Hi!

I'm looking for an alternative to Google Workspace for a small business.

Currently we have 3 workspace accounts. We need 8 more email accounts under our domain but with it being €6,90 a month per account that's already €75,90 a month.

I think we'll just hire some mail server to host the mail but I'm looking for a selfhosted solution for everything else (including a webmail client).

I found nextcloud which seemed promising, but the mail client in it is not good (and the mobile layout isn't good either; it integrates well on Android through WebDAV though). The snappymail and roundcube integrations don't cut it either. I also don't like that calendar invitations are all sent out from the same email address for all users, with only the reply-to address being different.

Zimbra seems good but it's also a mailserver in itself, which I don't want to host myself.

We have at least the following specific requirements:

-Good modern layout
-Proper text editor for mails
-Scheduling a time to send an email
-Adding signatures to emails
-Email templates

-Calendars with shared write access
-Calendar syncable to phones and other applications
-Calendar invitations sent from the user's email (also when being made on a phone)

-Contacts

-Creating and sharing forms (alternative for Google forms)

-File sharing feature would be nice to have but not necessary

-Everything accessible from one place (email, calendar, contacts, etc.)

Dear community,
I am paying too much for 4 users for Google Workspace, I don't use it for business just for home use. I am paying something like USD 450 a year.
I am thinking of moving away from them and migrating most of my storage to my private home NAS (Maybe Synology, still not decided), leveraging the good connectivity I have at home symmetric 1 Gbps or even I can upgrade to 10 Gbps for USD 10 more per month in (Switzerland).

One alternative I was looking at to move email was ProtonMail, but their family plan is a bit salty too.

So another alternative I was thinking was to use Free Gmail accounts, and configure my custom domains on a standard hosting and auto-redirect to the different free Gmail accounts. Then get a Google One subscription to have more storage for Email and Google Drive for the cloud stuff.

Any other ideas you may have? Cons? Pros? Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Hi there,

I have a domain (myname.com) and email ([email protected]) through Google. I bought this domain over 10 years ago and they had a good deal where you could get 10 email addresses for free, which was awesome as I was trying to build my professional / online presence.

Now Google is charging me for this MONTHLY. I am wondering if there are some cheaper alternatives. I just want my domain and email ([email protected]) and thats all.

Are there cheaper alternatives?

For reference, this is what Google is charging me and I think its the cheapest level ===

Google Workspace Business Standard $18.72 license per month but discounted to $15.60 PER MONTH

Any recommendations is appreciated. Thanks

I own a small brokerage that is starting to grow. While the growth is exciting, I also want to make sure that we are being efficient with resources and utilizing a system that is scalable. Currently, I issue an email address for each agent that is customized with our domain. For "Google Workspace Business Standard" it runs $60/mo for 5 seats. It's not a large expense, but I'm curious if there are other routes we should consider. We heavily use Google Drive for document sharing.

There's plenty of discussion online of what apps to use instead of Google Workspace, but in my experience, they always fail to take into account the whole of what Google Workspace is.

It is incorrect to say Google Workspace is an office suite, or a document collaboration provider, or a notebook. Google Workspace is an integrated combination of these aspects. As such, replacements like OnlyOffice, or online notebooks without document collaboration are not actually replacements/alternatives (imo).

The closest alternative I've found is Cryptpad, but A) I can't test what the document editor is like (to see it's any good) without paying and B) This is more nitpicky, but I can't work with OnlyOffice spreadsheets. The way my spreadsheets are made requires there to be finite rows/cols. Also, images don't work in OnlyOffice on Cryptpad.

There's also Standard Notes, but I can't tell if it supports document collaboration or not, and I don't think I can test with the free demo. There's also also Peergos drive with spreadsheet plugins. However, the main one they have is Luckysheets, which as of iirc March 2024 is no longer maintained. Luckysheets now says to use Univer for spreadsheets (on their read-only github), but I checked them out and they are super new and seem suspect to me. Their privacy policy has vague-ish terms for providing data to third parties, and their YouTube channel seems like its made entirely with ai.

tldr: What do you all recommend for Google Workspace alternatives?

I don't need all the stuff they offer.

I ONLY need [email protected]...

Anything out there thats free or self hosted just for this.

Porkbun is pretty decent but actually is 25 USD a year, and so same as a single Google workspace account.

Or self host email with a basic web email gui.

I am fed up with Google Workspace. Prices keep being raised and the amount of updates is getting less and less, only focusing on stupid AI features that I don't want.

Google Mail & Drive are the only apps I really use and there is currently an external kanban app (Taiga) that I use.

Would use Nextcloud on Hetzner for all of that. How is the experience of switching from Google Workspace to Nextcloud including moving the domain? There are a few simple speadsheets that I have and still want to use.

And how is your experience on Android for contacts, files on drive, mail, photos, calendar?

I just started as a leader of a small community center and I'm trying to get set us up so that folks can work remotely more effectively. I WAS going to put us on Google Workspace because I'd found it helpful at my previous company (also a very small business), but I'm dragging my heels because I really don't want to. Is there an alternative or set of alternatives that anyone recommends?

I should have put a question mark in the title the first time I tired to post. This is my first time posting, so I'm learning!

I have been bouncing back-and-forth with my work and companies between these tools and even tried to use Nextcloud as a replacement. Skiff was a cool idea while it was around until notion bought it.

I’m so frustrated with simply not having an office suite that is privacy and security focused as well as has a good user experience.

If that could be a thing in Proton, I would immediately start moving my team completely over to proton and get rid of Google and Microsoft on and get rid of Google and Microsoft

Assuming I've been soaked in Google G Suite / Workspace for the last decade, what are the Open Source alternatives that can seriously provide equivalent functionality across email and, more challengingly, collaboration tools?

Has anyone gone through a migration to a system that isn't Microsoft Office 365?

I have a few small businesses and 4 different Google Workspace accounts each with 3 to 12 users. Started with the Google product that that was prior to Workspace.

I also got a lot of my domains on Google Domains which apparently disappeared and now they are on the sub-par/confusing Squarespace platform which Im also being billed for Workspace on?

With the recent price increase and the storage costs and the confusing split from Domains to Squarespace, I'd like to understand what other options exist.

I'm not tech illiterate but this stuff is starting to make less and less sense.

What is the alternative?

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I own a communications and marketing agency in the Netherlands that uses Google Workspace. I would like to change everything from the American Big Tech companies to European alternatives. I understand that Nextcloud is a good alternative to Google Workspace, but my IT administrator told me that it can be quite slow. Who has experience with European alternatives to Google Workspace or Nextcloud in a similar working environment?

So 4 or 5 years ago when G Suite was still a thing I setup a handful of custom domains in "gmail". In other words, each domain had its own G Suite account. I definitely use all these emails, BUT that's all I'm using (none of the other features matter in any way). Well, fast forward and now I'm starting to be charged for each of these "Google Workspace Business Starter" plans at $6/ month. I need to find the best alternative out of this. Any suggestions?

Trying to find competitive advantages