Google Workspace has six plans. Most Kenyan businesses need one of the first two, overpay by choosing a third, or stay on free Gmail because the comparison table is exhausting.
Here is the plain version: what each plan contains, what the differences actually mean in daily use, what each one costs, and how to choose without reading Google's feature matrix.
The Plans and the Prices
Licence prices are Google's own, per user per month on the annual plan, before tax. They are the same wherever in the world you buy. If you would rather pay in shillings by M-Pesa, our Google Workspace page has the prices for that.
| Plan | USD/user/month | Storage per user |
|---|---|---|
| Business Starter | 7.00 | 30 GB |
| Business Standard | 14.00 | 2 TB |
| Business Plus | 22.00 | 5 TB |
| Enterprise Essentials | 10.00 | Drive, Meet, Chat and Docs without Gmail |
| Enterprise Standard | 27.00 | No user cap |
| Enterprise Plus | 35.00 | Largest capacity |
On the monthly Flexible plan every price is 20% higher, which is why the annual commitment works out about 17% cheaper. Business Starter on Flexible is $8.40 instead of $7.00 on the annual plan.
What Actually Differs Between Them
Ignore the long feature list. Four things separate the plans in practice.
Storage
30 GB on Starter is email plus a modest Drive. If your team shares photographs, video or large design files, Starter runs out and 2 TB on Standard does not.
Meetings
Starter covers Meet calls up to 100 participants with no recording. Standard adds recordings and up to 150. Plus goes to 500 with attendance tracking.
Shared drives
From Standard upward, files belong to the team rather than to the person who created them. This is the feature businesses most regret not having when somebody leaves.
Vault and controls
Google Vault, for retention and eDiscovery, starts at Business Plus. If you have a legal or regulatory reason to retain and search mail, that is your floor.
Which Plan Suits You
| Your situation | Plan | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 2 to 10 people, mainly email, light file sharing | Business Starter | Professional email on your domain at the lowest cost. Most small Kenyan businesses sit here for years. |
| A team that shares files, records meetings or keeps client folders | Business Standard | 2 TB per user and shared drives. The usual upgrade, and usually the right one. |
| Regulated sector, legal retention needs, tighter device control | Business Plus | Vault and advanced endpoint management. |
| Staff who need Drive, Meet and Docs but keep existing email | Enterprise Essentials | Collaboration without changing your mail system. |
| More than 300 users, or enterprise security requirements | Enterprise Standard or Plus | No user cap, data loss prevention, context-aware access. |
What You Get in Every Plan
Every plan includes the full set your team already knows: Gmail on your own domain, Drive, Meet, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Calendar, Chat, Forms and Sites, plus Gemini AI, all administered from one console. Vault is the exception, available on Business Plus and the Enterprise plans.
The admin console is the part people underestimate. It is what lets you create an account for a new hire in a minute, suspend a leaver's account the day they go, reset a password, and keep the business data when someone leaves. On free Gmail none of that exists. Our comparison of business email versus free Gmail sets out that difference, and every app explained covers what each tool actually does.
The Security Half Nobody Sets Up
Buying the licence is the easy part. The part that protects you is three DNS records and one setting:
- SPF declares which servers may send mail using your domain.
- DKIM signs every message, so recipients can prove it genuinely came from you.
- DMARC tells inboxes what to do with mail that fails those checks, and reports attempted abuse back to you.
- 2-step verification, enforced for every user, not merely available.
Without these, anybody can send email that appears to come from your domain, which is the mechanism behind most invoice fraud. Every setup we do includes all four, configured and tested.
Paying in Shillings, and the Annual Discount
Buying direct from Google means paying in dollars with an international card. Through us, the licence costs the same, you pay in Kenya shillings by M-Pesa or bank transfer, and the setup work is included.
On the annual plan you commit to a number of users for a year, at the lower price. On the Flexible plan you pay 20% more and can change the user count monthly. If your headcount is stable, annual is the obvious choice. If you hire and release seasonally, Flexible can be cheaper despite the higher rate.
Switching and Mixing Plans
You are not locked into one choice for the whole company. Plans can be mixed: the finance team on Business Plus for Vault, everyone else on Starter, for example. Upgrading later is straightforward, and the mailbox moves with the user.
Moving in from elsewhere, whether Microsoft 365, Outlook, cPanel webmail or an old G Suite account, is a migration job rather than a setting. Done in the right order nothing is lost: copy the mail across while the old system still receives, switch the MX records, then run a final pass for anything that arrived during the switch. The full walkthrough is in Google Workspace setup and migration.
Getting Set Up
What we handle: choosing the right plan, creating the accounts, verifying your domain, migrating existing mail, configuring SPF, DKIM and DMARC, enforcing 2-step verification, and training your team on what they are now paying for. After that you have one local team to call when an account locks or an email bounces.
Prices, plans and the full detail are on the Google Workspace page, with the pricing breakdown in Google Workspace pricing in Kenya.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Google Workspace plan should a small Kenyan business choose?
Business Starter suits most teams of 2 to 10 people who mainly need professional email and light file sharing, at $7.00 per user per month on the annual plan. Move to Business Standard when the team shares large files, records meetings or needs shared drives.
What is the real difference between Starter and Standard?
Four things: storage goes from 30 GB to 2 TB per user, Meet goes from 100 participants to 150 with recording, shared drives appear so files belong to the team rather than to individuals, and appointment booking pages are included.
When do I need Business Plus?
When you need Google Vault for retention and eDiscovery, advanced endpoint management or tighter security controls. That is usually a regulatory or legal requirement rather than a convenience, and it costs $22.00 per user per month on the annual plan.
Can I pay for Google Workspace in Kenya shillings?
Through WPfoss, yes, by M-Pesa or bank transfer. The licence costs the same as buying direct from Google, and the setup work is included.
Do I need a licence for info@ and sales@?
No. Shared addresses should be groups or aliases, which cost nothing. Paying for them as separate users is one of the most common ways Kenyan businesses overspend on Workspace.
Can different staff be on different plans?
Yes. Plans can be mixed, so your finance team can sit on Business Plus for Vault while everyone else is on Starter. Upgrading later is straightforward and the mailbox moves with the user.
Get the plan right before you pay for a year
Tell us how many people you have and what they actually do with files and meetings. We will tell you which plan fits and where you are about to overpay. Talk to us on WhatsApp at +254 722 334 188, email hello@wpfoss.ke, or call +254 709 384 200.
See Workspace PlansRelated: Setup and Migration Guide · Business Email vs Gmail · Google Workspace · Admin console