Billing basics
Applies to G Suite and Cloud Identity Premium.
To use your Google service beyond your free trial period, you need to start a paid subscription to the service. We then bill you monthly for your service. Here's an overview of how billing works and some of your options.
Top things to know about billing
Set up billing during free trial
When you sign up for G Suite or Cloud Identity Premium, you get a 14-day free trial. You have the full set of services, and you can add up to 10 users to your account for G Suite, or 50 users for Cloud Identity Premium. See About your free G Suite trial or About your free Cloud Identity Premium trial.
To continue using your service without interruption, set up G Suite or Cloud Identity Premium billing before your trial ends. You won’t be charged until your trial ends or you add more than 10 or 50 users.
You also get a free trial if you upgrade to G Suite from the legacy free edition of G Suite. Before your trial ends, either set up billing or downgrade back to the legacy free version. See Upgrade from the legacy free edition to G Suite.
Billing country and currency
When you first set up a Google billing account, you choose a country where you do business and a currency you want to pay in. Your country determines what payment methods you can use. Choose your country and currency carefully, as you can't change these selections later.
For details, see Payment options in my country.
Choose a billing plan
When setting up billing, choose between 2 plans:
- Flexible Plan—You’re billed only for the user accounts you use each month.
- Annual Plan—You get a discount by committing to a year of service for a minimum number of licenses.
Annual Plan availability depends on your country, your subscription, and how you pay. For details, see Annual Plan.
For details, see Compare G Suite billing plans or Compare Cloud Identity billing plans.
Pay by credit card or bank account
You can pay for your subscription using an international credit card. Google accepts payments from major credit cards, including Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. Or in some locations, you can pay by making withdrawals from a bank account (also called direct debit).
For details, see your payment options.
Monthly automatic payments
When you set up billing, you specify a payment method (credit card or bank account) to pay for your service. We charge your payment method each month for the service you used the previous month. You’re charged monthly no matter which billing plan you’re on, and you’re charged for the total number of users or licenses in your account, even any that aren’t active or assigned during the billing period. You can change your payment method at any time. But for service to continue uninterrupted, you must always have a valid payment method associated with your account.
Option to pre-pay: For greater flexibility in how you pay, you can optionally pre-pay by adding credit to your billing account. At the beginning of the month, we'll automatically debit payment from any available credit instead of charging your primary payment method.
For details, see your payment options.
Purchasing more users
No matter which billing plan you're on, you can easily purchase more users as your team grows. Your monthly payments will increase to cover the additional users. Note that on the Annual Plan, however, you can't remove user licenses you've purchased until it's time to renew your annual contract.
For details, see Get licenses.
Renewing the Annual Plan
If you're on the Annual Plan, you can update your Billing settings to automatically renew your contract at the end of the year. Or you can opt to switch to the Flexible Plan once your contract is up. Just don't let your annual contract expire or your service will be suspended.
For details, see Turn on auto-renewal for Annual Plan.
Domain registration through Google
If you purchase your www.yourcompany.com domain name through Google while signing up for your service, you manage payments and renewals for the domain in your Google billing account. However, your domain isn't hosted by Google—it's hosted instead by one of our domain host partners.
For details, see Domain registration.
Suspended accounts
If your automatic payment ever fails, you have 30 days to fix payments or your service will be suspended. You can prevent suspension by keeping your primary payment method up to date and optionally adding credit to your account. If your service is suspended, you can lift your suspension by fixing your payment method and paying off your balance.
For details, see Suspended account.
Canceling your subscription
If you no longer want to use your service, you can cancel your subscription at any time. If you cancel your Annual Plan before the end of your contract, however, you'll have to pay a closeout charge (the remaining amount of your annual commitment).
For details, see Cancel your G Suite subscription or Cancel Cloud Identity.
