Microsoft Offers G Suite Legacy Customers a Deal

Customers of G Suite legacy free edition who are upset that Google just remembered they exist might find a new home with Microsoft 365. And the software giant is now offering a 60 percent discount on a 12-month Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Business Standard, or Business Premium subscription to ease the transition.

“If you’re a small business that’s relied on G Suite legacy free edition, we couldn’t help but notice you might be in the market for a new solution,” Microsoft corporate vice president Jared Spataro writes. “We’ve got news for you: today, you can get a 60 percent discount on a 12-month Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Business Standard, or Business Premium subscription, along with the help you need to make the move.”

As you may have heard, Google recently contacted its G Suite legacy free edition subscribers to explain that the free ride is over and that they will need to move to a paid Google Workspace account by May 1. The cheapest Workspace account is about $6 per month, which is reasonable, but it can add up for those small businesses with multiple accounts. And the only concession Google has made in the face of complaints is to promise to migrate those customers to free Gmail accounts, which don’t support custom domains or multi-account management functionality.

Microsoft 365 Business Basic normally costs $5 per user per month, so its already a better deal than the cheapest Workspace account. But at 60 percent for the first year, it’s an even better deal. Microsoft 365 Business Standard adds the desktop Office apps and is $8.25 per user per month. And Microsoft 365 Business Premium adds additional features and is $12.50 per user per month. You can compare the plans here.

Microsoft’s offer is only available to current G Suite legacy free edition users who purchase a 12-month Microsoft 365 subscription by August 2, 2022. You can learn more here.

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Conversation 27 comments

  • nathanh

    10 February, 2022 - 3:06 pm

    <p>My question on this, and I tried doing the support chat MS talks about on their page but it was not doing anything, is how long the discount lasts. I have been running GSuite Legacy Free since 2010 for my family. Not a business. We just wanted email with a custom domain. I am pretty pissed at Google about this whole thing. I would be more than happy to move to MS365 except that paying anything is a cost I didn’t have before and I want to find the best, cheapest way to keep my families email running (again, screw you Google) and Microsoft’s offer is that. For 12 months.</p><p><br></p><p>If MS were offering this price in perpetuity I would just move and be done with the nightmare. If it is only the first year then it isn’t quite as simple. And of course they don’t make that clear. You do get some business help thrown in for free for a year, that part is clear, but the pricing is slightly ambiguous.</p>

    • minke

      10 February, 2022 - 3:45 pm

      <p>Check out Purelymail for the cheapest reliable domain email at $10 a year, including multiple domains, multiple mailboxes, etc. Just a one-man band, but very responsive.</p>

      • nathanh

        10 February, 2022 - 7:41 pm

        <p>Thank you kind person! I need to sign up for a free trial with one of my other domains and see how well it works. My only concern is their support for calendaring. Which seems like it is something they are working on still.</p>

        • minke

          10 February, 2022 - 8:00 pm

          <p>I have found the email part very reliable, but I didn’t use calendars or even contacts. Instead, I use a standard free Gmail account for that stuff. You can sync your domain email with a regular Gmail account and send and receive from your domain. Use Gmail for all the other good stuff.</p>

    • arnstarr

      11 February, 2022 - 3:14 am

      <p>Exchange Online Plan 1, or Exchange Online Kiosk, might suit you. Email, tasks, contacts and calendars only. Beware! ‘Kiosk’ plan has tiny 2GB inbox and does not work with Outlook Windows/Mac.</p><p><br></p>

    • peterh_oz

      Premium Member
      11 February, 2022 - 6:30 am

      <p>Office.com is free. You could use an email provider with forwarding to your Outlook.com account (and you can use aliasing if you need more than one in the same login), and then the office apps are free (Web only tho). Don’t forget Office365 Home which gives you 6 users, with 1Tb storage in onedrive per user. </p>

      • nathanh

        11 February, 2022 - 11:40 am

        <p>I have O365 Family but that won’t suffice for the number of accounts I have. I don’t care about the "work" pieces, just looking for email/calendar/contact hosting.</p><p><br></p><p>Good point though about the forwarding because Outlook.com does allow you to send as I believe.</p>

    • Brett Barbier

      11 February, 2022 - 4:41 pm

      <p>Google gave you 12 years of free service, and now it’s "screw you, google"?</p>

      • hrlngrv

        Premium Member
        12 February, 2022 - 8:00 pm

        <p>No good deed goes unpunished.</p>

      • nathanh

        15 February, 2022 - 11:37 am

        <p>Google promised to NOT take this away. Now they are. Google could easily continue to run this for free and just show ads the same way they do on a personal Gmail account. They are not doing so and instead I have to do a ton of work to find a new host and migrate my family across. So yes, it is. Google used to have the mantra of "Do no evil" but for some time now their mantra has been "Do whatever you want and who cares how it affects anyone but Google". This is not a new thing for them.</p>

    • sglewis

      12 February, 2022 - 5:16 pm

      <p>I don’t understand why you’d have to ask the question. This article clearly states, as does the offer on the link state it’s a 12 month discount. </p>

  • dougkinzinger

    10 February, 2022 - 3:08 pm

    <p>Microsoft used to do this – custom email domains for "pro-sumers" and those who just wanted the Outlook.com experience but with a custom domain. I know because I am one of those folks. It’s too bad they never went further with it, I spun one up for my domain, relatives, small family farm, and so on. But I suppose it makes sense to keep all custom-domain stuff in the 365 business realm.</p>

    • fireballwrangler

      Premium Member
      11 February, 2022 - 9:39 am

      <p>Pretty sure that is part of the package now if you have O365 Home. I know I can add custom domains to my outlook.com account because of it (under the premium area of settings) and I believe I can share the domain with others on my plan (the 5 other accounts you can give out) but I’m not 100% on that part</p>

  • ESA69

    10 February, 2022 - 4:27 pm

    <p>Be aware this is only for the USA, Australia, Ireland, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore and the UK, seems Western Europe is not important enough?</p><p><br></p>

    • spiderman2

      11 February, 2022 - 3:36 am

      <p>Maybe in Europe they have enough office 365 clients already</p>

    • SvenJ

      Premium Member
      11 February, 2022 - 10:38 am

      <p>EU has probably banned any sort of incentive as anti-competative.</p>

      • hrlngrv

        Premium Member
        12 February, 2022 - 8:19 pm

        <p>Isn’t <strong>Ireland</strong> in the EU?</p>

        • bkkcanuck

          13 February, 2022 - 7:43 am

          <p>Republic of Ireland is in the EU, Northern Ireland is not… but it is in the common market. </p>

    • hrlngrv

      Premium Member
      12 February, 2022 - 8:18 pm

      <p>IOW, major English-speaking countries (Jamaica and Guyana can bugger off, it seems).</p>

  • arnstarr

    11 February, 2022 - 3:11 am

    <p>USA customers only. The restoftheworld is 3rd.</p>

  • kalahari

    Premium Member
    11 February, 2022 - 3:56 pm

    <p>I’m trying to figure out how this image goes with this story, is she getting a deal at the coffee shop?</p>

    • Greg Green

      13 February, 2022 - 8:39 am

      <p>The customer is showing the cashier the Thurrot story so he can make plans for the transition.</p>

  • bkkcanuck

    12 February, 2022 - 1:35 am

    <p>Hmmm… I had been on the G Suite Legacy for a very long time to host my custom email domain…. up until last November when I decided I would try out the Apple custom domains (from windows currently I access it though a web page, but I suspect Microsoft mail clients will get around to supporting it by mid-year). Although I don’t generally like web clients to email, it has worked out so far since when I am on Windows I don’t get around to checking my email… which is actually one less distraction when working on my current customer stuff since I have to use their email service. So far, I am happy with the Apple custom domains … I guess I just lucked out being a few months ahead of being forced to jump.</p>

  • cnc123

    12 February, 2022 - 4:35 pm

    <p>Anyone using or migrated to Microsoft 365 Family and a custom domain? Any limitations? I can’t tell if you can use email aliases on Microsoft 365 mailboxes. Microsoft has so many similarly named (and renamed) products with shifting features that it’s hard to figure out what does what at any point in time.</p>

  • Ivan X

    14 February, 2022 - 4:08 pm

    <p>At least in the case of me and my clients who have to move from G Suite Legacy, the first year of paid Google Workspace, starting July 1, is 50% off. So, for the entry level plans, it’s the same price as what Microsoft is offering; so, I see no reason for anyone to do anything before July 1, 2023, unless they didn’t get the 50% offer (I assume everyone did, but I don’t know), or they specifically want 365.</p><p><br></p><p>However, after the first year, Exchange Plan 1, if it remains at $4/month, would be an ongoing 33% discount relative to the price of Workspace Starter at $6/month. For those who are using client front ends, or who are using but don’t like the Gmail web interface, this could be an attractive switch if the work involved in executing it isn’t a dealbreaker.</p>

  • Ivan X

    14 February, 2022 - 4:09 pm

    <p>Whoops, math = bad. Microsoft’s offer is better at $2/month/mailbox vs $3/month/mailbox. That still wouldn’t be incentive enough for me to switch, but others mileage may vary.</p>

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