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I hate Google Workspace so much. Not because of the product, which seems fine. But because 10 years ago I signed up for google apps. It was marketed as a way

I hate Google Workspace so much. Not because of the product, which seems fine. But because 10 years ago I signed up for google apps. It was marketed as a way to have a vanity gmail domain. Free forever up to 10 users. I thought it was cool, was a huge Google fan at the time, and created a custom domain for myself and another one for my grandparents. Now, 10 years later they are holding my online persona hostage in a shameless cash grab to try and make Workspaces more profitable. All I ever wanted was my own Gmail domain. I have zero use for the business functionality. Fuck you google. I'm a VP of Cloud Platform for a rather large enterprise and quite frankly this is why we won't even consider Google Cloud. Broken trust. Broken promises.

fatnoah 4y ago
>All I ever wanted was my own Gmail domain. Who owns the domain here? I use a custom domain with Gmail Workspaces, but I own the domain, and therefore control the MX records. The only thing I'd lose in a switch is stored email messages, but there are ways to download those.
- Cordivae 4y ago
  Yes. I own the domains. And if they go through with this I will move and leave Google's ecosystem entirely. It will be a huge pain in the ass trying to do it for my grandparents though.
  - fatnoah 4y ago
    Gotcha. Yeah, IT for the parents & grandparents is definitely a challenge for things like this.
    - shadowgovt 4y ago
      It's a challenge for everybody. Having to put people who aren't computer savvy through it is just a reminder of what a pain in the ass it is... The fact that we can self-service doesn't make it less of an annoyance than we have to do something. And at this point, the pattern is clear. Google Business products are free until they are not. Building them into your infrastructure is taking on technical debt that you will have to pay down in the future, either by actually buying the product when they decide it is no longer free or by switching to an alternative. I still run into websites with a big API disabled rectangle where their Google maps integration used to be.
- lucasgonze 4y ago
  You need to migrate all the other google products you use with that email, including Photos, Play Store, Contacts, etc. It's about 20 products.
modeless 4y ago
> All I ever wanted was my own Gmail domain You don't need Workspace to use the Gmail UI with your custom domain. All you need is a regular free @gmail.com account. First switch your domain to an email hosting service that provides SMTP and IMAP, you probably get one free from your domain registrar. In Gmail settings for your @gmail account, add your custom domain as an alternate address for sending mail, using your SMTP server. Also configure Gmail to fetch mail from your IMAP server. Voila! Gmail is now a frontend for your custom domain, absolutely free. You can continue to use your existing custom email addresses, and you can forget about Workspace forever. If you have purchased content such as Play Store apps that are tied to your Workspace account, you can downgrade it to a "Cloud Identity Free Edition" account, and continue to use it. This is a pain, and I think they are finally working on some kind of migration tool to move that content to another account. Hopefully that happens soon.
- frankosaurus 4y ago
  Is there an in-depth howto guide to do this?
  - saimiam 4y ago
    FWIW, this is literally exactly how my product PretzelBox (https://pretzelbox.cc https://pretzelbox.cc) works. We are looking for beta users, if you care to take it for a spin.
    - halostatue 4y ago
      A few issues: - The braced hamburger menu — your logo, actually, on your blog home page redirects to bulma.io. - There’s no way to switch from the "Very Cool" template back to the original.
      - saimiam 4y ago
        Fixed! Thank you so much for pointing them out. Also added a couple of more templates to the menu.
jermaustin1 4y ago
> Now, 10 years later they are holding my online persona hostage in a shameless cash grab to try and make Workspaces more profitable. I'm in the same boat, but since ~2006 when I started my first company (dont recall exactly when I set up my google apps account though). I have to chose whether to move my account (which thanks to sign in with google is attached to more places than I can even remember), or pony up $6/mo/user with 20 friends and family having email accounts under my domain. I have not yet decided what to do. But if I leave Google. I will leave for life, and that includes multiple other Workplace accounts that I already DO pay for. I'm sure losing a few thousand a year doesn't matter to them, but mail-in-a-box seems like a decent fit for my limited email I actually use on those older accounts.
- rvba 4y ago
  Will all those people lose their email when something happens to you?
  - jermaustin1 4y ago
    They shouldn't - I usually keep enough money in my corporate bank account that will keep the handful of expenses running for years.
- Cordivae 4y ago
  Exactly. If I have to leave I will leave forever as well. To the point of buying a mac / iphone, and completely leaving the google ecosystem. That's how much this pisses me off. Its now about the principle rather than how much it actually costs.
- saimiam 4y ago
  My baby, PretzelBox.cc, is no Google but it does give you an inbox for your domain and a half decent looking blog (https://pretzelbox.cc/blog/ https://pretzelbox.cc/blog/) and a way to store and share files. /shameless_plug
  - jorams 4y ago
akrymski 4y ago
I use Gmail with my own domain for free. My domain registrar (namecheap) allows forwarding of email for free. You can add extra email addresses in Gmail itself.
- criddell 4y ago
  When you send or reply using Gmail, does the email appear to come from your gmail account or your domain?
  - akrymski 4y ago
    In Gmail you can choose the FROM address, so it appears to come from your own domain.
  - deanmoriarty 4y ago
    My own domain. I use Gandi's mail forwarding and SMTP (via GMail).
greenhorn123 4y ago
I wonder how many people with some clout have decided to forego Googles business offerings because of a bad personal interaction with them.
JustLurking2022 4y ago
Is that large Enterprise a bank, or a company where VP actually means something?

fatnoah 4y ago

>All I ever wanted was my own Gmail domain. Who owns the domain here? I use a custom domain with Gmail Workspaces, but I own the domain, and therefore control the MX records. The only thing I'd lose in a switch is stored email messages, but there are ways to download those.

Cordivae 4y ago
Yes. I own the domains. And if they go through with this I will move and leave Google's ecosystem entirely. It will be a huge pain in the ass trying to do it for my grandparents though.
- fatnoah 4y ago
  Gotcha. Yeah, IT for the parents & grandparents is definitely a challenge for things like this.
  - shadowgovt 4y ago
    It's a challenge for everybody. Having to put people who aren't computer savvy through it is just a reminder of what a pain in the ass it is... The fact that we can self-service doesn't make it less of an annoyance than we have to do something. And at this point, the pattern is clear. Google Business products are free until they are not. Building them into your infrastructure is taking on technical debt that you will have to pay down in the future, either by actually buying the product when they decide it is no longer free or by switching to an alternative. I still run into websites with a big API disabled rectangle where their Google maps integration used to be.
lucasgonze 4y ago
You need to migrate all the other google products you use with that email, including Photos, Play Store, Contacts, etc. It's about 20 products.

modeless 4y ago

> All I ever wanted was my own Gmail domain You don't need Workspace to use the Gmail UI with your custom domain. All you need is a regular free @gmail.com account. First switch your domain to an email hosting service that provides SMTP and IMAP, you probably get one free from your domain registrar. In Gmail settings for your @gmail account, add your custom domain as an alternate address for sending mail, using your SMTP server. Also configure Gmail to fetch mail from your IMAP server. Voila! Gmail is now a frontend for your custom domain, absolutely free. You can continue to use your existing custom email addresses, and you can forget about Workspace forever. If you have purchased content such as Play Store apps that are tied to your Workspace account, you can downgrade it to a "Cloud Identity Free Edition" account, and continue to use it. This is a pain, and I think they are finally working on some kind of migration tool to move that content to another account. Hopefully that happens soon.

frankosaurus 4y ago
Is there an in-depth howto guide to do this?
- saimiam 4y ago
  FWIW, this is literally exactly how my product PretzelBox (https://pretzelbox.cc https://pretzelbox.cc) works. We are looking for beta users, if you care to take it for a spin.
  - halostatue 4y ago
    A few issues: - The braced hamburger menu — your logo, actually, on your blog home page redirects to bulma.io. - There’s no way to switch from the "Very Cool" template back to the original.
    - saimiam 4y ago
      Fixed! Thank you so much for pointing them out. Also added a couple of more templates to the menu.

jermaustin1 4y ago

> Now, 10 years later they are holding my online persona hostage in a shameless cash grab to try and make Workspaces more profitable. I'm in the same boat, but since ~2006 when I started my first company (dont recall exactly when I set up my google apps account though). I have to chose whether to move my account (which thanks to sign in with google is attached to more places than I can even remember), or pony up $6/mo/user with 20 friends and family having email accounts under my domain. I have not yet decided what to do. But if I leave Google. I will leave for life, and that includes multiple other Workplace accounts that I already DO pay for. I'm sure losing a few thousand a year doesn't matter to them, but mail-in-a-box seems like a decent fit for my limited email I actually use on those older accounts.

rvba 4y ago
Will all those people lose their email when something happens to you?
- jermaustin1 4y ago
  They shouldn't - I usually keep enough money in my corporate bank account that will keep the handful of expenses running for years.
Cordivae 4y ago
Exactly. If I have to leave I will leave forever as well. To the point of buying a mac / iphone, and completely leaving the google ecosystem. That's how much this pisses me off. Its now about the principle rather than how much it actually costs.
saimiam 4y ago
My baby, PretzelBox.cc, is no Google but it does give you an inbox for your domain and a half decent looking blog (https://pretzelbox.cc/blog/ https://pretzelbox.cc/blog/) and a way to store and share files. /shameless_plug
- jorams 4y ago

akrymski 4y ago

I use Gmail with my own domain for free. My domain registrar (namecheap) allows forwarding of email for free. You can add extra email addresses in Gmail itself.

criddell 4y ago
When you send or reply using Gmail, does the email appear to come from your gmail account or your domain?
- akrymski 4y ago
  In Gmail you can choose the FROM address, so it appears to come from your own domain.
- deanmoriarty 4y ago
  My own domain. I use Gandi's mail forwarding and SMTP (via GMail).

greenhorn123 4y ago

I wonder how many people with some clout have decided to forego Googles business offerings because of a bad personal interaction with them.

JustLurking2022 4y ago

Is that large Enterprise a bank, or a company where VP actually means something?