Goodbye Google. Hello Privacy! Alternative for G Suite legacy users.
Google will shut down your G Suite legacy free edition this summer. Time to switch to an encrypted mailbox.
G Suite legacy free edition is ending
Google is turning off its G Suite legacy free edition for all users that were able to get free Google apps services tied to a custom domain between 2006 and 2012. Now Google wants to force these users to either start paying a minimum of $6 per user per month, or threatens that they will lose access to services such as Gmail with a custom domain.
Lots of families, associations and small companies that got hold of the free G Suite legacy edition before 2012 are seeing themselves forced to upgrade - or look for an alternative.
The starting price of $6 per user for Google Apps is also rather steep, particularly for families or non-profit associations.
Google Apps legacy alternative: Goodbye Google, Hello Privacy!
Fortunately, alternatives are available, and much better ones for a lower price. Now that lots of families, non-profit organizations and small businesses are looking for secure business email solutions to replace their free G Suite legacy accounts with, we’d like to offer Tutanota - not at a special price, but at a fair one!
Affordable alternative to Google Workspace
At Tutanota we follow the principle of fair and transparent prices starting at €1 per user per month for families. The starting price for businesses and non-profits is €2 per user per month, but non-profits, schools and open source projects can also apply for a discount.
These are much more reasonable prices, particularly for families and non-profits. We want to enable everyone to afford an encrypted mailbox so we try to keep the introductory price for custom domain support as low as possible.
We all know the saying that “if it’s free, you are the product”. Tutanota is the opposite: We respect your data and your right to privacy. We would never track you or scan your data. Consequently, Premium services such as custom domain support are not for free (and have never been at Tutanota), but come at a fair price.
Our mission with Tutanota is to put an end to mass surveillance as well as to ad-based tracking. That’s why we offer a completely encrypted mailbox: At Tutanota we respect your right to privacy. We make sure that all data is encrypted and that only you can access your data. We encrypt so much data that we can safely say that Tutanota is the most secure mailbox available.
Benefits of Tutanota
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Add an unlimited number of custom domains* & activate catch-all.
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Add an unlimited number of users to your account.
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Use extended and unlimited search on encrypted data.
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Use smart filtering for your encrypted mailbox.
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Add aliases to your main Tutanota account.
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Whitelabel* Tutanota for your business and enable login on your website.
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Add Secure Connect*, an encrypted contact form, to your website.
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Manage all Tutanota users from your admin account.
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Use several encrypted calendars in Tutanota
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Share* your encrypted calendars with other Premium users
*The optional extensions *Whitelabel, *Sharing and *Secure Connect can be added to the Premium subscription. Unlimited domains are included in the Business feature which can be added to a Premium subscription and which is already included in all business subscriptions of Tutanota.
Security features that make Tutanota stand out
By making sure that all your data is always end-to-end encrypted, you own your data. Tutanota’s automatic encryption enables you to use the benefits of the cloud - availability, accessibility, cost-efficiency, automatic back-up - without giving up on data sovereignty or security.
On top of the built-in encryption, Tutanota’s secure password reset and innovative search on encrypted data are just two important features that make sure that no third party - not even we - can gain access to your data.
Focus on security & privacy
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End-to-end encrypted mailbox
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End-to-end encrypted address book
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Zero-knowledge calendar
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Automatic end-to-end encrypted emails between users
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End-to-end encrypted emails to any email address via a shared password
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Secure password reset that gives us absolutely no access
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Full-text search of encrypted data, executed locally
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GDPR-compliant email service with built-in encryption
Sign up now and enjoy an email service that respects you and your data!
How to export your data from Google
Google has an extensive support page that explains how you can export your data from Google Apps as an admin.
If you only want to export your email data from Google, Google explains here that you can not do this with the standard Data Export tool, but each user needs to export this data from within their individual login.
How to import your data to Tutanota
Emails
Email import is not yet possible. However, we are already working on this feature and hope to release it later this year. For now, we would recommend that you store your exported email data in a local mail client such as Thunderbird or Outlook.
Contacts
You can import contacts via vCard: Login to Tutanota with a browser and go to ‘Contacts’ and click on the three dot button next to ‘All contacts’. Here you can import contacts via vCard.
Calendars
You can import calendars via .ics: Login with a browser and go to ‘Calendar’. Click on the three-dot button next to the calendar you wish to import data to. You can also create a new, separate calendar for the data to be imported by clicking on the plus symbol next to ‘Your calendars’.
Thank you for choosing Tutanota. Together we will make the web a better place!
Google’s original announcement
Google announced its change for free G Suite legacy accounts in January 2022 with this statement:
“Upgrade from G Suite legacy free edition: Switch to a paid edition and get premium collaboration tools, more storage, and increased security If you have the G Suite legacy free edition, you need to upgrade to a paid Google Workspace subscription to keep your services. The G Suite legacy free edition will no longer be available starting July 1, 2022."
"Upgrade to Google Workspace by May 1, 2022: To maintain your services and accounts, review the information below and upgrade by May 1, 2022. Upgrading to a Google Workspace subscription is a seamless transition for all customers currently on the G Suite legacy free edition. Select the Flexible payment plan when you upgrade to use your new subscription at no cost until at least July 1, 2022. If you choose to wait, Google will begin upgrading subscriptions automatically on May 1, 2022. We will upgrade your organization to a new Google Workspace subscription based on the features you currently use. To complete the upgrade, set up Google Workspace billing before July 1, 2022. If you don’t provide your payment information, your Google Workspace subscription will be suspended until you set up billing. After 60 days in suspension, you will no longer have access to Google Workspace core services, such as Gmail, Calendar, and Meet. Enter a valid form of payment to restore your suspended account. If you don’t upgrade to a Google Workspace subscription, you will not lose access to other Google services, including YouTube, Google Photos, and Google Play, nor paid content, including YouTube and Play Store purchases.”
Who is affected by Google’s change?
The change now announced by Google only affects people, who have been using a Google service that gave them free custom domain names and associated email addresses.
Users of Gmail who retain the “@gmail.com” domain suffix and do not have a G Suite “free legacy” account will not be affected.
These Google G Suite legacy accounts were originally the free version of Google Apps, available only from 2006 to 2012. The related paid service was later rebranded as G Suite and then again in 2020 as Google Workspace.
If you choose to not start paying, the data associated with your account will have to be exported before July 1, because after that date it might get deleted.
However, Google could also face a class-action lawsuit as many perceive the behavior as a “classic bait and switch strategy” says Attorney Benjamin F Johns:
“This appears to be a classic bait and switch strategy: Lure people and businesses into signing up for a purportedly free service and then, years after customers have become accustomed to using their G Suite accounts, force them to make the untenable choice between paying for that service or essentially losing access to it.”
What are your thoughs?
Are you affected by the end of the G Suite legacy free edition? Let us know your thoughts via the comments!
Check our recommendations for more privacy-friendly alternatives to replace Google services.