Google Workspace vs G-Suite for: What’s the Difference?

by Jordan Clark

Google recently announced the launch of its suite of educational offerings called Google Workspace for Education – replacing G Suite for Education. The rebrand comes with several changes on how Google supports schools on its platform and app integration with Google Classroom. The notable changes are:

New Name

In 2020, Google rebranded many G Suite services to fall under the Google Workspace umbrella. But it didn’t change the name of G Suite for Education until February of 2021. Now, all of Google's productivity suites fall under the Google Workspace brand.

New Pricing Tiers

Now Google offers 4 different tiers for schools who want to adopt Google Workspace for Education:

  • Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals (free for qualifying schools)
  • Google Workspace for Education Standard ($3/student/year)
  • Teaching and Learning Upgrade ($4/license/month)
  • Google Workspace for Education Plus ($5/student/year)

Education Fundamentals is the base offering for schools and includes Google Classroom, Gmail, Docs, and other basic Google services designed for educational compliance. The Education Standard tier adds onto those services and provides additional security and auditing tools for school administrators. Generally, most options available in G Suite for Education can be found in these tiers.

The Teaching and Learning Upgrade and Education Plus tiers add new functionality not present in G Suite. Specifically, users of these tiers receive additional interactive Google Meet features (such as Q&A and polling tools) and access to Google Classroom add-ons.

Google Classroom Add-ons

Perhaps the biggest announcement of Google Workspace for Education is Google Classroom’s add-ons. Add-ons are not yet available, but they do present a new avenue for apps to integrate with the LMS. It also signals Google's initiative to innovate and further grow the platform.

Currently, apps can integrate with Google Classroom through the Classroom API. As of this publication, Google hasn’t announced the method of app publishing as a Google Classroom add-on. It’s yet to be seen if add-ons will integrate through the existing Classroom API, a new API, or maybe even through the LTI standard. Developers and product managers should stay updated about Classroom add-ons and be prepared to develop their own.

Know that only the high paid tiers of Google Workspace have access to add-ons. Unlike apps that integrate through the Classroom API, only certain schools using Google Classroom will be able to access the add-ons.

*as of mid-2022, Google add-ons are released

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