^Google has announced the launch of Workspace Essentials Starter plan, the free tier of its Workspace suite. It allows workers, who already use something like Exchange or Zoho, to use tools like Google Docs, Sheets, Chat, etc. with their co-workers without switching to Gmail

It’s long been possible for employees to replicate this use case with personal Google accounts, but having an official product for it could make things easier in terms of security and managing a team.

It was announced in Google’s blog post that users will be able to sign up for Essentials Starter using their existing email accounts. They will then be able to invite their colleagues to collaborate with them on projects.

It offers 15 GB of Drive storage per user, which isn’t a ton, but it should be enough for text documents, slide shows, and spreadsheets. Employees will still be able to communicate with each other via Chat and Meet, even though the plan does not include email.

According to Google, Workspace Essentials Starter is designed to make it “easy for employees to choose their own productivity tools and bring modern collaboration to work.” That may be nice for employees, but perhaps a hassle for IT teams.

According to TechCrunch, the plan could serve as a Trojan horse – because it doesn’t always require (or even allow) IT departments to hold intense control over workplace tools, it may be a way to get workers to use Google’s tools.

On a Google support page regarding this plan, Google says that teams are limited to 25 people, but an unlimited number of teams can be set up in an organization.

As with any free version, you’ll find that there are limitations – you won’t get support from Google, your Meetings and Chats will all be limited to what’s available in the paid Enterprise Essentials plan.

According to Google, Essentials Starter will be rolled out over several weeks, and some regions might not have it available until mid-February.

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