Google is putting an end to free legacy G Suite
It seems that Google is finally pulling the plug on the free version of G Suite. The company announced that the legacy free edition plan will be unavailable starting from May 1, 2022, at which point free users will be transitioned to Google Workspace and will be allowed to keep using the service without paying for it for another two months (until July 1, 2022.) After that, Google will likely fully retire G Suite and continue offering Google Workspace for paying users.
In a support post, Google revealed that all existing users will need to upgrade to Google Workspace in order to keep their accounts and their services. The company has given free edition G Suite users plenty of time to make the swap — as of December 6, 2012, the company no longer accepted new customers and officially switched focus to its subscription-based service. However, users who already had a G Suite account at the time were able to keep using the limited scope of services it offered for another decade, free of charge.
Users who choose to upgrade starting May 1, 2022 will still be allowed to use their new subscription without having to pay any fee until July 1, 2022. Once you switch to Google Workspace, there is no going back: Google is shutting down G Suite's free edition entirely.
How do I switch to paid Google Workspace service?
Google suggested that making the swap between the free legacy edition of G Suite and Google Workspace should be seamless and won't affect the users. If you choose not to upgrade, Google will still automatically transition your G Suite account and set you up with a subscription plan that corresponds with the features you currently use. Even then, you won't have to pay Google for said services until July 1, 2022.
In order to keep your new Google Workspace services, you will have to set up Google Workspace billing before the July 1, 2022 deadline Google has set. Google will suspend all Workspace accounts that do not provide a valid billing option before the deadline. This means losing access to all the services provided by Workspace. Fortunately, users who do not wish to upgrade can export their data with Google's Data Export tool.
Google Workspace has three plans for users to choose from: Business Starter ($6/month per user,) Business Standard ($12/month per user,) and Business Plus ($18/month per user.) In order to stop using G Suite and upgrade to Workspace, head over to Google's website to complete the transition.