14 DAY TRIAL // Google is making some changes to its licenses for Google Apps affecting mainly small companies and organizations. There is some good news and some bad news.
The bad news is that there is now a limit of only 10 users for the free version of Google Apps, compared to 50 up to this point, the good news is that there is also a new Flexible Plan with monthly billing and no contractual obligations.
"For customers who sign up online we’re adding the Flexible Plan, a new $5 per user per month pricing option which requires no contractual commitment," Hunter Middleton from the Google Apps Product Team announced on the Google Enterprise Blog.
"We’re eliminating upfront payments for new customers to make it easier for them to manage their cash flow. Whether they choose the Flexible or Annual Plan, customers will pay at the end of each month," he added.
The Flexible Plan should make it easier for small companies on a tight budget to get by. With no contractual obligations, companies can simply drop Google Apps at the end of each month if it gets to that.
Equally interesting is the fact that all companies now pay each month rather than yearly, again, helping spread out expenses over longer periods.
And they're going to need it too, small companies which would have been satisfied with the free version of Google Apps, which comes with less free storage and lower uptime guarantees, will now have to pay if they have more than 10 users.
"Starting on May 10, new organizations (excluding schools and non-profits) with more than 10 users will need to sign up for our paid service, Google Apps for Business," Google announced.
Non-profits and schools are exempt from the new rules, but small companies are not. The new limits apply only to new customers, existing ones can continue to use Apps for free like before.