Google Workspace
proprietary cloud office suite, not recommended
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Company | Google Workspace |
| URL | workspace.google.com |
| Pricing | recurring/mo— $7-22/user/mo (Starter/Standard/Plus, annual billing) -- no self-hosted or free tier |
| License | closed |
| Hosting | cloud |
Not recommended. Docs, Sheets, Slides, Gmail, and Drive with real-time collaboration and 30GB-5TB of pooled cloud storage depending on tier. Included here for comparison against OnlyOffice and Nextcloud, the two self-hosted alternatives we do recommend.
Usage Notes
Two specific, documented concerns rule this out for movement-aligned orgs:
Deplatforming risk: in November 2025, YouTube (Google) deleted the accounts of three prominent Palestinian human rights groups, reportedly to comply with US sanctions (see The Intercept). Google has also handed Gmail account data to ICE to help detain a pro-Palestinian student organizer, and YouTube separately shut down Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association's account following a US sanctions designation.
Military ties: Google (with Amazon) holds Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud/AI contract with the Israeli government including its Ministry of Defense. Google fired roughly 50 employees in April 2024 for protesting the contract (see TIME).