On Friday, Dec 7th, 2012 at 8:53 PM I received an e-mail from Google announcing they will no longer be allowing free signups for Google Apps.
Google Apps initially offered a “free tier” that allowed up to 50 users free per organization / domain. Then Google reduced that number to 10. Now there is no free tier. Here is the message from Google:
Hello from Google,
Here’s some important news about Google Apps—but don’t worry, there’s no need for you to take any action. We just want you to know that we’re making a change to the packages we offer.
Starting today, we’re no longer accepting new sign-ups for the free version of Google Apps (the version you’re currently using). Because you’re already a customer, this change has no impact on your service, and you can continue to use Google Apps for free.
Should you ever want to upgrade to Google Apps for Business, you’ll enjoy benefits such as 24/7 customer support, a 25 GB inbox, business controls, our 99.9% uptime guarantee, unlimited users and more for just $5 per user, per month.
You can learn more about this change in our Help Center or on the Enterprise Blog.
Thank you for using Google Apps.
Clay Bavor
Director, Google Apps
