“How much does Google Workspace cost?” is one of the first questions UAE business owners ask us. The short answer is that it depends on the plan, how you pay and how many people need an account. The longer answer is that the cheapest plan is not always the cheapest choice once your team starts running out of storage or needs to record meetings.
Here is a clear breakdown of every Business plan, what each one costs in the UAE and how to choose.
“Most businesses pick a plan on price and switch within a year. Pick on how your team works, and you only set it up once.”
Google Workspace plans at a glance
Google sells Workspace per user, per month. Google lists its prices in US dollars. The AED figures below are approximate conversions at the fixed rate of 3.6725 AED to the dollar, before VAT.
| Plan | Price (annual) | Approx. AED | Storage | Meeting participants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business Starter | USD 7 | about AED 26 | 30 GB | 100 |
| Business Standard | USD 14 | about AED 51 | 2 TB | 150 |
| Business Plus | USD 22 | about AED 81 | 5 TB | 500 |
| Enterprise | Quote from Google | Quote | 5 TB and more | 1,000 |
Prices as listed by Google at the time of writing (October 2026). Google can change prices at any time, so check the current price before you buy.
The three Business plans allow up to 300 users. Enterprise has no user limit.
Annual plan or monthly (flexible) plan?
Google offers two ways to pay:
- Annual plan: you commit for a year at the lower price. You can add users during the year, but you cannot reduce below the number you committed to until renewal.
- Flexible plan: you pay month to month and can add or remove users any time. It costs about 20% more per user. For example, Business Starter is listed at USD 8.40 per user per month on the flexible plan, compared with USD 7 on the annual plan.
If your team size is stable, the annual plan saves money. If you hire seasonally or are still growing, flexible is worth the premium for the first year.
Do not forget VAT
UAE businesses pay 5% VAT on Workspace subscriptions. A team of 10 on Business Standard at the annual price works out to roughly AED 514 a month before VAT, or about AED 540 with VAT.
Budget for VAT from the start so the first invoice holds no surprises.
What you get on each plan
Business Starter
Professional email on your own domain (you@yourcompany.ae), Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides and Meet, with 30 GB of storage per user. It includes basic Gemini AI features in Gmail. Meetings cannot be recorded.
Best for: small teams that mainly need professional email and shared documents.
Business Standard
Everything in Starter, plus 2 TB of storage per user, shared drives for teams, meeting recording, eSignature in Docs and wider access to Gemini across the Workspace apps.
Best for: most small and mid-sized UAE businesses. This is the plan we recommend most often.
Business Plus
Everything in Standard, plus 5 TB per user, Google Vault for retention and eDiscovery, advanced endpoint management for company devices and meetings of up to 500 people.
Best for: businesses with compliance or record-keeping needs, or teams handling sensitive client data.
Enterprise
Advanced data loss prevention, data regions, S/MIME encryption and other controls for large or regulated organisations. Pricing comes as a quote from Google.
“Starter covers email. Standard covers how a real team collaborates. Plus covers compliance. Choose the lowest plan that covers how you actually work, not the lowest price.”
How to choose the right plan
Ask these four questions:
- How much storage does each person use today? If anyone is near 30 GB, Starter will be a problem within months.
- Do you record meetings or need shared team drives? If yes, you need Standard or above.
- Do you have legal, financial or retention requirements? If yes, look at Business Plus for Vault.
- Will your headcount change this year? If yes, consider the flexible plan.
You can also mix plans within one account in many cases, for example Standard for most staff and Plus for management or finance.
Costs beyond the subscription
The licence is only part of the cost. Plan for:
- Migration: moving existing email, contacts and calendars from your current provider without losing anything.
- Domain and DNS setup: MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records so your email lands in inboxes, not spam folders.
- Security setup: two-step verification, admin roles and device policies.
- Ongoing admin: adding and removing users, password resets and support.
Done properly, these are one-time jobs. Done badly, they cause lost email and deliverability problems for months.
Our take
For most UAE businesses, Business Standard on an annual plan is the sensible default. It gives every user enough storage, lets teams share drives and record meetings, and still costs less per person than most people expect. Start with Starter only if your team truly needs nothing beyond email and documents.
If you want help choosing a plan, migrating from your current email or setting everything up securely, book a call with our team. You can also see our Google Workspace setup and migration service, or compare it with Microsoft 365.
The most common problem we fix is not the plan choice. It is email going to spam because DNS records were never set up properly after the switch. If you are moving to Workspace, get SPF, DKIM and DMARC right on day one.
Frequently asked questions
Is Google Workspace free in the UAE?
No. Google Workspace for businesses is a paid subscription, charged per user per month. Free Gmail accounts do not include email on your own domain.
Can I pay for Google Workspace in AED?
Google lists prices in US dollars. Depending on how you buy, through Google directly or through a reseller, you may be billed in USD or AED. Either way, 5% UAE VAT applies.
Can I switch plans later?
Yes. You can upgrade at any time. Downgrading on an annual plan usually has to wait until renewal.
How long does a migration take?
For a small team, setup and migration usually take a few days, depending on how much existing email needs to be moved.
