for an agency?
Billed yearly, it costs $7, $14 or $22 a person a month for Starter, Standard and Plus. Month to month it is $8.40, $16.80 or $26.40.
Does Google Workspace work with my agency management system?
EZLynx has a Gmail add-on, HawkSoft sends through Gmail directly and AgencyZoom links to each mailbox. Applied Epic and AMS360 file email through Outlook, so ask your vendor first.
Can our service team share one inbox?
Yes. A Google Group set up as a Collaborative Inbox lets the team assign and track mail to an address like service@, with no extra license.
Which Google Workspace plan has legal hold?
Only Business Plus, through Google Vault. Starter and Standard have retention rules but no hold or eDiscovery search.
Can I send clients encrypted email from Gmail?
Business plans offer confidential mode, which adds a passcode and an expiry date. S/MIME encryption needs an Enterprise edition.
Does Google back up our email?
Not as a separate copy you control. Deleted mail stays in Trash for 30 days, and anything longer needs a third-party backup.
How we researched this review. We based this review on the pricing, terms and product pages published by Google Workspace, reviewed in October 2026, together with our team's experience working with insurance agents and agency owners since 2008.
Corrections
Vendors change their pricing all the time and they don't email us when they do. So if you see a price on here that's gone up, a plan Google Workspace quit selling or a contract term that reads different now, let us know and send the link to the page where Google Workspace has it. Somebody here pulls up that page and checks it before we change anything on ours.