Software & Apps Google Apps What Is G Suite? What you need to know about Google's apps for business by Julia Borgini Writer Julia Borgini is a former Lifewire writer and a technical copywriter. She's written for B2B News Network, Kissmetrics, Social Media Examiner, and more. our editorial process Twitter LinkedIn Julia Borgini Updated on January 06, 2020 Tweet Share Email Google Apps Docs Sheets Slides Google G Suite is a powerful set of applications that combines email, cloud storage, productivity software, calendars, and more. It offers all of these solutions at an affordable price, making it a go-to tool for everyone, not just business people. G Suite was previously called Google Apps for Work and, before that, Google Apps for Your Domain. What Is G Suite? G Suite is Google's office suite of intelligent office and productivity apps. Most people know Google has email (Gmail) and cloud storage (Google Drive) and those two apps are included in G Suite, but it's so much more. Lifewire / Marina Li Based on the G Suite plan you choose, you'll have access to all of the G Suite apps and different levels of advanced functionality for those apps. The biggest difference is in the storage capacity of Google Drive — 30GB for Basic and unlimited for more than 5 users (1TB for less than 5 users on these upper plans) — and more advanced search and security options. Everyone benefits from Google's security and alert features, but with the upper plans you can customize security alerts and use G Suite's centralized security platform; the lower plans require you to call their 24/7 support team to get the advanced help. Apps Available in Google Suite All G Suite plans have the following apps available: Gmail: An enhanced, ad-free version of Gmail using a custom domain (a non-gmail.com address). Google Drive: Save documents, images, spreadsheets, and more to a secure cloud account with Drive. Depending on your G Suite plan, you'll have access to different storage levels. Google Docs/Sheets/Slides: Each plan gives access to Docs, Sheets, and Slides through Drive where you can create and share files and documents easily. Google Calendar: An enhanced, ad-free version of Calendar that integrates seamlessly with Gmail to let you respond to events; Drive to attach files easily; and Hangouts Meet to set up and have video conferences. Hangouts Meet: Create and host video and voice conferencing for people on your custom domain (other G Suite users), but also those outside your domain. This is especially handy for small business owners using G Suite who want to host client calls. Depending on your G Suite plan, you can even record the call for future use. Hangouts Chat: Chat securely with the rest of your domain's users with Hangouts Chat. You can add outside users to Chat as well, by starting a conversation with them and inviting them to the Chat. They'll have to accept the invitation, then you're all set. How G Suite Is Different From Free Google Apps Most people have a Gmail email address, which gives you access to Drive and free versions of the productivity apps. Why should you pay for G Suite when you can have access to Docs, Sheets, and Gmail for free? G Suite is designed for business since these apps are really more of a business suite of applications. In fact, the full name of Google Apps was Google Apps for Business. By paying for a subscription to Google Apps, users get access to what used to be considered enterprise features such as a custom email domain, unlimited cloud storage, 24/7 support, additional admin and marketing tools, and no ads while using the services. Now that many people have a custom domain for their small business or personal use, Google started rolling out Google Apps to everyone and rebranded to Google Apps, then finally, G Suite. Why Google Office Suite Is Different The main differences between the free version and the paid G Suite version are: Free users see ads while using the apps, paid users do not. Google uses the information stored in the apps of free users for advertising but doesn't for paid users. Paid users can add custom domains to their G Suite accounts and use custom email addresses such as me@mydomain.com. No more me@ gmail.com accounts. Paid users have higher cloud storage limits in their Drive (including unlimited storage for some of the higher paid plans). Paid users get custom administration tools for their G Suite account, like adding new users, manage devices that are connected to G Suite accounts, add two-factor authentication to user accounts, and more. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up. Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit