Google put Gemini in every Workspace plan and raised prices by up to $4. Who paid more?
On January 16, 2025, Google stopped selling Gemini as a $20 add-on and built it into its Business plans instead. For a team without AI, that was a 17% to 22% price rise. For a team already paying for Gemini, the bill fell by more than half. This teardown looks at the decision behind it, and how you'd test it.
- Business Starter went from $6 to $7, Standard from $12 to $14 and Plus from $18 to $22 per user (billed yearly), with Gemini included. The Gemini Business add-on, $20 per user, was no longer sold.2,3,4
- For a Standard team without AI, that was a 17% rise. For one paying for Gemini, it fell from $32 to $14.1
- Google said it wanted AI within reach of every business. The test: does a $2 rise for everyone earn back the $20 add-on that only some teams paid?
Gemini was an add-on, sold per user
Until January 2025, Google Workspace sold three Business plans, which differ in storage, meeting size and security.6 AI came separately: from February 2024, Gemini Business cost $20 per user per month with an annual commitment, and Gemini Enterprise $30.3
Google Workspace Business plans before January 16, 2025
| Plan | Billed yearly | Billed monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Business Starter | $6 | $7.20 |
| Business Standard | $12 | $14.40 |
| Business Plus | $18 | $21.60 |
| Gemini Business add-on | $20 | — |
| Gemini Enterprise add-on | $30 | — |
Per user per month. Plan prices as reported by 9to5Google from Google's announcement4; add-on prices from Google, with an annual commitment.3
Keep AI as a $20 add-on, or put it in every plan's price?
Google's announcement framed the change around cost: many businesses, it said, are unsure how to start with AI or struggle with the cost of adopting it, and its goal was AI at an affordable price
for every business and employee.1 Google has not published how many Workspace customers bought the Gemini add-ons.
So the pricing decision was this: a $20 add-on bought by some teams, or a small rise paid by all of them. Which earns more, and who pays for it?
Four questions a pricing study can answer
- Which capabilities make a business suite worth paying for: the AI or the rest?MaxDiff →
- Should AI be sold as a $20 add-on, or included in every plan for a higher base price?Conjoint →
- What is the acceptable price range for Business Standard with AI included?Van Westendorp →
- At what price does Business Standard with AI bring in the most revenue?Gabor-Granger →
The order runs from the offer to the price: what buyers value, how to package it, the range they accept, then the exact price. Each question is asked separately of the two groups the change affects differently: teams already paying for an AI add-on, and teams that aren't. The study, run in Albi, is at the end.
Every Business plan went up, with Gemini included
On January 15, 2025, Google announced that its AI was now included in Workspace Business and Enterprise plans, with new prices for new customers from January 16. It also stopped selling the Gemini Business and Gemini Enterprise add-ons.1,2 The changes:
| Plan | Before | From January 16, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Business Starter | $6 · Gemini extra | $7 · Gemini in Gmail |
| Business Standard | $12 · Gemini extra | $14 · Gemini included |
| Business Plus | $18 · Gemini extra | $22 · Gemini included |
| Gemini Business add-on | $20 | No longer sold |
Billed yearly. Prices as reported by 9to5Google; billed monthly, Standard went from $14.40 to $16.80.4 At launch Starter got the Gemini side panel in Gmail and the standard Gemini app and NotebookLM; Standard and Plus got the full set, including Gemini Advanced and NotebookLM Plus.5
Existing customers moved to the new prices from March 17, 2025, or at their next annual renewal, whichever came later. Teams on the add-on stopped being charged for it after January 31, 2025.1,2
Whether it was a rise depends on whether you already paid for AI
What is public about how it went
Google has not published churn, downgrade or Gemini usage figures for the change, and doesn't report Workspace revenue on its own. What is on the record is the change itself: Gemini is in every Business plan, and the add-ons are no longer sold.2
What isn't public: how many teams paid for Gemini before, and how many teams without AI moved down a plan or left. This teardown makes no claim about either.
From the four questions to the decision
Illustrative study with synthetic respondents — not the company's data.We ran the four questions above as one Albi survey. The respondents choose or pay for their company's email and office suite at US companies of 10 to 250 people: 150 whose company already pays for an AI add-on in that suite, and 150 whose company doesn't.
These results come from synthetic respondents: AI-modelled buyer profiles, not people. Use them to shape the question, then confirm with real respondents. Run in Albi on October 3, 2026, with 300 synthetic respondents generated by Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite. Every chart below meets the minimum sample Albi sets for its method.
Which capabilities make a business suite worth paying for: the AI or the rest?
MaxDiff · all 300Result. The single most valued item was not AI: advanced security and data retention scored 22.0, more than twice the average. Five AI features followed close together, from summaries (13.1) to drafting (10.4), all above average. The seven AI features hold 67 of the 100 points, about their share of the list. Teams without AI ranked storage much higher; teams already paying for AI ranked the AI side panel near the top.
For the decision: AI adds value across the board, but no AI feature is valued as highly as security and data controls. That fits a small rise for everyone better than a large one.
Should AI be sold as a $20 add-on, or included in every plan for a higher base price?
Conjoint · all 300 · 5 prices × 3 AI levels × 3 plan levelsOld packaging vs new: who buys what, and what it earns
Gemini sold as an add-on
| Users | Revenue | |
|---|---|---|
| No plan bought (vs. these options) | 1% | — |
| Business Starter | 54% | 28% |
| Business Standard | 31% | 32% |
| Business Plus | 14% | 21% |
| Gemini add-on | 11% take it | 19% |
Gemini included in every Business plan
| Users | Revenue | |
|---|---|---|
| No plan bought (vs. these options) | 2% | — |
| Business Starter | 41% | 24% |
| Business Standard | 46% | 55% |
| Business Plus | 11% | 21% |
Result. Price drove 80% of the choices, the AI level 12%, the plan 8%. Before the change, few took the $20 add-on: 11% of users, a fifth of teams already paying for AI and none of the others. It still carried 19% of revenue. After it, Business Standard goes from 31% to 46% of users, mostly teams already paying for AI (72% of them pick Standard). Teams without AI shift the other way, towards Starter (63% to 74%), and a few more buy nothing (1% to 4%). Revenue per 100 users is about flat: $1,167 to $1,181 a month, +1%.
For the decision: the bundle moves buyers up to Standard but barely changes revenue: the $2 to $4 rises paid by everyone roughly replace the $20 paid by the few. The result hardly depends on the mix: from −1% if a tenth of teams already pay for AI to +3% if nine in ten do.
What is the acceptable price range for Business Standard with AI included?
Van Westendorp · all 300, then each groupResult. Across all 300, the acceptable range was $12 to $18, with the optimal price at about $15. So $14 sits inside it, just under the optimum. The groups differ: for teams already paying for AI the range is $15 to $20, so $14 is below it, cheaper than they expect. For teams without AI it is $11 to $15, with the optimal price at about $12: $14 is near the top, and 39% of them already called a price of $14 or less "getting expensive".
For the decision: $14 is cheap for AI payers and close to the ceiling for teams without AI. It splits the difference, and the average hides both.
At what price does Business Standard with AI bring in the most revenue?
Gabor-Granger · each group · prices $12, $14, $16, $18, $22Result. Across all 300, revenue per 100 users peaks at $12 ($1,176 a month, with 98% buying), ahead of $14 ($1,064, 76% buying). The two groups pull in different directions. Teams already paying for AI peak at $14 ($1,279), and their revenue stays almost as high up to $18. Teams without AI peak at $12; at $14 only 61% would buy, and their revenue is 26% lower.
For the decision: asked about Standard alone, $14 is the best price for AI payers and costs revenue among teams without AI, for whom $12 earns more. It is a compromise between the two groups.
Bundling Gemini moves buyers up to Standard, at about the same revenue. Most of the move up comes from teams already paying for AI.
- Value: the AI features add value, but security and data controls are still the single most valued item (question 1). Bundling takes Standard from 31% to 46% of users at about the same revenue (+1% in the simulation, with half of teams already paying for AI), and that changes little with the mix (question 2).
- Price: $14 is inside the overall acceptable range and just under its optimum, and it is where AI payers' revenue peaks (questions 3 and 4).
- Risk: the rise falls on teams without AI. For them $14 is near the top of their range, only 61% would buy Standard at $14, and their revenue peaks at the old $12 (questions 3 and 4). In the simulation they drift towards Starter (question 2).
What this study can't tell you: what teams without AI would really do, and how many teams paid for Gemini before. "No plan bought" is not a measured move to a rival, and Starter's Gmail-only AI is modelled as one level. That is the next thing to test, with real respondents. Google hasn't published what happened (see Result).
How each method works, and how many respondents you need: Van Westendorp · Gabor-Granger · MaxDiff · Conjoint · Sample size
Find out what your buyers will pay, before you change the price
Google Workspace and Gemini are trademarks of Google LLC. Albi has no affiliation with Google, and this teardown is not endorsed by it.
Sources
- Google Workspace blog, "Google Workspace enables the future of AI-powered work for every business", January 15, 2025: Gemini included in Business and Enterprise plans; the $32-to-$14 Business Standard example; existing customers from March 17, 2025 or renewal. workspace.google.com
- Google Workspace Updates, "The best of Google AI, now included in Workspace Business and Enterprise plans", January 2025: new prices for new customers from January 16, 2025; the Gemini Business and Gemini Enterprise add-ons no longer offered; add-on charges end after January 31, 2025. workspaceupdates.googleblog.com
- Google, "New ways Google Workspace customers can use Gemini", February 21, 2024: Gemini Business
$20 per user per month with an annual commitment
, Gemini Enterprise $30. blog.google - 9to5Google, "Google Workspace details 2025 Gemini price increase", January 15, 2025: current and new prices, annual and flexible plans. 9to5google.com
- 9to5Google, "Google Workspace business users getting full Gemini experience, price increasing", January 15, 2025: AI features by plan, Business Starter included. 9to5google.com
- Google Workspace Admin Help, "Compare Business editions": storage and meeting size per plan, used in the survey's plan descriptions. knowledge.workspace.google.com
We'd rather do this on your pricing than Google Workspace's.
Same method, your own data behind it, and a proposal you approve or don't.